Asian citrus psyllid infected with huanglongbing disease found in Riverside citrus grove

The recent identification of an Asian citrus psyllid infected with huanglongbing disease in a Riverside commercial citrus grove isn't surprising, said UC Cooperative Extension specialist Monique Rivera in an interview with Brian German of AgNetWest.

"We've had positive trees removed here in Riverside and we're not that far from LA," Rivera said. "Eventually those two quarantine circles are likely to merge here in Southern California."

The two red-outlined areas show the ACP and HLB quarantine areas in Southern California. (Screen shot taken Aug. 13, 2020. For updated information, see https://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/)

Rivera said an HLB-infected ACP hasn't been found in Riverside commercial citrus before because CDFA is mainly responsible for sampling ACP in backyard trees. "They aren't looking directly or systematically at commercial groves," she said.

There are resources available for growers to test ACPs found in their citrus orchards. Growers can request PCR testing of ACP or plant samples from an accredited lab, such as the Citrus Pest Detection Program (CPDP) which is operated by the Central California Tristeza Eradication Agency. CDFA will also collect samples for analysis at no cost to the grower.

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