Damage symptoms
The psyllid is a sucking insect that inserts its mouthparts into plant tissue to feed. Adults feed on young stems and on leaves of all developmental stages. Nymphs feed on young leaves and stems, continuously secreting copious amounts of honeydew and a thread-like waxy substance so black sooty mold develops on the honeydew. Their feeding damages citrus by burning back new shoots or causing leaves to twist or notch as they mature. Worst damage is done when the insect is vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus that cause the fatal citrus disease called citrus greening or huanglongbing (HLB). Nymphs and adults of the psyllid take the bacteria into their bodies by feeding on bacteria-infected plants and then disease is spread when adults fly to a healthy plant and injects bacteria into it as they feed. The disease can kill a citrus tree in as little as five years, and there is no known cure.
