''Psylla alni'' is a species of

psyllid Psyllidae, the jumping plant lice or psyllids, are a family of small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host-specific, i.e. each plant-louse species only feeds on one plant species (monophagous) or feeds on a few closely related plants ( ...

, a plant-feeding hemipteran in the family

Psyllidae Psyllidae, the jumping plant lice or psyllids, are a Family (biology), family of small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host-specific, i.e. each plant-louse species only feeds on one plant species (monophagous) or feeds on a few closel ...

. It is the type species of ''

Psylla ''Psylla'' (from the Greek ''psulla'', meaning flea) is the type genus of sap-sucking insects in the family Psyllidae. There are at least 110 described species in ''Psylla''. Species within the genus feed on various host plants. Some agricu ...

'', which is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

in its family.

Distribution

This species is present in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

(from Europe to Siberia and Sakhalin, Kazakhstan, Caucasus) and in the

Nearctic realm The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

).Fauna Europaea
/ref>

Description

''Psylla alni'' can reach a body length of about . These rather large psyllids have a green head, body, and legs, and rather long antennae. The costal marginal veins of the wings are green, while the other veins are brown. Adults are initially green, later becoming orange, brown, or reddish. The nymphs are usually covered by white waxy secretions.
/ref> In the 5th preimaginal stage nymphs can reach a length of about .

Biology

Adults can be found from June to October. This species has one generation a year (

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

) and overwinters as an egg. It is monophagous on most

Betulaceae Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams, numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of ...

(''

Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. ...

'', '' Alnus hirsuta'', ''

Alnus incana ''Alnus incana'', the grey alder, tag alder or speckled alder, is a species of multi-stemmed, shrubby tree in the birch family, with a wide range across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Tolerant of wetter soils, it can slowly spread w ...

'', '' Alnus japonica'', ''

Alnus viridis ''Alnus alnobetula'' is a common tree widespread across much of Europe, Asia, and North America. Many sources refer to it as ''Alnus viridis'', the green alder, but botanically this is considered an illegitimate name synonymous with ''Alnus alno ...

''). Larvae feed on young shoots in the leaf axils.Plant Parasites of Europe

References

*Psyl'list: Psylloidea database. Ouvrard D.,

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3410222 Psyllidae Hemiptera of Asia Hemiptera of Europe Hemiptera of North America Insects described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus