Travelling with tea: a Tuckerella’s tale

Tuckerella japonica Ehara appears strongly associated with tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze, Theaceae) and, due to certain cultural practices in tea production, has in fact become a world traveller, accompanying the greatly coveted tea plant as it spread across the planet. The history of tea production and culture, and its arrival in the USA, provides the backdrop for this traveller’s tale. Tuckerella japonica is morphologically similar to T. flabellifera Miller, described from Tasmania in Australia from Bedfordia salicina (Labill.) D.G. (Asteraceae). These two species have historically been misidentified as each other, creating inaccuracies in the collection records. The implications of this in terms of host plant lists and world distribution are discussed further, along with their morphological separation. The male and immature stages of T. japonica are described for the first time. Tuckerella xinglongensis Lin and Fu, from tea in China, is considered a junior synonym of T. japonica. The loss of the ancestral prostigmatan condition of three nymphal stages during ontogeny is confirmed for males of T. flabellifera, which do not retain a tritonymphal stage.