Distribution, Biology, Ecology and Control of the Psyllid Diaphorina Citri Kuwayama, a Major Pest of Citrus: a Status Report for China
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International Journal of Pest Management, October – December 2006; 52(4): 343 – 352 Distribution, biology, ecology and control of the psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, a major pest of citrus: A status report for China YUEPING YANG1, MINGDU HUANG1, G. ANDREW C. BEATTIE2, YULU XIA3, GECHENG OUYANG1, & JINJUN XIONG1 1Guangdong Entomological Institute, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China, 2Centre for Plant and Food Science, University of Western Sydney, Penrith South DC, New South Wales, Australia, and 3National Science Foundation Center for Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA Abstract The Asiatic citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is a major pest of citrus in China. Its status derives, not from the damage it causes, but from its role as the only known vector in China of huanglongbing, a phloem- limited bacterial disease of international importance. The disease can devastate orchards within a few years of planting. It also poses a major threat to endangered indigenous citrus germplasm in Asia and Australasia. The distribution, biology, ecology and control of the psyllid in China are reviewed in these contexts. Constraints and challenges related to control of the vector in China are discussed. Keywords: Diaphorina citri, huanglongbing, distribution, biology, ecology, control gram-negative bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter 1. Introduction asiaticus Jagoueix, Bove´& Garnier (a-Proteobacteria) Asiatic citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Jagoueix et al. 1994; Garnier et al. 2000). ‘Huan- [Hemiptera: Psyllidae]) was recognised as a major glongbing’ is the official name of the disease (van pest of citrus in subtropical and tropical Asia, initially Vuuren 1996) although it has a number of common in India and then elsewhere in the region (Husain and names and is most widely known as citrus greening Nath 1927; Pruthi and Mani 1945; Ebeling 1950). (da Graca 1991; Halbert and Manjunath 2004) and The available evidence suggests that it is indigenous to in Indonesia as citrus vein-phloem degeneration the Indian subcontinent (Hollis 1987) and has spread (Tirtawidjaja et al. 1965). The devastating nature of from this region to other citrus-producing regions of the disease is well described by Aubert (1990) and Ke Asia and also to Re´union, Mauritius, New Guinea (1991). Aubert (1990) reported that 20% of trees in a (Waterhouse 1998), and South America (Halbert and poorly managed orchard in Shantou in Guangdong Nunez 2004). Most recently, it has reached the south- were lost to huanglongbing within four years of eastern citrus-producing regions of the USA (Halbert planting. The disease spread so rapidly that the and Manjunath 2004). Adults and nymphs suck sap orchard lost its commercial value within 7 to 8 years from the phloem of tender shoots and buds, whilst of planting. Ke (1991) reported that it destroyed adults also feed on the phloem of mature leaves. dozens of millions of citrus trees in China between Severe infestations in orchards and gardens lead to 1920 and 1970. Of increasing importance is the withering, distortion, and loss of immature leaves and potential threat of the disease to rare germplasm, irregular-shaped canopies. Growth of sooty mould particularly Citrus spp. (sensu stricto), all of which are fungi (possibly several species: see Reynolds 1999) on native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia and honeydew excreted by nymphs leads to blemishing of Australasia (see Mabberley 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, foliage and fruit, and can reduce photosynthesis 2004; Ramo´n-Laca 2003). (Wang et al. 2001). However, the status of the psyllid In this paper, we review the biology, ecology and as a pest in orchards is due to it being the vector of control of D. citri in China. We summarise valuable huanglongbing (Tirtawidjaja et al. 1965; Teaching & but poorly accessible information of growing impor- Research Group of Phytopathology of Guangdong tance to a now almost worldwide crisis facing Agricultural and Forest College 1977; Xu et al. 1988), both commercial citrus production and the preserva- a devastating disease caused by the phloem-limited tion of rare germplasm. Effective containment and Correspondence: Y. Yang, Guangdong Entomological Institute, 105 Xingang Road West, Guangzhou 510260, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China. Tel: 86 0 13729806164 or 86 20 84197197. E-mail: [email protected] ISSN 0967-0874 print/ISSN 1366-5863 online Ó 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/09670870600872994 344 Y. Yang et al. management of the disease in China, one of the (mock or jasmine orange) and trifoliate orange, world’s largest citrus producers, can only be achieved then other hosts; among commercial citrus, citron through use of disease-free trees, suppression of (C. medica L.) is the most seriously damaged, D. citri populations to minimum levels, quarantine, followed by sweet orange, and then mandarins eradication of the disease and its vector where (C. reticulata Blanco) (Xie et al. 1989a). In Guang- practicable (Chen and Liao 1982; Wang et al. dong and Fujian, the preferred host is jasmine orange 2002), education of farmers, and prohibition of (Xu C et al. 1994; Waterhouse 1998). Xu et al. unacceptable propagation practices such as marcot- (1988) cited wampee (Clausena lansium (Lour.) ting (air-layering: vegetative propagation achieved by Skeels) and Chinese box orange (Severinia buxifolia encouraging roots to form on a branch while it is still (Poir.) Ten. (¼ Atalantia buxifolia (Poir.) D. Oliver) attached to the selected parent tree). Control of the as hosts on which the psyllid can survive and vector is costly and difficult; tolerant citrus species reproduce easily. and cultivars have not been identified (He 2000), and the search for such germplasm for use as scions and 2.2. Distribution of D. citri in China rootstocks is hampered by inadequate knowledge about the origins of the disease, the vector, and their In China, D. citri is now distributed within 10 hosts. These are issues of increasing importance in provinces, one autonomous region and two Special southeast Asia and more broadly, given detection of Administrative Regions. These comprise, in decreas- disease in Brazil in 2004 and Florida in 2005 and the ing order of economic impact of the disease, distribution of D. citri in the USA and South America Guangdong, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous (Halbert and Manjunath 2004; Halbert and Nunez Region, Taiwan (Husain and Nath 1927; Huang 2004). 1953; Catling 1970; Lin et al. 1973; He 2000), Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hainan (Hoffmann 1936), and the Macao 2. Hosts plants and spread of D. citri in China (Huang 1953) and Hongkong (So 1967; Catling 1970) Special Administrative Regions. 2.1. Host plants The highest infestations of the psyllid, and According to He (2000), hosts of D. citri in China therefore the highest incidence of the disease, include up to 27 species within seven genera of occur in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan Rutaceae: Atalantia, Citrus, Fortunella and Poncirus in the southeast sector of the county, with the within the tribe Aurantieae (Citreae), Murraya and boundary separating high from low incidence Clausena within the tribe Clauseneae, and Euodia running from 298N in Zhejiang to 258N in Yunnan (misspelt as Evodia) within the tribe Zanthoxyleae. in a sea-facing convex arc running slightly inland The tribes Aurantieae and Clauseneae fall within the from the mountain ranges that separates inland subfamily Aurantioideae, while the Zanthoxyleae is a Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi from coastal tribe within the Rutoideae. However, recent research Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. How- has questioned the taxonomic status of some of these ever, the records extend further northwards, species and placement of genera within tribes. The particularly along river valleys, to between 248 taxonomy of host species has serious implications for and 288N in inland Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and our understanding of host-plant relationships. With- Jiangxi and 298N in coastal Zhejiang. Records are out this basic knowledge, development of manage- summarised in Table I. ment plans for the disease, preservation of The northernmost distribution of D. citri varies germplasm, and selection of tolerant scions and annually. In Zhejiang, populations are governed by rootstocks will be greatly hindered. Most notably, migration of adult psyllids and the severities of Mabberley (2004) considers sweet and sour oran- winters (Xie et al. 1988a). Li et al. (1992) found ges (C. 6 aurantium), lemon (C. 6 limon), lime that survival and northerly distributions of popula- (C. 6 aurantiifolia) and grapefruit (C. 6 aurantium) tions in southern Hunan required: (i) narrow to be hybrids. He has also reunited Fortunella divergence between mean daily and minimum (kumquat), trifoliate orange rootstock Poncirus trifo- temperatures in January in the year under considera- liata (L.) Raf., and Australasian Microcitrus and tion and that of long-term (24 years) data for the Eremocitrus with Citrus (Mabberley 1997, 1998, same variables; (ii) large populations of D. citri in the 2002, 2004). Murraya (sensu stricto) has recently neighbouring regions of Guangxi, Guangdong and been transferred from the Clauseneae to the Autan- Jiangxi; and (iii) overwintering populations in rela- tieae and curry bush is once again Bergera koenigii L. tively warm basin-shaped valleys. Likewise, variabil- not M. koenigii (L.) (Samuel et al. 2001). Euodia ity of distributions of the psyllid in the vicinity of rutaecarpa (A. Juss.) Benth, the single species of Guilin of northern Guangxi may be also governed by Euodia cited by He (2000), is now Tetradium climate (Qiu and Huang 1996). Relatively warm ruticarpum (A. Juss.) T. Hartley. conditions, particularly consecutively warm winters In Zhejiang, the preferred hosts are commercial (Zhou et al. 1992; Liao 1999), have led to northerly citrus, followed by Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack expansion of boundaries in Guangxi (Zhou et al. A status report for China of Diaphorina citri 345 Table I. Distribution and occurrence of D. citri in China. Province Geographical Location Distribution of D.