DISTRIBUCIÓN ESPACIAL DE Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (HEMIPTERA: TRIOZIDAE) EN TOMATE DE CÁSCARA (Physalis ixocarpa (Brot.)) SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (HEMIPTERA: TRIOZIDAE) ON GREEN TOMATO (Physalis ixocarpa (Brot.))

Green tomato (Physalis ixocarpa Brot.) is host to several pests, including Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) that causes up to 45 % of yield losses due to transmission of a phytoplasm of group I. However, there are no estimates of the parameters of the sampling programs for this insect, which are crucial for determining sample size of populations. Therefore, we studied the spatial distribution of Bactericera cockerelli in three experimental plots in Texcoco, Estado de Mexico, based on the estimates of the variance/mean (S 2 /  x ) and Taylor’s Power Law (TPL). Data were analyzed with the SUPRA program. The eggs and nymphs showed an aggregated arrangement (S 2 /  x ) of 5 to 23.5 and 1.5 to 6.7, while adults that are highly mobile in the field showed a random distribution (S 2 /  x between 0.83 and 20.60). The TPL method agrees with the distribution patterns for the three biological stages of the pest.