Distribution patterns and taxonomy of some legume-feeding psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) and their hosts from the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco and Macaronesia

Abstract

AbstractDistribution patterns between continental and continental-island sister taxa are compared for some legume-feeding psyllids (Arytaininae, Psylloidea) and their host plants (Genisteae, Leguminosae). The host plant genera Adenocarpus, Chamaecytisus, Retama and Teline are characterized by distribution disjunctions, which sometimes match the disjunctions in the associated psyllids. Sister taxa pairs of Retama- and Teline-feeding psyllids from the continent and Macaronesian islands exhibit a similar geographic disjunction as their host plants, but this pattern is not found in Adenocarpus- or Chamaecytisus-feeding psyllids and their hosts. In addition, three closely related continental psyllids reflect the distribution of their Adenocarpus hosts in the montane regions of Morocco and Andalusia, but are not related to other Adenocarpus-feeding species. These examples suggest that among the Genisteae-feeding psyllids, shared distribution patterns with their hosts are localized rather than characteristic of the group as a whole. Six new species of psyllid, which feed on legume shrubs in the Genisteae, and are endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco, are described and illustrated. These species are in two taxonomically complex arytainine genera, Arytainilla and Livilla. Immature stages provide additional morphological characters useful for resolving taxonomic relationships within the Arytaininae, and the 5th instar nymphs of several species are described and illustrated. Genistoid-feeding psyllids are not known from all genera in the Genisteae but this may be due to incomplete sampling of rarer genistoid legumes. The majority of psyllids newly described here are narrow range endemics in either Andalusia or Morocco; one species occurs in both Andalusia and Morocco, and one species is more widespread in the Iberian Peninsula.