Research Article |
Corresponding author: Daniel Burckhardt ( daniel.burckhardt@bs.ch ) Academic editor: Hannes Baur
© 2021 Daniel Burckhardt, Dalva L. Queiroz.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Burckhardt D, Queiroz DL (2021) Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov., a psyllid (Hemiptera, Psylloidea) associated with Poiretia bahiana (Fabaceae) endemic to the Espinhaço mountain range (Brazil, Bahía). Alpine Entomology 5: 69-75. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.5.70640
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Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov., associated with Poiretia bahiana C. Mueller (Fabaceae, Faboideae, Dalbergieae), is described, diagnosed and illustrated. The new species is morphologically similar to M. aeschynomenis, M. aurantia, M. cubana and M. didyma from which it differs in details of the terminalia and the host plant. Poiretia constitutes a previously unknown psyllid host. As its host, Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov. is probably endemic to rock habitats of the Espinhaço Range in eastern Brazil. These rock habitats display a high species diversity but are seriously threatened by human activities. More research on these habitats is urgently needed to design efficient conservation strategies.
Sternorrhyncha, Psyllidae, Ciriacreminae, systematics, phytophagy, distribution
The Serra do Espinhaço, a mountain range in eastern Brazil (states of Bahía and Minas Gerais), is famous for its high floristic diversity and endemism. Both, species richness and narrow endemism, are mostly concentrated in the “campos rupestres” (= rock fields, rupestrian fields) (
Psylloidea or jumping plant lice are highly host specific phloem-feeders. The world fauna comprises just over 4000 described species but the fauna of the tropics is generally poorly known, and many more species can be expected. From Brazil 160 species have been reported (
Material is deposited in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel, Switzerland (
With currently 51 described species, the neotropical Mitrapsylla constitutes the largest genus of Ciriacreminae (Psyllidae). It occurs from the southern United States in the north to northern Argentina in the south with 40 species reported from Brazil. The genus was reviewed by
Brazil, Bahía, Palmeiras, Morro do Pai Inácio, 12.4572°S, 41.4727°W, 1110 m.
Holotype. Male. Brazil: Bahía, Palmeiras, Morro do Pai Inácio, 12.4572°S, 41.4727°W, 1110 m, 23.iv.2021, D. Burckhardt & D.L. Queiroz #424(1) // Poiretia bahiana Fabaceae, rock vegetation // Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov., holotype, det. D. Burckhardt, 2021 // UFPR, dry.
Paratypes. Brazil, 5 males, 6 females, Bahía, same data as holotype (
Brazil, 4 first, 2 second instar immatures, Bahía, same data as holotype (
Adult head and thorax with pattern consisting of fine whitish lines and dots. Genal processes irregularly conical, subacute apically, 0.5–0.7 times as long as vertex along midline. Forewing with surface spinules usually present in all cells but much reduced, present in cell c+sc at the apex, in r1 along apical margin, in r2 in apical half of cell, in m1 in apical third or half, in m2 in basal half and near apex of cell, in cu1 almost completely reduced, in cell cu2 covering most of the cell but leaving broad spinule-free stripes along the veins; radular spinules present in cells m1, m2, cu1 and sometimes in r2. Paramere, in profile, narrow, clavate; sclerotised ridge apically, more or less in the middle, in dorsal view bearing two small teeth. Distal segment of aedeagus complex, with unipartite dorsal lobe. Female proctiger, in profile, with dorsal outline weakly indented adjacent to circumanal ring, in apical half almost straight or weakly convex; apex narrowly rounded.
Adult (Figs
Habitat, host and habitus of Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov. 1. Morro do Pai Inácio (Bahía, Palmeiras), type locality of M. rupestris sp. nov.; 2, 3. Poiretia bahiana, the host of M. rupestris sp. nov., growing in rock habitats (2) with detail of glandular leaflets (3); 4–7. habitus, adults 4, 6. in profile; 5, 7. in dorsal view; 4, 5. male; 6, 7. female. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.
Conforming to the generic description of
Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov. 8, 9. Head, in dorsal view, showing colour pattern (8) and microsculpture (9); 10–13. forewing; 10, 12. bright field, showing venation and colour; 11, 13. dark field, showing surface spinules; 10, 11. male; 12, 13. female. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (8, 9); 0.3 mm (10–13).
Measurements (in mm; 2 ♂, 2 ♀). Head width ♂ 0.56–0.58, ♀ 0.60; antenna length ♂ 1.24–1.26, ♀ 1.30–1.32; forewing length ♂ 1.60–1.64, ♀ 1.68; male proctiger length 0.20–0.22; paramere length 0.20; length of distal segment of aedeagus 0.26–0.28; female proctiger length 0.60–0.62.
Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov., terminalia. 14. Male terminalia, in profile; 15. inner face of paramere; 16. dorsal view of parameres, setae on right paramere omitted (anterior = up); 17. distal portion of aedeagus; 18. ventral lobe of distal portion of aedeagus with lateral tubercles, in ventral view; 19. female terminalia, in profile; 20. peg setae on female proctiger; 21. female subgenital plate, in ventral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (14, 19, 21); 0.05 mm (15–18); 0.03 mm (20).
Fifth instar immature unknown, only first and second instars available.
From Latin rupes = rock, referring to its occurrence in rock habitats; rupestris is an adjective in the nominative case, feminine.
Brazil (Bahía) where it is probably endemic to the Serra do Espinhaço.
Host plant, biology and habitat. Poiretia bahiana C. Mueller (Fabaceae, Fabioideae, Dalbergieae) (Figs
Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov. resembles M. aeschynomenis Rendón-Mera, Burckhardt, Cavichioli & Queiroz, 2020, M. aurantia Rendón-Mera, Burckhardt, Cavichioli & Queiroz, 2020, M. cubana Crawford, 1914, and M. didyma Rendón-Mera, Burckhardt, Cavichioli & Queiroz, 2020, in the apically weakly expanded paramere, in profile, bearing the sclerotised apical ridge medially and in the unipartite dorsal lobe on the distal portion of the aedeagus. Mitrapsylla rupestris sp. nov. differs from the four species in the lateral tubercles on the ventral aedeagal process which are situated near the apex (rather than near the middle), and in the female proctiger which is dorsally straight or weakly convex in apical half (rather than weakly sinuous) and narrowly rounded apically (rather than obliquely truncate). In M. aeschynomenis and M. aurantia, the antennae and the genal processes are slightly shorter: antenna length/ head width ratio < 2.1 versus > 2.1 in M. rupestris sp. nov.; length ratio of genal processes/ vertex < 0.5 versus > 0.5 in M. rupestris sp. nov. From the former, M. rupestris sp. nov. differs also in the slightly more acute genal processes and from the latter in the more spaced surface spinules of the forewing. In the key of
Hosts are known for 34 of the 51 previously known Mitrapsylla species (
True endemism in psyllids is probably rare and apparently restricted distributions may merely reflect incomplete faunistic knowledge. Among the 40 Mitrapsylla species previously reported from Brazil, 26 have a relatively wide geographic distribution and are also known from outside of Brazil or have been recorded from two or more states in Brazil (
The flora of the “campos rupestres” of the Espinhaço Range is extremely species rich with a high degree of endemism (
We thank Hannes Baur, David Ouvrard and Diana Rendón-Mera for their careful review of a previous manuscript draft. We are grateful to the botanists Alexandre Gibau de Lima, Ana Paula Fortuna Perez, Jorge Antonio Silva Costa and Rubens Teixeira de Queiroz for their invaluable help with the identification of the plant samples. Collecting permits were granted by IBAMA/SISBIO: number 11832 and 65696-3.