PSYLLIDS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE


This page is created and maintained by Diana M. Percy
All images, unless otherwise noted, are copyright © Diana M. Percy


Psyllids of economic importance include pests such as the carrot, potato, citrus and avocado psyllids.

Some of the other plants adversely affected by psyllids include: pear, apple, apricot, pistachio, olive, gum trees (Eucalyptus spp.), wattles (Acacia spp.), bay (Laurus nobilis), persimmon (Diospyros spp.), lillypilly or rose apple (Eugenia spp.), Leucaena, Pittosporum, Sideroxylon, and Tabebuia.

See notes on psyllid pests below.

Psyllids have also been used, though only rarely, for biocontrol of invasive plants.

See beneficial psyllids below.


NOTES ON SOME PSYLLID PESTS

Acizzia solanicola Kent & Taylor
eggplant psyllid
A psyllid currently known from Australia and New Zealand, and a potential economic pest of eggplant, Solanum melongena (Solanaceae) (Kent & Taylor 2010; Taylor & Kent 2013).

Acizzia uncatoides (Ferris & Klyver)
Acacia psyllid
Native to Australia, but now a cosmopolitan pest of many ornamental Acacia and Albizia (Fabaceae) species. In Hawaii it occurs on the native Acacia koa. Also common in California and southern Europe.

Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt
common pistachio psyllid
A pest of pistachio (Pistacia vera, Anacardiaceae) plantations including where pistachios are introduced such as California. It is predated on by the coccinellid beetle, Oenopia conglobata contaminata (Mehrnejad & Jalali 2004) and it is also subject to biological control programs using Psyllaephagus pistaciae.

Agonoscena targionii (Lichtenstein)
pistachio psyllid
A pest of pistachio (Pistacia vera, Anacardiaceae) plantations in Greece and the middle east. It tends to be less common than A. pistachiae.

Allocarsidara malayensis Crawford
durian psyllid
The durian fruit, Durio zibethinus (Bombacaceae), is a delicacy in southeast Asia. Psyllids lay egg clusters into the tissues of young leaves, and feeding by nymphs and adults causes the young leaves to develop yellow spots and eventually defoliate. The Chanee variety of durian is particularly susceptible to psyllids.

Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (syn. Paratrioza cockerelli)
potato psyllid
A pest of potatoes and tomatoes (Solanaceae) (Liu & Trumble 2004), its sporadic but potentially devastating outbreaks are known in potato growing areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas (and occasionally elsewhere, depending on weather conditions, see Hill 1947). Heavy nymph infestations cause symptoms knows as "potato yellows".

Bactericera nigricornis (Foerster)
a minor pest of carrots (see Trioza apicalis).

Bactericera trigonica (Hodkinson)
a minor pest of carrots (see Trioza apicalis).

Blastopsylla occidentalis Taylor
Eucalyptus shoot psyllid
A pest in several places where Eucalyptus is grown commercially, for instance Chile (Burckhardt & Elgueta 2000).

Cacopsylla buxi (Linnaeus)
box psyllid
A minor garden pest of ornamental boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens). Feeding on tender new growth causes distortion of leaves and stunts the growth of shoots.

Cacopsylla (Psylla) mali (Schmidberger)
apple psyllid
A pest of cultivated apples, Malus spp. (Rosaceae).

Cacopsylla melanoneura (Foerster)
black-veined psyllid
This hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) and apple (Malus spp.) psyllid has been found to be a vector of apple proliferation phytoplasma in northwestern Italy (Tedeschi, Bosco & Alma 2002).

Cacopsylla picta (Foerster)
an apple pest
Reported as a vector of apple proliferation phytoplasma in Germany (Jarausch et al. 2003)

Cacopsylla pruni (Scopoli)
apricot psyllid
This psyllid has been found to be a vector of the European stone fruit yellows phytoplasma (Carraro et al. 2004; Labonne & Lichou 2004; Jarausch et al. 2001).

Cacopsylla (Psylla) pyri (Linnaeus)
pear psyllid
An important pest of the pear orchards of France, where it can produce up to eight generations in a single year.

Cacopsylla (Psylla) pyricola (Foerster)
common pear psyllid
A pest of the pear orchards of France, Washington State (USA) and elsewhere, with some four or five generations per year (see Burckhardt 1994). Pear psyllid remains have been detected using molecular methods in the guts of its main arthropod predator, Anthocoris tomentosus (anthocorid bug, Heteroptera) (Agusti, Unruh & Welter 2003).

Cacopsylla pyrisuga (Foerster)
pear sucker
Another pear psyllid, C. pyrisuga has only a single generation per year.

Ceropsylla sideroxyli Riley
false-mastic psyllid
A pest of Sideroxylon (Sapotaceae) species including S. foetidissimum, or mastic.

Cryptoneossa triangula Taylor
lemon gum psyllid
Native to Australia, and first recorded in California in 2002, this psyllid species is now considered a minor pest on lemon-scented gum (Eucalyptus citriodora) and spotted gum (Eucalyptus maculata) in California.

Ctenarytaina eucalypti (Maskell)
blue gum psyllid
Native to Australia, the blue gum psyllid has become an important pest of Eucalyptus pulverulentus (Myrtaceae) in California, where the tree is grown for the production of silver foliage for flower arranging. First recorded in California in the 1990s, the psyllid has been the subject of a successful biological control program using the parasitoid, Psyllaephagus pilosus Noyes (Chauzat, Purvis & Dunne 2002; Purvis et al. 2002).

Diaphorina citri Kuwayama
asiatic citrus psyllid
A psyllid native to southern Asia where Citrus (Rutaceae) species are also native, it has now spread to most regions where citrus trees are grown (Tsai & Liu 2000). It reached Florida in the 1990s and is now a pest there. It is a vector of Liberobacter asiaticum, the bacterial greening disease (McKenzie & Puterka 2004). It should not be confused with the African citrus psyllid Trioza erytreae (Del Guercio), which is an important pest in Africa.

Eucalyptolyma maideni Froggatt
spotted gum psyllid
Native to Australia, and first recorded in California in 2002, this psyllid species is now considered a minor pest on lemon-scented gum (Eucalyptus citriodora) and spotted gum (Eucalyptus maculata) in California
.

Euphyllura olivina Costa
olive psyllid (in Spain: Algodón del olivo, in Italy: Cotonello dell'olivo)
The olive psyllid aestivates during the hottest summer months resuming feeding activity after the first autumn rains. The second generation, around May, is associated with the flowering shoots and flower buds and may cause many flowers to abort.

Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore
red gum psyllid
Native to Australia, it has become a severe pest in California on Eucalyptus globulus where it can cause senescence and even cause whole trees to die (Brennan et al. 2001; Brennan & Weinbaum 2001).

Heteropsylla cubana Crawford
leucaena psyllid
Native to Central America and Caribbean islands where the genus Leucaena occurs naturally. Leucaena (notably Leucaena leucocephala) has been used as an important agroforestry shrub throughout the tropics and subtropics and during the 1980s and 1990s the leucaena psyllid has rapidly followed this spread (Geiger and Gutierrez 2000). It is now found throughout most of the introduced range of Leucaena leucocephala including Florida, Hawaii and Australia.

Mycopsylla fici (Tryon)
fig psyllid or Moreton Bay fig sucker
The Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) is an important landscape and amenity tree in Australia which can be damaged by psyllid infestation. In rare, severe infestations, psyllids can cause complete defoliation.

Pachypsylla celtidisgemma Riley
hackberry bud gall psyllid
One of a number of galling Pachypsylla species found on four hackberry species (Celtis spp.) within its native range in central and eastern USA, including the native Florida sugarberry (Celtis laevigata). This bud gall maker overwinters as a nymph inside the gall, whereas the leaf galling species emerge as adults in the autumn. None of these psyllids are considered a major pest, although galls can be unsightly and occasionally cause premature leaf drop.

Pachypsylla celtidismamma (Fletcher)
hackberry nipple gall psyllid
One of a number of galling Pachypsylla species on hackberry (Celtis spp.) within its native range (see Pachypsylla celtidisgemma). The feeding of nymphs on leaves causes the leaf tissue to expand rapidly into a pouch or gall around the insect. Recently, another species (Pachypsylla cohabitans Yang & Riemann) was discovered living opportunistically, as an inquiline, inside the galls of these gall making Pachypsylla spp. (Yang, Mitter & Miller 2001).

Pachypsylla celtidisvesicula Riley
hackberry blister gall psyllid
One of a number of galling Pachypsylla species on hackberry (Celtis spp.) within its native range (see also P. celtidisgemma and P. celtidismamma). Other names for hackberry galls caused by psyllids include hackberry button gall, hackberry flask gall, hackberry star gall and the hackberry melon gall.

Pachypsylla venusta (Osten Sacken)
hackberry petiole gall psyllid
One of a number of galling Pachypsylla species on hackberry (Celtis spp.) within its native range, see also Pachypsylla celtidisgemma. This species forms woody galls on the leaf petioles. Infested leaves do not fall from the trees and heavily infested trees are recognizable during the winter by the presence of the dead leaves. The adults emerge in the spring after the nymph has cut its way out of the woody gall using a heavily sclerotized part of the abdomen.

Paratrioza cockerelli (potato/tomato psyllid) see Bactericera cockerelli

Phylloplecta (Trioza) tripunctata (Fitch)
blackberry psyllid
Curls and stunts the growth of new and growing shoots and leaves of cultivated and wild brambles (Rubus spp.) in the USA.

Psylla mali (apple psyllid) see Cacopsylla mali

Psylla pyri (pear psyllid) see Cacopsylla pyri

Psylla pyricola (common pear psyllid) see Cacopsylla pyricola

Psyllopsis discrepans (Flor)
cottony ash psyllid
A European psyllid that has been introduced into North America where it has become a serious pest in some areas, including parts of the Canadian prairies. It attacks Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra) and Manchurian Ash (Fraxinus mandshurica), both important amenity and landscape trees.

Russelliana solanicola Tuthill
potato psyllid
A South American pest of potato, also recorded on Datura sp. (Solanaceae)

Tetragonocephela flava Crawford
sugarberry psyllid

Causes leaf curl on Celtis laevigata (Ulmaceae). See also Pachypsylla on this host plant.

Trioza aguacate Hollis & Martin
a pest of avocado (see also T. perseae).

Trioza alacris Flor
bay sucker
A pest of bay trees, Laurus nobilis. The leaves become deformed, yellow and curl at the margins.

Trioza anceps Tuthill
a pest of avocado (see also T. perseae).

Trioza apicalis Foerster
carrot psyllid
A major pest of the cultivated carrot, Daucus carota (Apiaceae). It is attracted by carrot volatiles (Nehlin, Valterova & BorgKarlson 1996) and so the application of conifer volatiles can reduce psyllid injury (Nehlin, Valterova & BorgKarlson 1994).

Trioza diospyri (Ashmead)
persimmon psyllid
A native insect of wild persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) in the S.E. USA, it also attacks cultivated japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki) in which it causes deformed and discolored leaves. When disturbed the nymphs secrete a milky fluid.

Trioza erytreae (Del Guercio)
African citrus psyllid
A pest of citrus and some other Rutaceae, it is a vector of the bacterial "greening disease". primarily a disease of tropical Africa from South Africa to Ethiopia and Yemen, it has been introduced into the Atlantic Island of St Helena.

Trioza eugeniae Froggatt
lillypilly psyllid (Eugenia psyllid)
Native to Australia, the lillypilly psyllid attacks myrtaceous trees such as Eugenia spp. (lillypilly or rose apple).

Trioza godoyae Hollis & Martin
a pest of avocado (see also T. perseae).

Trioza perseae Tuthill
avocado psyllid (chicharrita del aguacate)
A pest of avocado, Persea americana, forming galls on the leaves. It is one of four avocado psyllid pests, including T. anceps, T. aguacate and T. godoyae (see Hollis & Martin 1997).

Trioza tabebuiae Burckhardt & Santana
trumpet tree psyllid
A pest of ornamental Bignoniaceous trees (Tabebuia spp.) in Brazil.

Trioza tripunctata (blackberry psyllid) see Phylloplecta tripunctata

Trioza vitreoradiata (Maskell)
pittosporum psyllid
A native New Zealand species that is introduced and causes damage to cultivated Pittosporum tenuifolium and P. crassifolium (Pittosporaceae) in the UK (Cornwall and Isles of Scilly).


BENEFICIAL PSYLLIDS

Arytainilla spartiophila (Foerster)
broom psyllid
Native to the Mediterranean region, this psyllid has been used in New Zealand from 1992 to control European broom (Cytisus scoparius), a pestilential invasive leguminous shrub.

Boreioglycaspis melaleucae Moore
melaleuca psyllid
Used as a biocontrol for its host, Melaleuca quiquenervia (paperbark tree), which is native to Australia but a serious invasive weed tree in Florida.

Prosopidopsylla flava Burckhardt
mesquite psyllid
Introduced into Australia as a biocontrol for mesquite (Prosopis spp., Fabaceae, which is native to North and South America and a rangeland weed in Australia)
. The psyllid did not reach the damaging infestation levels required for successful control (van Klinken, Fichera & Cordo 2003).

Heteropsylla texana Crawford
a mesquite psyllid
Native to Texas (USA), this species was tested as a biocontrol in Australia for mesquite (Prosopis spp. Fabaceae, which is native to North and South America). Intially considered not specific enough to release, further tests in Australia have proposed it as a possible biocontrol (Donnelly 2002).


References

Agusti N, Unruh TR, Welter SC (2003). Detecting Cacopsylla pyricola (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) in predator guts using COI mitochondrial markers. Bulletin of Entomological Research 93: 179-85.

Brennan EB, Hrusa GF, Weinbaum SA, Levison W. (2001) Resistance of Eucalyptus species to Glycaspis brimblecombei (Homoptera : Psyllidae) in the San Francisco Bay area. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 77: 249-253.

Brennan EB, Weinbaum SA (2001) Effect of epicuticular wax on adhesion of psyllids to glaucous juvenile and glossy adult leaves of Eucalyptus globulus Labillardiere. Australian Journal of Entomology 40: 270-277.

Burckhardt D (1994) Psylloid pests of temperate and subtropical crop and ornamental plants (Hemiptera, Psylloidea): a review. Trends in Agricultural Sciences, Entomology 2: 173-186.

Burckhardt D, Elgueta M (2000) Blastopsylla occidentalis Taylor (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a new introduced Eucalypt pest in Chile. Rev. Chilena Ent. 26: 57-61.

Carraro L, Ferrini F, Labonne G, et al. (2004) Seasonal infectivity of Cacopsylla pruni, vector of European stone fruit yellows phytoplasma. Annals of Applied Biology 144: 191-195.

Chauzat MP, Purvis G, Dunne F (2002) Release and establishment of a biological control agent, Psyllaephagus pilosus for Eucalyptus psyllid (Ctenarytaina eucalypti) in Ireland. Annals of Applied Biology 141: 293-304.

Donnelly GP (2002) The host range and biology of the mesquite psyllid Heteropsylla texana. BioControl 47: 363-371.

Geiger CA, Gutierrez AR (2000) Ecology of Heteropsylla cubana (Homoptera : Psyllidae): Psyllid damage, tree phenology, thermal relations, and parasitism in the field . Environmental Entomology 29: 76-86.

Hill RE (1947) An unusual weather sequence accompanying the severe potato psyllid outbreak in 1938 in Nebraska. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 20: 88-92.

Hollis D, Martin, JH (1997) Jumping plantlice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) attacking avocado pear trees, Persea americana, in the New World, with a review of Lauraceae-feeding among psylloids. Bulletin of Entomological Research 87: 471–480.

Jarausch W, Danet JL, Labonne G, et al. (2001) Mapping the spread of apricot chlorotic leaf roll (ACLR) in southern France and implication of Cacopsylla pruni as a vector of European stone fruit yellows (ESFY) phytoplasmas. Plant Pathology 50: 782-790.

Jarausch B, Schwind N, Jarausch W, Krczal G, Dickler E, Seemüller E (2003) First report of Cacopsylla picta as a vector of apple proliferation phytoplasma in Germany. Plant Disease 87: 101.

Kent D, Taylor G (2010) Two new species of Acizzia Crawford (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) from the Solanaceae with a potential new economic pest of eggplant, Solanum melongena. Australian Journal of Entomology 49: 73-81.

Labonne G, Lichou J (2004) Data on the life cycle of Cacopsylla pruni, Psyllidae vector of European stone fruit yellows (ESFY) phytoplasma in France. Acta Horticulturae 657: 465-470.

Liu D, Trumble JT (2004) Tomato psyllid behavioral responses to tomato plant lines and interactions of plant lines with insecticides. Journal of Economic Entomology 97: 1078-85.

McKenzie CL, Puterka GJ (2004) Effect of sucrose octanoate on survival of nymphal and adult Diaphorina citri (Homoptera: Psyllidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 97: 970-5.

Mehrnejad MR, Jalali MA (2004) Life history parameters of the coccinellid beetle, Oenopia conglobata contaminata, an important predator of the common pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae (Hemiptera : Psylloidea). Biocontrol Science and Technology 14: 701-711.

Nehlin G, Valterova I, BorgKarlson AK (1996) Monoterpenes released from Apiaceae and the egg-laying preferences of the carrot psyllid, Trioza apicalis. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 80: 83-86.

Nehlin G, Valterova I, Borgkarlson AK (1994) Use of conifer volatiles to reduce injury caused by carrot psyllid, Trioza apicalis, Foerster (Homoptera, Psylloidea). Journal of Chemical Ecology 20: 771-783.

Purvis G, Chauzat MP, Segonds-Pichon A, et al. (2002) Life history and phenology of the Eucalyptus psyllid, Ctenarytaina eucalypti in Ireland. Annals of Applied Biology 141: 283-292.

Souliotis C, Markoyiannaki-Printziou D, Lefkaditis F (2002) The problems and prospects of integrated control of Agonoscena pistaciae Burck. and Laut. (Homoptera, Sternorrhyncha) in Greece. Journal of Applied Entomology 126: 384-388.

Taylor GS, Kent, DS (2013) Potential economic pests of solanaceous crops: a new species of Solanum-feeding psyllid from Australia and first record from New Zealand of Acizzia solanicola (Hemiptera: Psyllidae). Zootaxa 3613: 257-273.

Tedeschi R, Bosco D, Alma A (2002) Population dynamics of Cacopsylla melanoneura (Homoptera : Psyllidae), a vector of apple proliferation phytoplasma in northwestern Italy. Journal of Economic Entomology 95: 544-551.

Tsai JH, Liu YH (2000) Biology of Diaphorina citri (Homoptera: Psyllidae) on four host plants. Journal of Economic Entomology 93: 1721-1725.

van Klinken RD, Fichera G, Cordo H (2003) Targeting biological control across diverse landscapes: the release, establishment, and early success of two insects on mesquite (Prosopis spp.) insects [sic] in Australian rangelands. Biological Control 26: 8-20.

Yang MM, Mitter C, Miller DR (2001) First incidence of inquilinism in gall-forming psyllids, with a description of the new inquiline species (Insecta, Hemiptera, Psylloidea, Psyllidae, Spondyliaspindinae). Zoologica Scripta 30: 97-113.


Go to: psyllid Home page, psyllid acoustics, psyllid morphology, Macaronesian island psyllids, Pacific island psyllids, psyllids of economic importance

All images, unless otherwise noted, are copyright © Diana M. Percy

Created 2000. Updated 20/01/2014. Return to top of page


 

psyllid Home page

psyllid acoustics

psyllid morphology

Macaronesian island psyllids

Pacific island psyllids

psyllids of economic importance

psyllid taxonomy, host plants, and bibliography site by David Ouvrard et al