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Cacopsylla mali
Family: Psyllidae

Cacopsylla is a large and difficult genus with genal cones and a pterostigma; many species cannot be reliably identified without examining the genitalia.

P. mali is almost indistinguishable from the very common C. peregrina, and is certainly separable only on the male genitalia. Both species darken to red-brown in the autumn, and female genitalia are very similar. Host plants can provide a useful guide, but apple and hawthorn are related, and both species can be locally abundant, making any diagnosis on that basis unreliable. The nymphs do differ, however, in details of setae and in mali lacking the brown wing-bud stripes typical of peregrina. Compare also C. visci.
   
A common species across the UK. The host plants are apple trees.

Adult: April - October
Length 3.5-4 mm
Psylla mali
Adult male: Sussex (May 2006) ©Brian Valentine

Cacopsylla mali Cacopsylla mali
Nymph: Huddersfield (April 2009) ©Joe Botting Adult male: Huddersfield (May 2009) ©Joe Botting