Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Superfamily Psylloidea

Psyllid? under bark - Pachypsylla Psylla sanguinea - Plant Parasitic Fly - Spanioneura sanguinea Lycium Psyllid - Bactericera lobata Sady tomato plant critter - Bactericera cockerelli Female, Pachypsylla pallida? - Pachypsylla pallida - female Male, Bactericera salicivora? - Bactericera minuta - male Pachypsylla pallida? - Pachypsylla pallida Small bug
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Sternorrhyncha (Plant-parasitic Hemipterans)
Superfamily Psylloidea
Other Common Names
Jumping Plant Lice
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Classification follows (1)
Explanation of Names
Psylloidea Latreille 1807
Numbers
Worldwide, 8 extant families with 3000–3500 described spp. (estimated twice that many)(1); in our area, >330 spp. in almost 60 genera(2)
Size
1-10 mm
Identification
Adults have a transverse head with protuberant eyes and three ocelli, usually 10-segmented antennae, and wings with reduced but conspicuous venation.
key to FL genera in (3)
Range
Worldwide, most diverse in tropical and subtropical areas(1)
Food
Associated almost exclusively with dicotyledons, with a few species developing on monocots and only 4 spp. on conifers. Species exhibit very narrow host-plant ranges, particularly at the immature stages; restriction to particular host taxa often found in whole genera or families(1)
Life Cycle
Nymphs undergo five larval stages before becoming adults. Most native species are univoltine, though in warmer climiates some introduced tropical species may have multiple generations per year. The nymphs of many species create galls, lerps, or other copious waxy secretions. For many temperate species, including those in Aphalara, Livia, Cacopsylla, Bactericera, Phylloplecta and Trioza, adults disperse to and overwinter on evergreen shelter plants before returning to their true hosts in the spring (4)
Print References
(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)
Works Cited
1.Ouvrard D. (2013) Psyl'list - The World Psylloidea Database
2.Mallory C. (2014-) Psyllids of North America
3.The psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) of Florida: newly established and rarely collected taxa and checklist
Halbert SE, Burckhardt D. 2020. Insecta Mundi 0788: 1–88.
4.Life cycle variation and adaptation in jumping plant lice (Insecta: Hemiptera: Psylloidea): a global synthesis
Hodkinson, I.D. 2009. Journal of Natural History Vol. 43, Nos. 1–2, January 2009, 65–179.
5.A revised classification of the jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea)
Burckhardt D. & Ouvrard D. 2012. Zootaxa 3509: 1-34.
6.A monograph of the jumping plant-lice or Psyllidae of the New World
David L. Crawford. 1914. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 85: 1-186.
7.The Nearctic Psylloidea (Insecta: Homoptera): an annotated check list
Hodkinson, I.D. 1988. Journal of Natural History, 22 (1179-1243).
8.An annotated checklist of the psyllids of California (Hemiptera: Psylloidea)
Percy, D.M., A. Rung and M.S. Hoddle. 2012. Zootaxa 3193: 1-27.
9.The psyllids of America North of Mexico: (Psyllidae: Homoptera) (Subfamilies Psyllinae and Triozinae)
Tuthill, L.D. . 1943. Iowa State College Journal of Science 17: 443-660.
10.Pilon et al. (1988-2015) Entomofaune du Québec
11.Psyllids.org