Unusual behaviour - unusual morphology: Mutualistic relationships between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Diaphorina enderleini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), associated with Vernonia amygdalina (Asteraceae)

Abstract

Diaphorina enderleini, known from Sudan, Tanzania and Yemen, is reported for the first time from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Kenya. Observations and records from Cameroon and Ethiopia show that it develops on Vernonia amygdalina. The species is diagnosed and the last instar larva is described and illustrated. The larvae lack a functional circumanal ring and do not produce wax, a feature unusual for psyllids. The lack of wax deprives them of the protection common in various free-living psyllids. Consequently the psyllid is involved in an unusual mutualistic interaction with the ants Pheidole megacephala and Crematogaster striatula. This association is described and discussed.