Illuminating Insights into the Biodiversity of the Australian Psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) Collected Using Light Trapping

Abstract

The superfamily Psylloidea includes numerous species which play a key role in Australian ecology and biodiversity, as well as pests and biological control agents, and sometimes threatened species of conservation concern. Different psyllid sampling and collection techniques are usually performed depending on the nature and aim of the study: from the beating and sweeping of psyllid host plants for conservation and biodiversity assessment, to suction and sticky traps in agriculture. Due to a general lack of information on its efficacy for psyllids, however, light trapping has not usually been employed. Here we present the results obtained trapping psyllids using different light sources and we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this technique to assess psyllid biodiversity. In particular, we highlight the strength of using this methodology paired with DNA barcoding, to cast some light on psyllid biodiversity. The results obtained here suggest that the psyllid fauna of Australia is heavily understudied and the number of undescribed species might be many times higher than previously expected. Additionally, we report, for the first time, the species Trioza adventicia Tuthill 1952, and Cryptoneossa triangula Taylor 1990 in the state of Queensland.

Description of an Australian endemic species of Trioza (Hemiptera: Triozidae) pest of the endemic tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia (Myrtaceae)

“…DNA was non-destructively extracted from a total of eight single psyllids (four males and four females) using the protocol presented elsewhere for Muscidae [18]. A fragment of the subunit I of the Cytochrome Oxidase gene (COI) barcode region [19] of approximately 570 bp was targeted using the primers Psy-COI-F3 (5'-ACAATTGTTACWGCWCAYGC-3'; [20]) and HCO2198 (5'-TAAACTTCAGG GTGACCAAAAAATCA-3'; [21]). The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using the MyFi kit (Bioline Meridian Biosciences, Cincinnati, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions and the following cycle: initial denaturation at 95˚C for 5 mins, followed by 35 cycles of 30 s at 94˚C, 30 s at 50˚C and 1 min at 72˚C, and a final elongation of 7 min at 72 C. PCR products were Sanger sequenced in both directions commercially (Macrogen, Seoul, Korea).…”

Disentangling bias for non-destructive insect metabarcoding

“…Generally, invertebrate barcoding studies have targeted the subunit 1 of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase gene (COI) for specimen identification ( e.g ., Andújar et al, 2018 ; Elbrecht, Peinert & Leese, 2017 ; Yu et al, 2012 ). DNA barcoding is regularly applied to identification of undescribed species native to localised areas ( Martoni, Taylor & Blacket, 2020 ), as well as to identification of invasive insect pests ( Armstrong & Ball, 2005 ), and is now widely accepted within plant pest diagnostics protocols ( EPPO, 2021 ; Ashfaq, Hebert & Naaum, 2016 ). However, difficulties remain scaling this approach to the sheer volume of specimens that can be caught in a surveillance trap, or in a field sampling season.…”

Luminescence of Sm3+ in double perovskite‐type Ba2SrWO6 for insect trapping

“…the Australian whitefly was trapped using the light from mercury vapour lamps [8]. Yet, it is still critical to design and fabricate light trapping systems for more pest trapping to expand its application.…”

“…For example, ultraviolet (UV) light is used to attract parasitic wasps in citrus [6]. Using blue light to catch cotton aphids [7], the Australian whitefly was trapped using the light from mercury vapour lamps [8]. Yet, it is still critical to design and fabricate light trapping systems for more pest trapping to expand its application.…”