Heteropsylla flexuosa Muddiman, Hodkinson and Hollis, 1992

Materials examined. USA: Florida: Broward County: Port Everglades, 30.i.2013. Acacia farnesiana (Stephen Beidler) (FSCA # E2013-638) (FSCA, dry and slide mounted) ; additional specimens from Collier, Hillsborough, Lee Monroe, and Polk counties (FSCA, dry and slide mounted) .

Diagnosis. This species is one of two species in which the inner lobe of the paramere is modified into a black spine. In H. flexuosa, the spine is hidden in lateral view. Females, with short, truncate terminalia, cannot be separated from those of H. mimosae Crawford.

Distribution. Neotropics (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico), western USA (Arizona, California) (Ouvrard 2020), USA (FL) (Halbert 2013).

Host plants. Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd. ( Fabaceae).

Comments. Heteropsylla flexuosa was found established at Port Everglades, FL in late January 2013 by DPI inspector Stephen Beidler on Acacia farnesiana (FSCA# E2013-522). This species is similar to Heteropsylla mimosae, which has been in Florida since 1983 (see below). Recent examination of populations from both sites reveals consistent differences in the male terminalia. Unlike H. mimosae, H. flexuosa has spread to Hillsborough (FSCA# E2013-2620), Monroe (FSCA# 2018-5926), Lee (FSCA# E2015-3444), Collier (FSCA# E2016-221), and Polk (FSCA# E2014-7038) counties. The Polk County record is from a suction trap.