The Asiatic Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina Citri Kuwayama

The Asiatic or oriental citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is widely distributed in southern Asia. It is an important pest of citrus in several countries, particularly India, where there has been a serious decline of citrus in recent years. This psyllid does not occur in North America or Hawaii but was reported in Brazil, by Costa Lima (1942; Rio de Janeiro) and Catling (1970). D. citri often has been referred to as “citrus psylla,” but this is the same common name often applied to Trioza erytreae (Del Guercio), the psyllid pest of citrus in Africa. T. erytreae, to avoid confusion, should be referred to as the African citrus psyllid or the twospotted citrus psyllid (the latter name in reference to a pair of spots on the base of the abdomen in late stage nymphs). These 2 psyllids are the only known vectors of the etiologic agent of citrus greening disease and are the only economic species on citrus in the world. Three other species of Diaphorina have been reported on citrus (2 in Swaziland, 1 in India), but these are non-vector species of relatively little importance.