Detection of Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) using three sampling methods in citrus grown in protected and traditional systems

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is a devastating pest of citrus in Florida because of its role as vector of “huanglongbing” (HLB) disease. We investigated the incidence of D. citri in the Citrus Under Protective Screen (CUPS) and traditional Open air (OA) plots of citrus during 2019 and 2020 at the Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC), University of Florida, Fort Pierce, FL. The ‘Ray Ruby’ grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) trees were planted on two rootstocks (US879 and Sour Orange) and in in-ground or pots. Sampling was conducted using yellow sticky cards, stem-tapping and suction methods to detect adult D. citri. Detection of D. citri adult was rare in the CUPS and exclusively on the yellow sticky cards averaging 0.05 per card. Based on Taylor’s power law analyses, the dispersion of ACP adults in the OA was aggregated. The significantly high number of ACP per sample was detected using yellow sticky cards compared to stem-tap and suction methods. There was no significant difference in the ACP numbers detected using stem-tap and suction sampling methods. The costs associated with conducting these different sampling methods are being calculated.