Potential Distribution in Mexico of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) Vector of Huanglongbing Pathogen

ABSTRACT Huanglongbing (HLB), the citrus disease associated with the bacteria ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, is the most important threat of the Mexican citrus industry. Since 2009, this bacterium has been detected in 11 out of 23 citrus producing states of the country, although with a limited distribution in each state. The Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama [Hemiptera: Psyllidae]) is the vector of this bacterium; the insect is distributed in all the citrus growing zones of Mexico. Presently, the lime production zone in the Mexican states of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, and Sinaloa, near to the Pacific Ocean coast, is the most affected by this disease. One of the main strategies to retard or stop the advance of HLB consists in the regional management of the psyllid populations. In order to contribute to the support of this strategy we analyzed the daily courses of temperature and rainfall all over the country to classify the citrus zones according to the probability of occurren...