Arytainilla spartiophila

I should have started off with these by looking through the images in the British Bugs website as there's an almost identical insect featured there, and with these being on Broom it would have been a pretty safe bet right away. But instead I took it through the RES key, and made an early error which wasted a lot of time! The genal cones were much smaller than on other psyllids I've examined so far, so I took it that they were absent, which led to a lot of unfamiliar keying (I'm yet to record any of the cone-less species) and eventually a dead-end. Had I identified the genal cones from the start they would have keyed very straightforwardly!

I had recorded the other Broom psyllid, Arytaina genistae, at the same place on numerous occasions in 2018-19 but these were my first Arytainilla. The Broom was decimated by the railway company towards the end of 2019 and I haven't seen either since 2020.

female Arytainilla spartiophila, North Elmham railway/Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 1st June 2020

female Arytainilla spartiophila, North Elmham railway/Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 25th May 2020

I wasn't completely convinced by this one - again the genal cones are very small and not dissimilar to one of the diagrams in the RES key illustrating a species without genal cones. Given that it was on Broom and didn't have strong dark markings in the wing I was fairly happy it would be Arytainilla spartiophila, but I figured I should check the genitalia matched the diagram in the RES key. They didn't! The diagram in the RES key shows a much more finely tapered paramere curved back and lacking any significant darkening at the apex. Also it doesn't illustrate the projection near the base of the proximal side of the proctiger that my specimen showed. But what else could it be? I figured it must be spartiophila but this anomaly needed resolving so I searched the internet for other illustrations of spartiophila genitalia. I found this paper describing the first Arytainilla spartiicola for Italy which showed diagrams of the genitalia of both that species and spartiophila, and sure enough their illustration of spartiophila matched my specimen pretty much perfectly. The forewing was 2.2mm long.

male Arytainilla spartiophila showing forewing, genal cones and genitalia (before and after clearing), North Elmham railway/Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 24th May 2024