The mulberry psyllid is a tiny sap-sucking insect, about 1/8 inch (3 mm) long, that lives on mulberry trees. It isn't known to occur in the United States; it lives in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and Russia), where it's a pest of mulberry grown for silkworms and fruit. It's also called the mulberry sucker.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A tiny jumping plant louse with clear forewings scattered with dark dots; the wing tip looks cut off at a slant.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Mulberry trees
- Range
- Temperate East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, and Russia.
- Preferred conditions
- Feeds on mulberries (Morus), including white mulberry (Morus alba).
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults and young suck sap from mulberry leaves. Heavy feeding drains the plant and leaves sticky and threads of wax on leaves and fruit.
Life cycle
- Breeding season
- One generation a year; the insect spends the winter as an adult.
- Larva
- The young (nymphs) give off white, thread-like wax as they feed.
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