Pear psyllids (Hemiptera: Psvllidae) in Serbia

Pear psyllids or pear jumping plant-lice, are the most important pests of this fruit. In Serbia, four species of pear psyllids are harmful to pear. Ali four belong to the genus Cacopsylla: C. pyri (common pear psyllid), C. bidens, C. pyricola (small pear psyllid) and C. pvrisuga (large pear psyllid). The first three belong to the subgenus Hepatopsvlla, have a larger number of generations per year and usually overwinters on the host plant, and C. pvrisuga belongs to the subgenus Thamnopsvlla, has one generation per year and overwinters outside the host plant pear. They can damage the pear directly, through nutrition by sucking out the juices, leading to chlorosis, necrosis and defoliation, and indirectly, by secreting "honeydew". Added to this damage is the role of C. pyri and C. pyricola as vectors of the phytoplasma "Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri", the cause of the disease called "pear decline".