Mohammadali Mirhosseini

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is one of the most important and destructive pests of citrus in the world, because of its ability to vector bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter americanus and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the presumed causal pathogen of Huanglongbing (HLB) or greening disease. The biology and reproduction parameters of D. citri were studied at 27.5°C on four host plants corresponding to the four major varieties cultivated in Iran, namely, Marsh grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), local sour orange (C. aurantium), Mexican lime (C. aurantifolia), and Campbell Valencia orange (C. sinensis). The average developmental period of total nymphal stages and total cycle (egg to adult) were significantly longer on Campbell Valencia orange (21.2 and 24.1 days, respectively) than on other host plants. The mean of pre-oviposition period on four host plants varied (2.4-4.0 days) and was significantly longer on Campbell Valencia orange (4 days) than on other host plants. Oviposition rate and total eggs laid were not significantly different between the different hosts. Survival rate of D. citri was significantly lower on Campbell Valencia orange (42.1%) than on the three other varieties. The finite rate of increase (λ) and the rm value of D. citri were higher on Mexican lime (1.20 and 0.17, respectively) than on the three other hosts. Also, mean doubling time was higher on Marsh grapefruit (11.84 Days) than on other host plants. These new data give more insight about susceptibility of the different varieties of citrus to D. citri.