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Project Noah Nature School
Trioza sp.
This eucalyptus with slightly pendulous branches and small clusters of creamy white flowers had delicate young leaves with their tips curled into thick cups. These cups appeared to have a membranous pale or brown lid (pic 5). Some of these cups had ants clustering around them as in pic 4. On opening one of these lidded "cups', I found a 3 mm psyllid nymph with small red wide-set eyes, orange thorax and green abdomen. Wings buds were dark with a white substance stuck to them. The tree had several young leaves with these galls.
Spotted on a box gum ( ? Eucalyptus microcarpa) in a bushland reserve.
I have seen several of these in similar trees before, but the galls have been empty with little spiders using them as shelters. I believe these are made by gall-inducing psyllids.
My theory is that the adult female lays her eggs just below the cuticle of the leaf and the developing psyllid nymph feeds on the leaf tissue causing it to thicken and form the base of the"cup". The upper leaf cuticle dries-up and retracts, pulling the leaf tip with it and forming the membranous lid. The nymph develops within the cup until it emerges as an adult.
Psyllids are hemipterans and some of them form galls in a variety of plants.
I am not sure of the relationship between the ants and this species of psyllid.
My ID is tentative and is suggested only because of similar gall forming behaviour of the Trioza species. I hope someone with expertise is able to help. Thanks.
Spotted on Oct 18, 2015
Submitted on Oct 19, 2015
1 Comment
Superb series. Another undescribed one maybe but all around this area. What an interesting method.