Cottony Alder Psyllid - Psylla floccosa

Habitat: Mixed forest

comments (7)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

I did not know this fluff is the way it sticks its casualties to its body, interesting. This one seems quite a poor hunter :) Posted 4 years ago

Pudding4brains

Lion

Hi Christine,
just now I stumbled on this observation on iNat (and you and Lisa :o))) as I was checking out other IDs made by Vladislav Grigorenko (he had just [Agree]d on two obs of 2Micromus canariensis that I had uploaded there for the sole purpose of earning enough "goodie points" to be able to send a message to someone I wanted to contact). Seems Vladislav mostly knows his stuff on Lacewings ;o)
Anyway, as stated there: IMHO this is some woolly Aphid :o)
https://inaturalist.org/observations/68032559 Posted 4 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks Arp! I just updated the spotting here and on iNat after reading your comments. I think this is a woolly alder aphid. What do you think? (It was on alder).
  
  https://uwm.edu/field-station/woolly-alder-aphid/ Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
2. 1. Pudding4brains
    
    Lion
    
    Just now had a second look and tried applying a key with your info of it being an Alder tree ... couldn't make it fit for the USA so had a better look ....
    Now I think it should be Psylla floccosa - the Cottony Alder Psyllid.
    Sorry about the Aphid side track(!) - I thought the Psyllidae nymphs had shorter antennae, but I had that wrong :-/
    
    P.S. In my defense : I had this type of nymph in my head, but that is a Psyllid in the family Triozidae, the nymphs of the Psyllidae are different *rolleyes*
    
    Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Awesome, Arp! Thanks so much. And, that nymph is adorable. Posted 4 years ago
    2. 1. Flown Kimmerling
        
        Lion
        
        Yayyy! So glad you all figured it out! Posted 4 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks to Arp <3. He is the "weird arthropod" genius. Posted 4 years ago