EPPO Global Database

EPPO Reporting Service no. 04 - 2015 Num. article: 2015/079

New data on quarantine pests and pests of the EPPO Alert List


By searching through the literature, the EPPO Secretariat has extracted the following new data concerning quarantine pests and pests included on the EPPO Alert List, and indicated in bold the situation of the pest concerned using the terms of ISPM no. 8.

  • New records

Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae - EPPO A1 List) was found for the first time, caught in a trap in 2015 in Norfolk Island (Promed posting, 2015). Present, no details.

Cherry rasp leaf virus (Cheravirus, CRLV - EPPO A1 List) occurs in China. It was first reported in 2002 in Liaoning province. During a survey carried out in May and June 2013, the virus was also detected in asymptomatic leaf samples collected from a sweet cherry (Prunus avium) orchard near Zoucheng city, Shandong province (Ma et al., 2014). Present, locally present in Liaoning and Shandong provinces.

During summer 2013, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (EPPO A2 List) was found in Northwestern Iran. The bacterium was detected in plants of Phaseolus lunatus cv. ‘Christmas Pole’ showing interveinal necrotic lesions and marginal chlorosis (Osdaghi, 2014). Present, first found in 2013.

Cowpea mild mottle virus (Carlavirus, CPMMV – EU Annexes) occurs in Venezuela. It was first found in 2012 in experimental and commercial fields of Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis in Aragua state (Brito et al., 2012). Present, first found in 2012 in Aragua state.

Glycaspis brimblecombei (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time from Turkey. The pest was found in 2014 on Eucalyptus camaldulensis trees near Izmir (Karaca et al., 2015). Present, no details.

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (synonym of Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, associated with ash dieback in Europe - formerly EPPO Alert List) occurs in the Republic of Korea. The fungus was detected during a fungal biodiversity survey on fallen leaves, rachises and petioles of Fraxinus rhynchophylla (Han et al., 2014). Present, no details.

The presence of Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (synonym of Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, associated with ash dieback in Europe - formerly EPPO Alert List) is also reported from China. The fungus was isolated from leaves of Fraxinus mandschurica collected in the province of Jilin (Zheng ; Zhuang, 2014). Present, no details.

In Greece, Phenacoccus madeirensis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae - bougainvillea mealybug) was first collected in April 2010 in Chania (Crete) on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Jansen et al., 2010). In June 2010, it was found in Thessaloniki region (Northern Greece), causing damage to leaves and stems of Ocimum basilicum. In 2010 and 2011, its presence was recorded in the regions of Kavala (Eastern Greece) and Xanthi (Thrace) (Papadopoulou et al., 2012). In May 2014, it was observed in Kalamata (Peloponnese) on Aloysia citriodora and on Osteospermum jucundum (Stathas et al., 2015). Present, only in some areas.

In Greece, Phenacoccus peruvianus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was first found in Voutakos Bay on the island of Paros on Bougainvillea sp. (Gkounti ; Milonas). In September 2013, it was also observed in the suburbs of Athens on Cestrum nocturnum (Stathas et al., 2015). Present, only in some areas.


  • Detailed records

In Brazil Cowpea mild mottle virus (Carlavirus, CPMMV – EU Annexes) also occurs in the states of Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, and Paraná (Zanardo et al., 2014).

In February 2015, 1 male of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae – EPPO A2 List) was found in the urban area of Villa Regina, in the Rio Negro province, Argentina. In March,
1 female was caught in a trap near the initial detection site. Phytosanitary measures are being taken to eradicate the pest (SENASA, 2015).

During a survey carried out in July 2013, Watermelon silver mottle virus (Tospovirus, WSMoV - EPPO A1 List) was found in Yunnan province (Menghai county), China. WSMoV was detected in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plants showing symptoms of silver mottle on fruits and bud necrosis (Yin et al., 2014).


  • New pests

In a recent study, the use of deep sequencing molecular techniques has revealed the presence of a new Tepovirus, tentatively called Prunus virus T (PrVT) in Prunus spp. This virus was found in a Prunus avium (sweet cherry) tree collected in Italy and in P. domestica (plum) and P. cerasifera (sour cherry) trees collected from Azerbaijan. However, no specific symptoms could be associated with PrVT due to the occurrence of mixed viral infections in the studied trees (Marais et al., 2015).

Rust fungi were collected from weeping willow trees (Salix spp.) in different areas in the central USA, as well as from Taiwan, and were analysed by morphological and molecular methods. In addition, available weeping willow rust herbarium specimens from North and South America were also included in this study. Results revealed that a new rust species, Melampsora ferrinii sp. nov., could be detected in weeping willows (Salix babylonica and S. matsudana cv. ‘Tortuosa’) collected from the USA (Florida, Indiana, Louisiana) and Argentina. Analysis of herbarium specimens showed that this species has been present in the Americas since at least the 1990s but had been misidentified as M. epitea (Toome and Aime, 2015).


  • New host plants

During surveys carried out in Central Iran (provinces of Isfahan and Chahar Mahal-o-Bakhtiari), apple (Malus domestica) trees showing symptoms of phytoplasma disease were noticed. Molecular tests (PCRs, sequencing) showed that the isolates found were ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’ (EU Annexes as lime witches’ broom). The authors noted that this is the first time that ‘Ca. P. aurantifolia’ is found in association with a disease on apple (Hashemi-Tameh et al., 2014).

During a survey carried out in New Zealand (North Island) during summers 2011 and 2012, Strawberry latent ringspot virus (EU Annexes) was detected in Vaccinium darrowii, a host not previously reported (Woo ; Pearson, 2014).


  • Epidemiology

Experiments conducted in China have shown that Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – EPPO A2 List) can transmit Maize chlorotic mottle virus (Machlomovirus) to maize plants (Zea mays) (Zhao et al., 2014). However, the role of F. occidentalis in the epidemiology of the disease remains to be studied in field conditions.


  • Taxonomy
It has recently been proposed that the correct name for the fungus causing ash dieback should be Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, with Chalara fraxinea and Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus as synonyms (Baral et al., 2014).

Sources

Baral HO, Queloz V, Hosoya T (2014) Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the correct scientific name for the fungus causing ash dieback in Europe. IMA Fungus 5(1), 79-80.
Brito M, Fernández-Rodríguez T, Garrido MJ, Mejías A, Romano M, Marys E (2012) First report of Cowpea mild mottle carlavirus on yardlong bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) in Venezuela. Viruses 4(12), 3804-3811.
Gkounti V, Milonas P (2013) First record of the bougainvillea mealybug Phenacoccus peruvianus in Greece. Entomologia Hellenica 22, 16-18.
Han JG, Shrestha B, Hosoya T, Lee KH, Sung GH, Shin HD (2014) First report of the ash dieback pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in Korea. Mycobiology 42(4), 391-396.
Hashemi-Tameh M, Bahar M, Zirak L (2014) ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’, new phytoplasma species infecting apple trees in Iran. Journal of Phytopathology 162(7-8), 472-480.
Jansen MGM, Ben-Dov Y, Kaydan BM (2010) New records of scale insects from Crete Island, Greece (Hem., Coccoidea). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 115(4), 483-484.
Karaca I, Kayahan A, Simşek B, Celikpençe Y (2015) First record of Glycaspis bimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), in Turkey. Phytoparasitica 43(2), 171-175.
Ma YX, Li JJ, Li XD, Zhu SF (2014) First report of Cherry rasp leaf virus infecting cherry in Shandong province, China. Journal of Plant Pathology 96(suppl.), S4.113.
Marais A, Faure C, Mustafayev E, Barone M, Alioto D, Candresse T (2015) Characterization by deep sequencing of Prunus virus T, a novel Tepovirus infecting Prunus species. Phytopathology 105(1), 135-140.
Osdaghi E (2014) Bacterial wilt of lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) caused by Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, a new disease in Iran. Journal of Plant Pathology 96(suppl.), S4.118.
ProMed posting (no. 20150417.3303297) of 2015-04-17. Liberibacter, solanaceous crops - Norfolk Island: 1st rep. http://www.promedmail.org
SENASA (via Pest Lens)
- Plan de emergencia fitosanitaria en Villa Regina tras la detección de Mosca del Mediterráneo (2015-03-17). http://www.senasa.gov.ar/contenido.php?to=n;in=;io=29949
- Resolucion no. 98/2015 del Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Pesca. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. (2015-03-17). http://www.senasa.gov.ar/Archivos/File/File8030-R_SENASA_98-2015.PDF
Stathas GJ, Kartsonas ED, A.I. Darras AI (2015) Record of Phenacoccus peruvianus Granara de Willink and Phenacoccus madeirensis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on new host ornamental plants in Greece. Hellenic Plant Protection Journal 8, 12-14.
Toome M, Aime MC (2015) Reassessment of rust fungi on weeping willows in the Americas and description of Melampsora ferrinii sp. nov. Plant Pathology 64(1), 216-224.
Woo E, Pearson M (2014) First report of Strawberry latent ringspot virus in Vaccinium darrowii. Journal of Phytopathology 162(11-12), 820-823.
Yin YY, Fang Q, Lu X, Li TT, Ding M, Zhang ZK (2014) Detection of Watermelon silver mottle virus infecting watermelon in Yunnan, southwest of China. Journal of Plant Pathology 96(suppl.), S4.123.
Zanardo LG, Silva FN, Bicalho AAC, Urquiza GPC, Lima ATM, Almeida AMR, Zerbini FM, Carvalho CM (2014) Molecular and biological characterization of Cowpea mild mottle virus isolates infecting soybean in Brazil and evidence of recombination. Plant Pathology 63(2), 456-465.
Zhao M, Ho, Wu Y, He Y, Li M (2014) Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) transmits Maize chlorotic mottle virus. Journal of Phytopathology 162(7-8), 532-536.
Zheng HD, Zhuang WY (2014) Hymenoscyphus albidoides sp. nov. and H. pseudoalbidus from China. Mycological Progress 13, 625- 38.