The pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt and Lauterer (Homoptera: Psyllidae) is a major pest of the cultivated pistachio trees, Pistacia vera L. (Anacardiaceae) throughout the pistachio-producing regions in Iran. Sucking sap from leaves by both nymphs and adults causes reduced plant vigor, defoliation, stunting, bud drop, also producing a large amount of honey dew. Currently the main controlling measure of this pest is based on insecticides which repeated 10-12 times per season. Monitoring the population density of the pest can determine the proper time of pesticide application and reduce the amount of pesticides is used. Yellow sticky card traps have been shown useful to detect and gauge the relative abundance of A. pistaciae, but specific information on the effect of geographical direction and cultivar on the capture of adult pistachio psylla in the region is not known. During growth season 2009, adult population of Pistachio psylla was monitored at different geographical direction and on 6 commercial cultivars of Pistacia vera L. in Mahvelat region (Razavi Khorasan province). Five traps were placed at the same height (2 meters above the ground) and in 4 cardinal directions of each tree as well as one trap in the middle of the canopy (30 traps in each repitation). After a week the trapped adult psylla were counted. This procedure was repeated 8 times throughout the season. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance. As result, there were differences among the position of yellow sticky card trap and cultivars in terms of trapped adult psylla. The traps placed on either of two directions of south and east captured more adult psylla than other positions. Also, it was shown that some P.vera cultivars had significantly higher population of adult psylla throughout the season.

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