psyllid
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From translingual Psyllidae, from Ancient Greek ψύλλα (psúlla).
Inflected forms:
form: psyllids
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Any of the host-specific plant-feeding insects of the family Psyllidae, which feed on plant juices.
pos: noun
examples: Psyllids, sometimes called 'suckers', may either be regarded as constituting a single large family (sensu stricto) of about 2000 species, or else about eight closely related families (sensu lato).
1995, J. W. Beardsley, K. S. Hagen, J. R. Leeper, R, L. Tassan, 17: Acacia Psyllid, James Robert Nechols (editor), Biological Control in the Western United States, page 91,
The acacia psyllid, Acizzia uncatoides (Ferris & Klyver) (formerly Psylla uncatoides), feeds primarily on the young terminal growth of Acacia and Albizia species.
2006, Elizabeth Grafton-cardwell, Asian Citrus Psyllid, ANR Publication 8205, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, page 3,
Psyllids extract large quantities of sap from the plant as they feed and produce copious amounts of honeydew.
They are fighting back against the voracious Asian citrus psyllid, a tiny sap-sucking insect, and the tree-killing disease known as "citrus greening" caused by bacteria the pest carries. […] Florida growers have seen troubles before, including pests and disease such as canker, which still lingers, and historic tree-killing freezes, but the Asian citrus psyllid is considered the gravest threat to citrus trees and fruit worldwide. The particularly devastating strain of the disease the insect spreads — Huanglongbing, or HLB, caused by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus — has affected dozens of countries. It's found in several states, but Florida has been hardest hit. The bugs, barely an eighth of an inch long, arrived in the state in 1998, and were detected in the commercial citrus industry in 2005. Since then, they've wreaked havoc. "We have had a 90% reduction in acreage and production compared with pre HLB," said Ute Albrecht, an associate professor of plant physiology with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. During the 2024-25 season, growers produced 14.6 million standard field boxes, down more than 25% from the previous year. It had been 125 years since production was that low. At its height, the industry produced 304 million boxes a season. The scientists blame the extent of the infection in part on Florida's heat and rain, which encourages the new growth the insects prefer to eat, hurricanes that move the bugs into new areas and delays in efforts to eradicate the psyllids from the moment they first appeared in South Florida. Psyllids operate like malaria-carrying mosquitoes, taking the disease from infected trees to healthy ones. When the bacteria hits a tree, it spreads "everywhere, not just in the leaves or on the surface," Albrecht said. Growers are working with scientists to develop and use promising treatments and tools to beat back the bugs and bacteria. That includes working with hundreds of varieties of trees and fruit to develop trees with hardier root systems and tree tops. […] State and federal programs also are assisting with the cost of new tree plantings and development of the newer tools to treat the disease. Things are "moving in the right direction," Joyner said. "It's kind of exciting to see some resurgence."
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