Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Psylla celtidis-mamma Riley, 1875
Psylla celtidis-mamma Fletcher, 1883
Psylla celtidismamma Fletcher, 1883
Pachypsylla celtidis-cucurbita Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla celtidiscucurbita Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla celtidisglobula Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla celtidisglobulus Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla celtidis-pubescens Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla celtidispubescens Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla cucurbita Riley, 1890
Pachypsylla rowheri Cockerell, 1910.
Explanation of Names
Pachypsylla celtidismamma (Riley, 1875)
Size
Adults 3-4mm head to wingtips
(1)Identification
Adults resemble small leafhoppers, mottled light brown with wings held in a tent shape over the back. They can jump great distances
(2).
Nymphs (concealed in galls) are rounded and yellowish. Galls are smooth and rounded, projecting from the underside of leaves, and may be either glabrous or pubescent.
Range
Throughout North America but most common east of the Rockies
(2); introduced in CA
(3) (
range map)
Life Cycle
Eggs are laid on developing hackberry leaves early in the year. Adults emerge late summer/early fall and overwinter in protected areas
(2).
Remarks
Some leaves are densely covered with galls, while others have none. Only a brief window of time is available to egg-laying females, when developing leaves are suitable hosts
(2).
See Also
The Hackberry Blistergall Psyllid (Pachypsylla celtidivescula) is similar but is typically smaller (adults usually less than 2.5mm), and with distinctly different galls:
Recent studies suggest that
P. celtidismamma belongs to a cryptic species complex
(4) that includes as many as seven species with which the adults "can only be distinguished with difficulty"
(5). The galls, however, are distinctive
(6). The complex also includes an inquiline species which shares the nipplegall cells (
Pachypsylla cohabitans) but does not create galls itself
(4). Gall-forming members of this complex include the Star-gall Psyllid (
P. celtidisasterisca) & the Disc-gall Psyllid (
P. celtidisumbilicus):
Internet References
Psyl'list(7) - David Ouvrard, NHM
Hackberry nipplegall maker - Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University