Leuronota maritima (Tuthill, 1944) Halbert & Burckhardt, 2020

Halbert, Susan E. & Burckhardt, Daniel, 2020, The psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) of Florida: newly established and rarely collected taxa and checklist, Insecta Mundi 2020 (788), pp. 1-88 : 64

Leuronota maritima (Tuthill, 1944) , new combination

( Fig. 182–184 )

Trioza maritima Tuthill 1944b: 158 .

Materials examined. USA: Florida: Specimens from Brevard, Broward, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Pasco, and Pinellas counties ( FSCA, dry and slide mounted, ethanol).

Diagnosis. This species is separated easily from the other Florida species of Leuronota by its clear wings, and from Florida species of Trioza it differs as indicated in the generic key.

Distribution. Colombia, Mexico ( Rendón-Mera et al. 2017, Ouvrard 2020), USA (FL) (new record for FL and for the USA reported here).

Host plants. Avicennia germinans (L.) L. ( Acanthaceae ).

Comments. For a number of years, DPI inspectors have noticed a triozid on Avicennia . In 2003, it was identified as Leuronota maritima . The psyllid was described from Mexico and reported from Colombia ( Rendón-Mera et al. 2017).

Specimens at DPI go back to a large series from Manatee County collected on A. germinans on 15.vi.1972 by Frank W. Mead. We also have specimens from Ft. Myers (Lee County) collected on A. germinans on 30.v.1980 by K. Delate, from Hollywood (Broward County) collected on A. germinans on 20.i.1993 by Karolynne Vanyo, from Green Key Park (Pasco County) collected on A. germinans on 25.v.1989 by Cindy Kamelhair, from Miami-Dade County collected on A. germinans (FSCA#s E2003-169, 441, 568, 2174), from North Palm Beach (Palm Beach County) collected on A. germinans (FSCA# E2003-2147), and from Fleming Key (Monroe County) collected in traps in 1979 and 1980.

Although we have specimens dating from nearly 50 years ago, this species has not been reported formally from Florida. We consider it adventive because of the rather sudden appearance of damaging populations on mangroves.

The triozids roll the edges of new leaves ( Fig. 183 ), severely damaging the new growth ( Fig. 184 ). The damaged portion of the leaf eventually turns black and falls off. Immatures ( Fig. 182 ) secrete copious sticky wax inside the rolled leaves. Tuthill (1944b) described the species as Trioza ; however, characters of the head, pronotum, metatibiae and male and female terminalia place this species in Leuronota , as defined by Burckhardt (1988) and Brown and Hodkinson (1988). The immatures ( Fig. 182 ) have the thickened antennal segment 3 also characteristic for Leuronota . Here we formally transfer the species as Leuronota maritima (Tuthill, 1944) , comb. nov. from Trioza .

Nothotrioza Burckhardt, 2013

Figures

Figures 181–184. Triozidae. 181) Hemitrioza sonchi: immatures with waxy secretions. 182) Leuronota maritima: immature with wax stands on the abdomen. 183) Leuronota maritima: roll gall with immatures. 184) Damage on Avicennia germinans by Leuronota maritima. (Photos by Jeff Lotz, FDACS, DPI: 181; David Ziesk, FDACS, DPI 182, 183; Susan Halbert, FDACS, DPI: 184).