Spatial distribution and sampling of Corythucha ciliata (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in London plane trees

Abstract

Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression were used to describe the dispersion patterns for overwintering and wandering stages of Corythucha ciliata on the London plane trees, Platanus x acerifolia (Ait.) Willd. Both Taylor’s and Iwao’s tests fit the distribution data for the overwintering stage. The overwintering adults were spatially aggregated. In the wandering stage, Taylor’s power law consistently fit the data, whereas the fit of Iwao’s patchiness regression was erratic. Both Iwao’s and Taylor’s indices indicated a clumped distribution pattern for eggs, nymphs, and wandering adults. Trunk was identified as the best sampling target for the overwintering stage whereas twig was the best for the wandering stage. In order to determine the sample size for evaluating whether the population has reached the control threshold, the sampling of 35 and 7 trunks for the overwintering stage and 32 and 8 twigs per tree for the wandering stage would provide 0.5- and 0.25-precision levels, respectively.