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
The NPPO of Greece recently informed the EPPO Secretariat of the first record of Corythucha arcuata (Hemiptera: Tingidae - formerly EPPO Alert List) on its territory. During a survey, the pest was found in the municipality of Xanthi on oak (Quercus robur) trees. No official phytosanitary measures will be taken.
The pest status of Corythucha arcuata in Greece is officially declared as: Present, only in some parts of the Member State concerned.
Corythucha ciliata (Hemiptera: Tingidae) is reported for the first time from Uzbekistan. It was observed in April 2017 in sycamore trees (Platanus orientalis) in the botanical garden in Tashkent (Grebennikov and Mukhanov, 2019). Present, no detail.
In Jordan, Dactylopius opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) was first found during surveys carried out in February/March 2018. This scale was found in several localities in the northern part of the country attacking Opuntia ficus-indica. D. opuntiae is considered to be a serious threat to O. ficus-indica which is widely planted in Jordan at the edges of farms and gardens as a fence, as well as for fruit production (Katbeh Bader and Abu-Alloush, 2019). Present, only in some areas.
In Colombia, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical race 4 was confirmed in banana plantations in August 2019. This first record of Tropical race 4 in Colombia is also the first one from South America. Eradication measures have been implemented (IPPC and ProMed, 2019). Present, only in some areas.
- Detailed records
In Bulgaria, Garella musculana (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae - EPPO A2 List) was first found in 2016 in the province of Varna (RS 2019/009). In July 2019, the NPPO of Bulgaria officially reported the presence of the pest in the province of Burgas (municipality of Kableshkovo) in a plot of 2.3 ha of Juglans regia. About 20% of trees showed symptoms, mainly on the young shoots. Surveys will be carried out to determine the presence of the pest in Bulgaria (NPPO of Bulgaria, 2019).
The pest status of Garella musculana in Bulgaria is officially declared as: Present, only in some parts of the Member State concerned.
In Sweden, Synchytrium endobioticum (EPPO A2 List) was first reported in 2017 in 3 counties (EPPO RS 2018/061). Eradication measures are applied and include the prohibition of planting potatoes in the infected plots, and the requirements to grow resistant potato varieties in the other fields in the infected places of production. Further laboratory analyses determined that the pathotypes present were 40 (BN1) in the county of Skåne, and 8(F1) in the county of Blekinge (Sölvesborg) (NPPO of Sweden, 2019).
The pest status of Synchytrium endobioticum in Sweden is officially declared as: Present, only in some parts of the Member State concerned.
- Absence
One adult of Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae – EPPO A1 List) was found in a drift net placed in the river Caselas in Northwestern Spain (Caldelas de Miño, province of Pontevedra, Galicia) in July 2018 (Otero & Cobo, 2018). No other specimens or damage on plants were observed. Official surveys conducted by the NPPO of Spain did not detect the pest (NPPO of Spain 2019-08).
The pest status of Aromia bungii in Spain is officially declared as: Absent.
- Host plants
‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’ (EU Annexes) is causing phyllody disease on strawflower, Xerochrysum (Helichrysum) bracteatum, an ornamental plant belonging to family Asteraceae, native to Australia (Ashwathappa et al., 2019)
- Epidemiology
Tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid (Pospiviroid, TCDVd) was isolated for the first time from asymptomatic, cultivated Solanum melongena (aubergine) plants in Spain. Additionally, TCDVd was transmitted vertically by seed and pollen of S. melongena in experimental conditions. This is the first report of TCDVd naturally infecting S. melongena and of seed and pollen transmission in S. melongena (Gramazio et al., 2019).
Sources
Ashwathappa KV, Venkataravanappa V, Lakshminarayana Reddy CN, Swarnalatha P, Krishna Reddy M (2018) First report of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’(16SrII-A) associated with strawflower phyllody. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 14, 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-019-0359-0
Bhuvitarkorn S, Reanwarakorn K (2019) Pollen and seed transmission of Columnea latent viroid in eggplants. European Journal of Plant Pathology 154(4), 1067-1075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01728-9
Gramazio P, Lerma MD, Villanueva G, Vilanova S, García‐Fortea E, Mangino G, Figas MR, Arrones A, Alonso D, San Bautista A, Soler S, Prohens J, Plazas M. (2019). Detection, molecular characterisation and aspects involving the transmission of tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid in eggplant. Annals of Applied Biology 175(2), 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12527
Grebennikov KA, Mukhanov SY (2019) Corythucha ciliata (Say, 1932) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) – new alien species of true bugs in Uzbekistan fauna. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions 2019(1), 25-28.
IPPC website. Official Pest Reports – Colombia (COL-01/1 of 2019-08-09) https://www.ippc.int/en/countries/colombia/pestreports/2019/08/primera-deteccion-de-marchitez-por-fusarium-oxysporum-fsp-cubense-raza-4-tropical-foc-r4t-recientemente-clasificado-como-fusarium-odoratissimum-maryani-lombard-kema-crous-2019/
Katbeh Bader AM, Abu-Alloush AH (2019) First record of the cochineal scale insect, Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), in Jordan. Journal of Biological Sciences 12(2), 155-159. http://jjbs.hu.edu.jo/files/vol12/n2/Paper%20number%205.pdf
NPPO of Bulgaria (2019-07).
NPPO of Greece (2019-07).
NPPO of Spain (2019-08).
NPPO of Sweden (2019-06).
Otero JC, Cobo F (2018) Primer cita de Aromia bungii (Faldermann, 1835) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) una nueva especie alóctona en el NW de la Península Ibérica. Boletín de la Asociación española de Entomología 42 (3-4), 437-441. http://www.entomologica.es/index.php?d=publicaciones&num=73
ProMed posting (no. 20190820.6630576) of 2019-08-20. Panama disease TR4, banana - Americas (02): (Colombia) conf. http://www.promedmail.org/post/6630576