A Taxonomic Study of Jumping Plant Lice of the Subfamily Liviinae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) in Central America
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PŘÍRODOVĚDECKÁ FAKULTA A taxonomic study of jumping plant lice of the subfamily Liviinae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) in Central America Bakalářská práce ELIZAVETA KVINIKADZE Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D.Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D. Ústav botaniky a zoologie Obor Ekologická a evoluční biologie Brno 2021 Bibliografický záznam Autor: Elizaveta Kvinikadze Přírodovědecká fakulta Masarykova univerzita Ústav botaniky a zoologie Název práce: A taxonomic study of jumping plant lice of the subfamily Liviinae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) in Central America Studijní program: Ekologická a evoluční biologie Studijní obor: Ekologická a evoluční biologie Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D. Rok: 2021 Počet stran: 92 Klíčová slova: Central America, Liviinae, Diclidophlebia, new species, Melastomataceae, biocontrol agent A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF JUMPING PLANT LICE OF THE SUBFAMILY LIVIINAE (HEMIPTERA: PSYLLOIDEA) IN CENTRAL AMERICA Bibliographic record Author: Elizaveta Kvinikadze Faculty of Science Masaryk University Department of Botany and Zoology Title of Thesis: A taxonomic study of jumping plant lice of the subfamily Liviinae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) in Central America Degree Programme: Ecological and Evolutionary Biology Field of Study: Ecological and Evolutionary Biology Supervisor: Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D. Year: 2021 Number of Pages: 92 Keywords: Central America, Liviinae, Diclidophlebia, new species, Melastomataceae, biocontrol agent 3 Anotace Mery (Insecta: Hemiptera: Psylloidea) jsou fytofágní hmyz většinou úzce specializovaný na své hostitelské rostliny, a proto potenciálně vyu- žitelný v biologické regulaci invazních druhů rostlin. Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae) je dřevina původně rozšířená ve Střední a Jižní Ame- rice, představující dnes riziko pro mnoho tropických ekosystémů. Rod Diclidophlebia Crawford, 1920 (Liviidae: Liviinae) je nadějná skupina mer pro vyhledání vhodných druhů pro potlačení této invazní rostliny. Tato bakalářská práce se věnuje taxonomii jedinců rodu Diclidophlebia nasbíraných v Kostarice a Belize a uložených ve sbírkách Natural History Museum v Londýně. Z tohoto materiálu bylo neformálně popsáno osm nových druhů, včetně jejich ilustrací. Dále byl zpracován určovací klíč za- hrnující dříve známé i nově popisované druhy ze Střední Ameriky. A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF JUMPING PLANT LICE OF THE SUBFAMILY LIVIINAE (HEMIPTERA: PSYLLOIDEA) IN CENTRAL AMERICA Abstract Jumping plant-lice (Insecta: Hemiptera: Psylloidea) can be potentially used as biocontrol agents against invasive plants due to their monopha- gous behavior. Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae), originally distrib- uted in Central and South America, represents a threat to numerous eco- systems in the tropics, and Diclidophlebia Crawford, 1920 (Liviidae: Liv- iinae) is a promising jumping plant-louse genus for finding a suitable agent. This bachelor thesis deals with the taxonomy of Diclidophlebia specimens collected in Costa Rica and Belize and deposited in the Natural History Museum, London. From this material, eight new species of Dicli- dophlebia were informally described and illustrated. Identification key to Liviinae of Central America including previously known and newly de- scribed species was also provided. 5 A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF JUMPING PLANT LICE OF THE SUBFAMILY LIVIINAE (HEMIPTERA: PSYLLOIDEA) IN CENTRAL AMERICA Declaration Prohlašuji, že jsem svoji práci vypracovala samostatně pod vedením ve- doucího práce s využitím informačních zdrojů, které jsou v práci ci- továny. Brno March 13, 2019 ....................................... Elizaveta Kvinikadze 9 A TAXONOMIC STUDY OF JUMPING PLANT LICE OF THE SUBFAMILY LIVIINAE (HEMIPTERA: PSYLLOIDEA) IN CENTRAL AMERICA Acknowledgements I would like to thank Igor Malenovský for supervising the work on the thesis, especially under pandemic circumstances. Also I am grateful to Liliia Serbina for teaching skills for practical part of the thesis. Special thanks to David Hollis, who collected the majority of the material, and to the Natural History Museum London for giving the opportunity to work with the material. Šablona DP 3.1.1-SCI-anglicky (2021-03-15) © 2014, 2016, 2018–2020 Masarykova univerzita 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Aims of the bachelor thesis .................................................................... 16 2 Review of literature 17 2.1 Systematics of Liviinae Löw, 1879 ...................................................... 17 2.2 Psyllids of Central America .................................................................... 20 2.3 Liviinae of Central America ................................................................... 21 2.4 Psyllids as biocontrol agents ................................................................. 23 3 Material and methods 26 4 Results: Taxonomic descriptions 28 4.1 Diclidophlebia sp. A ................................................................................ 28 4.2 Diclidophlebia sp. B ................................................................................ 33 4.3 Diclidophlebia sp. C ................................................................................. 38 4.4 Diclidophlebia sp. D ................................................................................ 44 4.5 Diclidophlebia sp. E ................................................................................. 50 4.6 Diclidophlebia sp. F ................................................................................. 56 4.7 Diclidophlebia sp. G ................................................................................ 61 4.8 Diclidophlebia sp. H ................................................................................ 66 5 Discussion 71 5.1 Updated diagnosis of the genus Diclidophlebia in Central America ......................................................................................................... 71 5.2 Identification key to species of Diclidophlebia in Central America ......................................................................................................... 72 5.3 Systematic relationships among Central American Diclidophlebia spp. .................................................................................... 76 5.4 Host plant associations .......................................................................... 78 6 Conclusion 79 13 TABLE OF CONTENTS Bibliography 81 Appendix A Measurements and ratios 87 INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction Psyllids or jumping plant-lice (Sternorrhyncha: Psylloidea) are small hemipteran in- sects that are characterized by jumping hind legs. Similar to aphids, they feed on plant sap from phloem vessels. Usually they are narrowly host-specific in terms of maturation period and premature feeding, although adult psyllids can appear on plants unsuitable for nymphal development (Hodkinson 1974, Burckhardt et al. 2014). Some psyllids are well- known for their economic importance, often as vectors of phytopathogenic bacteria re- siding in plant phloem. For example, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, 1908 and Trioza erytreae Del Guercio, 1918 are vectors of Candidatus Liberibacter spp., causing the huanglongbing or citrus greening disease (Aubert 1987, Halbert & Manjunath 2004, Bové 2006). The disease causes high citrus tree mortality, reduce yields, and decrease fruit size (Spreen et al. 2014). There are more than 4000 described species of psyllids, however the taxonomic knowledge of the group in different parts of the world is highly uneven. Tropical psyllids in general are quite poorly explored (Burckhardt & Queiroz 2012). This is also true for Central America, with the exception of Panama, the psyllid fauna of which was mono- graphed by Brown & Hodkinson (1988). Beside the ultimate goal of biological systemat- ics to complete the biodiversity inventory of the world, there is a practical reason why to study Central American psyllids in particular. Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae), an invasive plant native to the region, represents a serious threat to the highly endemic biota in many Pacific islands where it was introduced (Meyer & Florence 1996). Incorporation of a suitable biocontrol agent in the management strategy is perhaps the only way to con- trol M. calvescens (Meyer et al. 2011). Many Neotropical psyllids of the genus Dicli- dophlebia Crawford, 1920 (Liviidae: Liviinae) are associated with the Melastomataceae family and two previously described species, D. lucens Burckhardt et al., 2005 from Costa Rica and D. smithi Burckhardt et al., 2006 from Brazil, are known to develop specifically on M. calvescens (Burckhardt et al. 2005, 2006). Therefore, there is a chance to find a suitable biocontrol agent among psyllids by studying Neotropical fauna. 15 INTRODUCTION However, the systematics of Liviidae and Diclidophlebia has been obscure and subject to many changes in classification and nomenclature in the past (Burckhardt & Mifsud 2003, Burckhardt & Ouvrard 2012, Burckhardt et al. 2021). Based on ongoing molecular and morphological studies of Liviinae systematics, Diclidophlebia is not monophyletic and should be revised (Štarhová Serbina & Malenovský, pers. comm.). A detailed docu- mentation of the taxonomic diversity based on the study of material from previously poorly explored regions already available in museum collections is one of the steps to- wards a better knowledge of Liviinae systematics and a proper selection of potentially suitable species to control the invasive Miconia. 1.1 Aims of the bachelor thesis This bachelor thesis has the following aims: