Dispersal of adult Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Homoptera: Psyllidae), the vector of citrus greening disease, in artificial release experiments

Artificial release of marked adult Diaphorina citri, the insect vector of citrus greening disease, was performed in July 2007 (10,000 adults released, experiment 1) and October 2008 (1,000 adults released, experiment 2) to determine the association of the dispersal pattern with disease invasion risk. During the experimental periods, in experiment 1, the mean dispersal distances from the release point were 5-6 m and in experiment 2 they were 6-12 m. Further examination of the relationship between dispersal distance and season is needed. The number of released D. citri declined with increasing distance from the release point and did not change markedly with time. The center of distribution moved little during the experimental period. These results suggest that the adult D. citri barely moved once they had colonized a host plant within a few days after their release. Our results also suggest that the released D. citri moved with the wind. The diffusion coefficient was estimated at 7.23 from experiment 1, but random diffusion might be a poor descriptor of the dispersal of adult D. citri.