The red gum lerp psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), is an invasive pest of Eucalyptus trees worldwide, responsible for serious damage, including the death of plants. Knowledge about the incidence of climatic factors on the insect development are essential to define useful strategies for controlling this pest. To this aim, G. brimblecombei has been sampled by two different methods from April 2012 to February 2013 in eastern Sicily on Eucalyptus camaldulensis in nine different sites, where the main climatic data (air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation) have been also registered. The Glycaspis brimblecombei population showed a similar trend in all nine sites, positively correlated only with air temperature, but a negative correlation has emerged with precipitation and relative humidity. The results show the need for a deeper understanding of the role played by other abiotic (such as different concentrations of CO2) and biotic (e.g., the antagonistic action of natural enemies, competition with other pests, etc.) factors. The greater sensitivity, even at low densities of psyllid, of sampling methods based on the random collection of a fixed number of leaves compared to methods based on the collection of infested leaves in a fixed time interval has been also outlined.
Keywords: Eucalyptus psyllid; Sicily; climatic factors; environmental factors; population; sampling methods.