Bioecology and Spatial Distribution of the Pistachio Leafhopper, Idiocerus stali Fieber (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in Pistachio Orchards

Worldwide, Iran is the first producer of pistachio, which is one of the most economically important agricultural products for this country. Idiocerus stali Fieber (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is one of the most important pests of this plant. Adults and nymphs pest feed on leaf tissues and fruit clusters, and they cause damage by sucking the sap. This pest has one generation per year. In this research, population fluctuations of the pistachio leafhopper associated to the temperature and humidity changes and its spatial distribution, using both statistical and geostatistical methods were studied in 2018-2019. The spatial distribution of all life stages in both years was cumulative according to Iwao model, whereas considering Taylor’s power law model it was cumulative in 2018 and random in 2019. Considering coefficients’ values, both models of Taylor’s power law (R²= 0.93) and Iwao model (R²= 0.92) are appropriate for estimating the type of spatial distribution for this pest, however, Taylor model showed a better data fitting. Concerning geostatistics models, Kriging interpolation method was more accurate than Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and it was used to produce pest distribution maps. The movement process of adults, nymphs, and the sites of laying areas per week was precisely determined. Hence, contamination foci can be identified and used to apply appropriate management methods at the right time at a low cost.