Attraction of Agonoscena pistaciae (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) to male or female psyllid in field condition

The pistachio psyllid, Agonoscena</em> pistaciae</em> Burckhardt and Lauterer (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), is the key pest of pistachio trees in Iran. The objective of this study was to field test, whether female or male of A</em>. pistaciae</em> attracted male or female pistachio psyllid in the fields. Sticky traps were used to assess whether traps with live male or female pistachio psyllid attract conspecific psyllid in the field. Traps contain 20 live females, traps contain 20 live males, or traps without male or female (control). We compared mean number of male or female psyllid to choose control, male or female baited traps. Results in year 2014 showed that the mean number of male attracted to control, male and female traps was 20.87±2.88, 24.20±3.72 and 25.80±3.38 psyllid, respectively. The mean number of female attracted to control, male and female traps was 20.93±3.11, 31.40±3.68 and 19.60±2.80 psyllid, respectively. Results in year 2015 showed that The mean number of male attracted to control, male and female traps was 54.13±9.11, 73.44±16.77 and 51.06±7.42 psyllid, respectively. The mean number of female attracted to control, male and female traps was 57.31±8.50, 93.13±19.79 and 54.06±10.23 psyllid, respectively. Results in year 2016 showed that the mean number of males attracted to control, male and female traps were 31.75±3.42, 29.00±4.42 and 45.00±3.16 psyllid, respectively. The mean number of female attracted to control, male and female traps was 31.44±3.45, 33.94±5.65.79 and 41.88±3 psyllid, respectively. This results can be useful for the development of more controlling methods for this pest.