Mimosa caesalpinieaefolia Benth (Mimosaceae), native to northeastern Brazil, is a pioneer and deciduous ornamental plant. Its timber is useful as stakes, poles, firewood and charcoal. It is also used as living barrier against strong winds in restoring degraded areas and in urban regions. In addition, this plant is used as food for cattle due to its rapid growth, resistance to prolonged droughts and high protein content in its leaves [1,2]. Sap-sucking insects can damage this plant including death of terminal buds, dried up and deformation of leaves, losses of apical dominance and depreciating plant quality [2].

Immature and adults of P. phalaenoides were found on M. caesalpiniaefolia (Figure 1) in October 2011 in the city of Diamantina (18° 18 ‘S and 43º 36’ W, mean annual rainfall of 1082 mm, average temperature of 19.4°C and 1250 m altitude), Minas Gerais State, Brazil. This species of insect was identified by Dr. Stephen W. Wilson of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Central Missouri, USA. Insects were observed and collected on plants from a living barrier in an urban area and they were feeding on plant twigs and branches with wet and sticky excretions. It suggests that M. caesalpiniaefolia could be a breeding site for P. phalaenoides, besides being a source of shelter and food and, therefore, a potential host for this leafhopper.

Figure 1: Nymphs (white arrow) and adults (black arrow) of Poekilloptera phalaenoides (Hemiptera: Flatidae) on Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia (Mimosaceae). Insect: Lateral view, showing black dots (black arrow) on the insect wing.

Poekilloptera phalaenoides (Linnaeus 1758) (Auchenorrhyncha: Flatidae) has been reported in several Brazilian States such as Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima, São Paulo and Sergipe [3-5]. It is pale yellow in color with black spots and marks on the wings (Figure 1). This insect also feeds on sap and excretes a substance rich in sugars that can favor fungi growth, known as sooty mold, which affects respiration, transpiration and photosynthesis of host plants [3,5,6]. Several plants, such as those of the genera Acacia and Albizia (A. mangium and A. podalyriaefolia) (Mimosaceae), Annona (Annonaceae), Cajanus and Dipteryx (Fabaceae), Cassia and Delonix (Caesalpiniaceae), Citrus (Rutaceae), Coffea (Rubiaceae), Enterolobium (Mimosaceae), Eucalyptus and Psidium (Myrtaceae), Inga (Mimosaceae), Mangifera (Anacardiaceae), Pithecelobium (Mimosaceae), Rosa and Prunus (Rosaceae) and Theobroma (Sterculiaceae) are hosts of P. phalaenoides [3,5,6].

This work represents the first report of the P. phalaenoides hosting M. caesalpiniaefolia in Diamantina, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. This preliminary study showed that this plant is a potential host for P. phalaenoides.

This research was supported by “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)”, “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)” and “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)”. We also thank Dr. Stephen W. Wilson of the Department of Agriculture at the University of Central Missouri, USA, for the identification of this insect and to the anonymous referee for contributions.