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 (or formerly 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
Haplaxius crudus (Auchenorrhyncha: Cixiidae – EU Annexes) is a vector of Coconut lethal yellowing (EPPO A1 List). During studies conducted in Brazil, the insect was caught in the state of Para in May 2016. Yellow sticky traps had been placed in coconut plantations (Cocos nucifera Dwarf hybrids, Dwarf, and Brazilian Green Dwarf Jiqui), among Auchenorrhyncha specimens caught, 87% were identified as H. crudus (Silva et al., 2019). Present, only in some areas.
In the United Kingdom, Plantago asiatica mosaic virus (Potexvirus, PlAMV) was found for the first time in April 2018 in a symptomatic sample of Oriental hybrid lily (Lilium sp.). This sample had been collected from a glasshouse nursery in Southern England where a few plants were showing symptoms of rust-coloured, necrotic streaking on the leaves. These plants had been grown from bulbs originating from the Netherlands. Measures were recommended to the grower to avoid any further spread (Harju et al., 2018).
Strawberry mild yellow edge virus (Potexvirus, SMYEV - EU Annexes) was first reported in India, in Himachal Pradesh (Solan district). Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) plants presented symptoms typical of viral infection in the form of mild mottling, cupping of leaflets and leaf deformation. The identity of the virus was confirmed by DAS-ELISA (Sharma et al., 2018). Present, only in some areas.
During surveys conducted in September 2014 in Azerbaijan, tomato samples were collected from different regions. Symptomatic samples collected in Absheron peninsula (near Baku) tested positive for Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (Begomovirus, TYLCV - EPPO A2 List). High populations of Bemisia tabaci (EPPO A2 List) were also observed. The virus was not detected in other regions although B. tabaci is present in the whole country (Verdin et al., 2018).
- Detailed records
In India, Apriona germari (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae - EPPO A1 List) occurs in Arunachal Pradesh (Kumawat et al., 2015) and Meghalaya (Mitra et al., 2016).
During a study conducted in Indiana (US) over 2 years on 50 strains associated with bacterial spot of tomato (EPPO A2 List), 78% were identified as Xanthomonas perforans and 12% as X. gardneri. X. euvesicatoria was detected in 1 sample and X. vesicatoria was not detected in any sample (Egel et al., 2018).
Haplaxius crudus (Auchenorrhyncha: Cixiidae – EU Annexes) is a vector of Coconut lethal yellowing (EPPO A1 List). Its presence in Mississippi (US) was first reported in 2018. In North America, it was previously known to occur only in Florida and Texas (Hill et al., 2018).
The presence of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae – EPPO A1 List) has been confirmed in Maharashtra, India (see EPPO RS 2018/154). The pest was found in September 2018 in several districts (Kolhapur, Pune, Sangli, Satara, and Solapur) feeding on sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), and other crops such as maize, sorghum and sweet maize (respectively Zea mays, Sorghum bicolor, Z. mays subsp. saccharata). In the field, infestation levels ranged from 2% to 35%. The presence of natural enemies (Campoletis chlorideae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and the entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi) was observed but with a low incidence (Ankush et al., 2019).
- Epidemiology
Bactericera maculipennis (Hemiptera: Triozidae) can harbour ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (EPPO A1 List, Solanaceae haplotypes). B. maculipennis often cohabits on weeds such as Convolvulus arvensis or Lycium sp. with the congeneric psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (EPPO A1 List), the known vector of ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ haplotypes A and B in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Results of laboratory tests demonstrated that ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ can be transmitted between B. cockerelli and B. maculipennis on plants within the Convolvulaceae. However, B. maculipennis is not considered as a direct threat for potato (Solanum tuberosum) production as Liberibacter-infected B. maculipennis did not transmit the pathogen to potato plants (Borges et al., 2017).
- New pests and taxonomy
The fungus causing oak wilt previously called Ceratocystis fagacearum (EPPO A1 List -) has been reclassified into a new genus and should now be called Bretziella fagacearum (de Beer et al., 2017).
Using next-generation sequencing, a new Citrivirus, tentatively called Citrus leaf blotch virus 2 (CLBV-2) has been detected in China. This virus was found on cultivated Citrus tamurana and C. junos x C. grandis trees showing chlorotic leaf blotches (Cao et al., 2018).
A mechanically transmissible virus tentatively called Melon chlorotic spot virus (MeCSV – most closely related to tenuiviruses) was isolated in Southeastern France from a melon (Cucumis melo) plant showing chlorotic spots and yellowing of the older leaves (Lecoq et al., 2018).
Sources
Ankush C, Naresh S, Sharanabasappa, Kalleshwaraswamy CM, Asokan R, Mahadeva Swamy HM (2019) First report of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) on sugarcane and other crops from Maharashtra, India. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 7(1), 114-117.
Borges KM, Cooper WR, Garczynski SF, Thinakaran J, Jensen AS, Horton DR, Barcenas NM (2017) ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ associated with the psyllid, Bactericera maculipennis (Hemiptera: Triozidae). Environmental Entomology 46(2), 210–216. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvw174
Cao M, Li P, Zhang S, Yang F, Zhou Y, Wang X, Li R, Li Z (2018) Molecular characterization of a novel citrivirus from citrus using next-generation sequencing. Archives of Virology 163(12), 3479-348. DOI: 10.1007/s00705-018-4039-8 (via PestLens).
De Beer ZW, Marincowitz S, Duong TA, Wingfield MJ (2017) Bretziella, a new genus to accommodate the oak wilt fungus, Ceratocystis fagacearum (Microascales, Ascomycota). MycoKeys 27, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.27.20657
Egel DS, Jones JB, Minsavage GV, Creswell T, Ruhl G, Maynard E, Marchino C (2018) Distribution and characterization of Xanthomonas strains causing bacterial spot of tomato in Indiana. Plant Health Progress. DOI:10.1094/PHP-07-18-0041-BR
Harju V, Forde S, Tozer H, Dible A, Buxton Kirk A, Fowkes A, Skelton A, Fox A (2018) Plantago asiatica mosaic virus detected in Lilium in the UK. New Disease Reports 38, 25. http://dx.doi.org/10.5197/j.2044-0588.2018.038.025
Hill JG, Seltzer JI, Hendon A, Bartlett CR (2018) First report of the American palm cixiid (Hemiptera: Cixiidae) from Mississippi, USA. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 144(3), 593-598 (abst.). https://doi.org/10.3157/061.144.0310
Kumawat MM, Mamocha Singh K, Ramamurthy VV (2015) A checklist of the long-horned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India with several new reports. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(12), 7879–7901. http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4007.7879-901
Lecoq H, Wipf-Scheibel C, Verdin C, Desbiez C (2018) Characterization of the first tenuivirus naturally infecting dicotyledonous plants. Archives of Virology DOI: 10.1007/s00705-018-4057-6 (via PestLens).
Mitra B, Das P, Chakraborti U, Mallick K & Majumder A (2016) Longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae: Coleoptera) of Meghalaya with eight new records. Journal of Zoology Studies 3(4), 39–47.
Sharma A, Handa A, Kappoor S, Shylla B (2018) First report of strawberry mild yellow edge virus in India. International Journal of Chemical Studies 6(3), 662-664. http://www.chemijournal.com/archives/2018/vol6issue3/PartJ/6-3-79-989.pdf
Silva FG, Passos EM, Diniz LEC, Teodora AV, Talamini V, Fernandes MF, Dollet M (2019) Occurrence in Brazil of Haplaxius crudus (Hemiptera: Cixiidae), vector of Coconut lethal yellowing. Neotropical Entomology (abst.). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-018-0663-y
Verdin E, Desbiez C, Wipf-Scheibel C, Gognalons P, Kheyr-Pour A, Gronenborn B, Mirzayeva S, Sultanova N, Mammadov A, Huseynova I (2018) First report of tomato yellow leaf curl virus infecting tomato in Azerbaijan. Journal of Plant Pathology 100, p 335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-018-0050-x