Ecological zoning of Dilobopterus costalimai Young, Oncometopia falcialis young and Acrogonia citrina Marucci & Cavichioli (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) for the Santa Catarina State, Brazil

The goal of this work was to identify the regions of Santa Catarina State, Brazil, with more favorable thermal conditions for the development of Dilobopterus costalimai Young, Oncometopia facialis Signoret and Acrogonia citrina Young Marruci & Cavichioli vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells, causal agent of the Citrus Variegated Chlorosis (CVC) disease. The West and the Coast regions are the most recommended for citrus growing. However, the ecological zoning was performed for the whole state, because the leafhoppers may transmit the bacterium to others fruit trees, like peach, grapevine and plum. The regions were determined based on thermal requirements of the species. The monthly average temperatures were estimated by the latitude, longitude and altitude data. The estimated values of number of generations varied from 0.9 to 4.5 for D. costalimai and the O. facialis species and of 1.3 to 4.7 for A. citrina. The highest numbers of generations were obtained for the regions of lower altitudes, in areas next to the Uruguay River and also in the Coast region, locations where citrus production is indicated.

Thermal requirement; number of generations; leafhopper; Xylella fastidiosa