A new species of bamboo-feeding plant lice found in Costa Rica

Feb 06, 2012
This is Chusquea tomentosa, the bamboo which constitutes the diet of the newly found plant lice (based on current data). Credit: Nicolás Pérez Hidalgo et al.

Several periods of field work during 2008 have led to the discovery of a new species of bamboo-feeding plant lice in Costa Rica's high-altitude region "Cerro de la Muerte". The discovery was made thanks to molecular data analysis of mitochondrial DNA. The collected records have also increased the overall knowledge of plant lice (one of the most dangerous agricultural pests worldwide) from the region with more that 20%. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

It is a well established fact that the arthropod fauna, to which plant lice also belong, is abundantly present in the tropical regions. Not so with plant lice, which prefer the temperate climates of the . This has been a bit of a paradox for scientists although it is also known that plant lice diversity increases in areas, such as mountains and high plateaus. Such is the sampling area visited in Costa Rica: "Cerro de la Muerte", or The Mountain of the Dead, the highest point in the Costa Rican section of the Inter-American Highway.

This is a microscope-enhanced photo of the newly found aphid (plant lice), Rhopalosipum chusqueae. Credit: Nicolás Pérez Hidalgo et al.

Many plant lice species feed only on one type (or even species) of plant; the diet of the newly described plant lice species consists (based on current data), for example, solely of a type of bamboo (Chusquea tomentosa). A molecular analysis was used to determine to which taxonomic genus it belongs (Rhopalosiphum). Its description is based also on molecular information of fragments of the (COI), and on nuclear gene coding, in addition to morphologic external characteristics.

Plant lice are recognized among the biggest on agriculture and gardening. From a zoological point of view though, they are very successful organisms, which although present mainly in temperate climates, have the potential to threaten even tropical regions, dedicated to plant cultivation.

Explore further: City-life changes blackbird personalities, study shows

More information: Pérez Hidalgo N, Martínez-Torres D, Collantes-Alegre JM, Villalobos Muller W, Nieto Nafría JM (2012) A new species of Rhopalosiphum (Hemiptera, Aphididae) on Chusquea tomentosa (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) from Costa Rica. ZooKeys 166: 59-73. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.166.2387

add to favorites email to friend print save as pdf

Related Stories

Body lice originate from head lice

Mar 25, 2010

Body lice, which cause highly lethal epidemics (trench fever, typhus and relapsing fever Borrelia), originate from head lice. This has recently been shown by a team from the Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research ...

Ichneumon wasp back in favor

Feb 26, 2010

The Aphidius matricariae wasp of the Ichneumon family was widely used to get rid of plant lice in greenhouse agriculture up to fifteen years ago. Since then, it has given way to its American cousin, Aphidius colemani. A comparative ...

Recommended for you

City-life changes blackbird personalities, study shows

56 minutes ago

The origins of a young animal might have a significant impact on its behavior later on in life. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, have been able to demonstrate ...

Origins of 'The Hoff' crab revealed (w/ Video)

1 hour ago

The history of a new type of crab, nicknamed 'The Hoff' because of its hairy chest, which lives around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean, has been revealed for the first ...

Personality test finds some mouse lemurs shy, others bold

6 hours ago

Anyone who has ever owned a pet will tell you that it has a unique personality. Yet only in the last 10 years has the study of animal personality started to gain ground with behavioral ecologists, said Jennifer ...

Lonely bees make better guests

13 hours ago

Solitary bees are twice as likely to pollinate the flowers they visit as their more sociable counterparts, according to a new study.

User comments : 0

More news stories

Origins of 'The Hoff' crab revealed (w/ Video)

The history of a new type of crab, nicknamed 'The Hoff' because of its hairy chest, which lives around hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean, has been revealed for the first ...

3D printing tiny batteries

(Phys.org) —3D printing can now be used to print lithium-ion microbatteries the size of a grain of sand. The printed microbatteries could supply electricity to tiny devices in fields from medicine to communications, ...