The Jumping Plant Louse, Hemitrioza Sonchi Crawford

A psyllid, Hemitrioza sonchi Crawford, is reported for the first time in Florida. This is the first record of this species south of Atlanta, Georgia. Its collection on a wild lettuce, Lactuca graminifolia Michx., at Orange Park, Florida by Kim M. Hakala, 8-VI-1984, is also a new host record. Some previously unpublished records of H. sonchi from the United States National Museum, Washington, D.C. are listed in a section to follow and include a new state record for Maryland. Very little is known about this psyllid except that it seems to be collected rarely and is known only from a few species of composite weeds with milky sap (Tribe Cichoriae). Because wild lettuce is in the same genus as garden lettuce, Lactuca sativa L., this psyllid possibly could infest commercial cultivars of lettuce and related ornamentals.