Orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) is a garden host plant of Diaphorina citri, the vector of the pathogen that causes Huanglongbing, a lethal citrus disease. It is therefore important to know how vector populations fluctuate in urban areas over time, in order to develop control and management strategies. Here, we studied the spatio-temporal dynamics of D. citri on M. paniculata in Cuitláhuac, Veracruz by placing yellow sticky traps on M. paniculata shrubs from February 2011 to January 2012, located on sidewalks or in house garden across the urban area. Adult psyllid captures were used to create isodensity maps to show the spatial arrangement of insect populations and calculate some aggregation indices. D. citri was present on M. paniculata shrubs throughout the whole sampling period. The results indicated that the highest abundances occurred downtown and at the periphery during March and July. The spatial arrangement of D. citri was aggregated according to the Green index, mean crowding, variance-mean relationship, the Taylor Power Law and k of the negative binomial. This aggregated pattern was density-dependent, that is, the higher the population density, the higher the aggregation. We discuss the risk of occurrence of D. citri in urban areas as a source of infestation for citrus nearby plantations and packing warehouses.
