Hackberry Nipplegall Psyllid

Fascinating facts about the Hackberry Nipplegall Psyllid

• These tiny insects measure just 3-4 mm from head to wing tip, yet they can launch themselves across a leaf like miniature spring-loaded rockets. Their mottled light-brown bodies look like tiny leafhoppers, with wings folded in a tent shape over the back, and they are capable of jumping great distances.
• Pachypsylla celtidismamma inhabits the whole of North America, but it is most abundant east of the Rocky Mountains, where hackberry trees are plentiful. The species has also been introduced into California, expanding its range beyond its native eastern stronghold.
• The hackberry nipple-gall maker lives on hackberry trees (Ulmaceae: Celtis spp.), feeding on species such as C. occidentalis, C. reticulata, C. tenuifolia, and C. laevigata. Females lay their eggs on developing leaves early in the growing season; the emerging nymphs induce smooth, rounded galls on the leaf underside. Adults appear in late summer to early fall, then seek shelter to overwinter, ready to restart the cycle when new leaves unfurl the following spring.
• Recent studies suggest that P. celtidismamma is part of a cryptic species complex that may contain as many as seven distinct lineages, all looking almost identical to the naked eye. Adults of these hidden species can only be distinguished with difficulty, meaning that what was once thought to be a single species actually represents a hidden diversity of gall-forming insects sharing the same host trees.
• A recent genome project produced the first chromosome-level assembly for a psyllid, confirming that this group has an X0 sex-determination system. In psyllids, male-biased genes are enriched on autosomes rather than the X chromosome, contrasting sharply with aphid genomes where male-biased genes cluster on the X.

At a glance

About the Hackberry Nipplegall Psyllid

In the warm, golden light of a summer's day, the Hackberry Nipplegall Psyllid dances across the leafy expanse of its host tree, its delicate, lace-like wings beating in a hypnotic rhythm as it sips the sweet, sticky sap from the hackberry's tender shoots. With each step, it weaves a intricate narrative of life and adaptation, its very existence a testament to the complex, symbiotic relationships that underpin the natural world. As it moves, the psyllid leaves behind a trail of tiny, nipple-like galls that swell and burst with new life, a remarkable manifestation of its remarkable, if diminutive, presence.

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