First record of the pepper tree psyllid, Calophya schini Tuthill (Hemiptera, Calophyidae), in the Palaearctic region Vera Zina & Arlindo Lima & Filomena Caetano & Elsa Borges da Silva & Ana Paula Ramos & José Carlos Franco Received: 28 October 2011 /Accepted: 25 November 2011 /Published online: 9 December 2011 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract The presence of the psyllid Calophya schini infesting the Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle, was detected in several localities in the region of Lisbon, in Portugal. This is the first record of this jumping plant- louse in Europe and the Palaearctic region. Keywords Galls . Jumping plant-lice . Portugal . Psylloids . Schinus molle The Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae), is an evergreen, fast-growing, 3– 15-m tall dioicious plant, with alternate pinnate leaves, small yellow flowers and red fruits. Native to the Andes, S. molle was brought in the 16 th Century to Mexico by Spanish settlers and introduced in the early 18 th Century into Europe. Today, it is widely planted as an ornamental for its attractive foliage and showy red fruits in California (USA), Mexico, the arid parts of Australia and in many other moderately warm and semiarid regions, including southern Europe (Burckhardt & Basset 2000; Howard & Minnich 1989; D.M. Iponga, Ph.D. thesis, 2009, Stellenbosch Univ.; Kramer 1957). The dried fruits of S. molle are used as a pepper-like condiment or to adulterate pepper (Burckhardt & Basset 2000). This tree is also known for its medicinal proper- ties. It has been used as an astringent, balsamic, diuretic, expectorant, masticatory, purgative, stomachic, tonic and vulnerary, and in the treatment of several health problems (Orwa et al. 2009). Extracts of S. molle were shown to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti- cancer effects (Barrachina et al. 1997; Bendaoud et al. 2010; Diaz et al. 2008; Yueqin et al. 2003), and have been explored for pest control due to their antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, insecticidal and repellent properties (Benzi et al. 2009; Deveci et al. 2010; Dikshit et al. 1986; Huerta et al. 2010). Schinus molle is also consid- ered an invasive plant species of natural areas in California and South Africa (Howard & Minnich 1989; Iponga et al. 2009). In its native range, Schinus is attacked by different insects including cecidogenous jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera, Psylloidea). The Schinus psylloids belong to two genera, Calophya Löw (Calophyidae) and Tainarys Brèthes (Psyllidae: Rhinocolinae). Native to China, Calophya rhois Löw is the only Calophya spe- cies known in Europe, reported from an Anacardiaceae host plant, Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Burckhardt & Basset 2000; de Jong 2011). There are 15 described Calophya species which have been reported from Phytoparasitica (2012) 40:127–130 DOI 10.1007/s12600-011-0209-x V. Zina : E. B. da Silva : J. C. Franco (*) Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal e-mail: jsantossilva@isa.utl.pt A. Lima : F. Caetano : A. P. Ramos Centro de Engenharia dos Biossistemas, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal