A geometric morphometric study of the geographic populations of Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hem.: Liviidae), in Iran and Pakistan

Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is an important pest of citrus that transmits the bacterial pathogens responsible for citrus greening disease, also called Huanglongbing. The aim of the current study was to investigate the shape variations of the forewing among the Iranian geographic populations of D. citri, as well as one population from Pakistan. The adult psyllids used in this study were collected on Lime, Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle, from orchards in Southern Iran in 2011. The forewings of 12 D. citri populations (30 randomly selected adult females from each population) were examined using geometric morphometric analysis. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance indicated significant variation of wing shape and size among the examined populations. Based on forewing shape, Sistan-Baluchestan and Pakistan populations were different from other populations, including Hormozgan (Minab, Rudan, Fareghan, Hajiabad), Kerman (Manujan, Kahnuj, Jiroft-Anbarabad, Jiroft-Blook, Orzoiye), and Fars (Darab). Considering the following reasons, geographic variation was developed by the interaction of genetic mechanisms and environmental processes: (1) there was a significant difference in the shape and squared Mahalanobis distance between some populations, (2) the correlation between geographic distances matrix and Mahalanobis distances matrix was significant, and (3) the wings grew allometrically, and geographic populations had separate allometric direction but parallel to each others. It is suggested that wing morphology could be beneficial for the preliminary assessment of population structure and pest control methods of D. citri in Iran.