psylla Ent.
(ˈsɪlə)
Also Psylla.
[mod.L. (E. F. Germar Systematis Glossatorum Prodromus (1811) 14), f. Gr. ψύλλα flea.]
Any of the jumping plant-lice belonging to the genus so called or closely related genera, which include several pests.
| 1852 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (ed. 2) 203 The pear-tree, in Europe, is subject to the attacks of..the pear-tree Psylla. 1891 Insect Life IV. 127 We had occasion some time since to abstract Dr. F. Loew's remarks on the Psyllas which inhabit the pear. 1918 W. A. Davis Study Indigo Soils Bihar 8 In 1907, two diseases appeared simultaneously—the so-called ‘wilt’ disease and the less serious insect pest ‘psylla’. 1933 Jrnl. R. Hort. Soc. LVIII. 283 ‘Eucalyptus Psylla’... Deals with a Psylla attacking Eucalypti in English greenhouses. 1972 Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. xiii. 141 Pear Psylla... A major pest of pears, first introduced into the East in 1832. |