Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum ( Crawford, 1912 )

Percy, Diana M., Butterill, Philip T. & Malenovský, Igor, 2015, Three new species of gall-forming psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) from Papua New Guinea, with new records and notes on related species, Journal of Natural History 50 (17 - 18), pp. 1073-1101 : 1096

Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum ( Crawford, 1912)

Pauropsylla tuberculata Crawford, 1912: 430 .

Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum (Crawford) , Enderlein (1921).

Material examined (only specimens from PNG listed)

1 ♂, 1 ♀, Varirata National Park , Central Province, 13 – 15 October 1987, (ex Alstonia ) D. Hollis leg. ( BMNH); 2 ♂, 8 ♀, Baiteta , Madang Province, 30 June 1995, (canopy fogging Ficus sp., AR 22) O. Missa leg. ( IRNB, MMBC).

Comments

Both the host plant and the psyllid are widespread in Asia. We report new records on Alstonia sp. (probably Alstonia scholaris or A. brassii ) for mainland PNG, Central and Madang Provinces, while psyllid galls on Alstonia scholaris probably induced by this species have been recorded from Ralum, Bismarck Archipelago by Rübsaamen (1905). The host is used in agroforestry for timber as well as other uses and is also planted as an ornamental ( Orwa et al. 2009). Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum is considered a serious pest of plantations of Alstonia scholaris in the Philippines ( Braza and Calilung 1981). Its taxonomy, however, is in need of revision because there are likely to be undescribed species on the same host in the Oriental and Australasian Regions (BMNH data) and Pseudophacopteron alstonium Yang and Li, 1983 , which is similar to Pseudophacopteron tuberculatum , was described from Alstonia scholaris in China ( Li 2011). The specimens cited above from PNG correspond well in their morphology with the original description ( Crawford 1912) and type specimens of Pauropsylla tuberculata in USNM examined by I.M.

Host plant

Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae) ( Crawford 1912; Mathur 1935, 1975).

Distribution

Bangladesh (BMNH data), Myanmar ( Mathur 1975), India (Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal; Mani 1948; Mathur 1975; ZISP data), Indonesia (Java, Salajar, Sebesi, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Tanimbar; Docters van Leeuwen-Reijnvaan and Docters van Leeuwen-Reijnvaan 1910, 1916; Hodkinson 1983, 1986), Laos (MMBC data), Malaysia ( Mathur 1975), PNG (mainland; new record, and Bismarck Archipelago; Rübsaamen 1905), Philippines (Luzon and Mindanao; Uichanco 1919; 1921; Braza and Calilung 1981; BMNH data), Thailand ( Hodkinson 1983; 1986; MHNG data) and Vietnam (MHNG data).

Biology

This species makes enclosed conical or barrel-shaped galls usually on the leaf blade, and often along the mid-vein. Mathur (1935) noted about 20 scattered galls on a single leaf. More rarely galls can be found on young fruits or branches ( Houard 1923; Mani 1948, 1964). The galls have been described and illustrated by several authors (e.g. Rübsaamen 1905; Docters van Leeuwen-Reijnvaan and Docters van Leeuwen-Reijnvaan 1910, 1916; Uichanco 1919; Houard 1923; Mani 1964; Yang and Li 1983).