First reports of Phoracantha semipunctata in Canary islands (ES) and Libya
Phoracantha semipunctata (EPPO A2 quarantine pest), a eucalyptus pest, has invaded the Mediterranean Basin, probably in different phases during this century. It is recalled that P. semipunctata appeared in the 1940s in Israel, in the 1950s in Lebanon and Egypt, then in Turkey (1959), Morocco (1962), Tunisia (1962), Cyprus (around 1967), Italy (around 1969), Algeria (1972), Portugal (1980), Spain (1980), France (1984). The presence of the pest was recorded in 1991 in Canary islands, ES (Gran Canaria, Tenerife) and recently in another island (Gomera) and in Libya (1998). The EPPO Secretariat had previously no data on the occurrence of P. semipunctata in the Canary islands, and the finding in Libya is a new country record.
Sources
Schedl, W. (1999) [Invasion of the Eucalyptus borer, Phoracantha semipunctata (F.) in the Mediterranean Basin and the Canary islands (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)].
Anzeiger für Schädlingskunde, 72(2), 25-56.