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
Grapevine Pinot gris virus (Trichovirus, GPGV) was detected for the first time in Lebanon. Samples were collected randomly from 9 vineyards located in Bekaa Valley. Out of 108 samples, 14 tested positive for GPGV. None of the infected vines showed disease symptoms. Infection with GPGV was found in single or multiple infections with grapevine virus A and grapevine fleck virus (Abou Kubaa et al., 2019). Present, only in some areas.
Xylosandrus compactus; (Coleoptera: Scolytidae - EPPO Alert List) was first recorded in Greece in 2019 (Spanou et al., 2019). Present, no details.
- Detailed records
In Russia, a single specimen of Agrilus fleischeri (Coleoptera, Buprestidae – EPPO A2 List) was collected in 2002 in the Berdyuzhsky district (Tyumen region), Western Siberia (Sergeeva & Stolbov, 2019).
Callidiellum rufipenne (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) was found in France on the Ile de Noirmoutier (Vendée department, Pays-de-la-Loire region) in April 2019. Surveys conducted in October 2019 showed that the pest infested Cupressus macrocarpa trees. It is considered that the pest may have been present on the island for more than 10 years. The establishment of C. rufipenne in France had already been observed in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department (Cocquempot et al., 2019).
In the USA, Raffaelea lauricola (EPPO Alert List) has recently been reported from Kentucky and Tennessee. In July 2019, wilted and dead sassafras (Sassafras albidum) were observed in north-central Tennessee (Montgomery, Williamson, and Dickson counties) and southwestern Kentucky (Christian, Todd, and Logan counties). The identity of the fungus was confirmed by morphological and molecular methods, as well as by pathogenicity tests. In both states, Xyleborus glabratus female beetles were observed in the stands of wilting sassafras (Loyd et al., 2020).
In Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain), melon (Cucumis melo), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo), and squash (Cucurbita maxima) plants showing virus symptoms (curling and mosaic in young leaves, short internodes, and stunting) were observed in several municipalities during spring 2018. Molecular tests confirmed the presence of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus, ToLCNDV – EPPO Alert List) in symptomatic plants (Espino de Paz et al., 2019).
In Brazil, Xylosandrus compactus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae - EPPO Alert List) is reported from the states of Bahia, Espirito Santo and Rondônia as causing damage to coffee plants (Coffea canephora and C. arabica) (Túler et al., 2019).
- Host plants
Avocado (Persea americana) is recorded as a natural host of Scirtothrips aurantii (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – EPPO A1 List) in South Africa (Bara & Laing, 2019).
- Taxonomy
In a recent paper, Li et al. (2018) have proposed to re-classify several Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies. In particular, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus (EPPO A2 List – causal agent of potato ring rot) has been elevated to species rank and called Clavibacter sepedonicus. There has been some debate amongst taxonomists about the validity of this proposal, but as the name C. sepedonicus is used in recent literature and taxonomic databases (e.g. LPSN), the entry in the EPPO Global Database has been modified accordingly.
Although this question has long been debated, phylogenetic studies have supported the inclusion of the genus Mahonia within the genus Berberis. According to the database maintained by Kewscience (Plants of the World online), all Mahonia species have now been transferred to the genus Berberis. Consequently, all necessary changes have been made in the EPPO Global Database. It can be noted that the genus Berberis is included in the EU list of high-risk plants.
Sources
Abou Kubaa R, Choueiri E, Jreijiri F, El Khouty Y, Saldarelli P (2019) First report of grapevine Pinot gris virus in Lebanon and the Middle East. Journal of Plant Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-019-00453-w
Bara GT, Laing MD (2019) Determination of the natural host status of avocado fruit to pestiferous thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, African Entomology 27(1), 245-253 https://doi.org/10.4001/003.027.0245
Cocquempot C, Lambert B, Desmots D, Rouch A (2019) Nouveau foyer du Callidiellum rufipenne (Motschulsky, 1861) sur l’île de Noirmoutier en Vendée (Coleoptera Cerambycidae). L’Entomologiste 75 (56), 345 - 349
Espino de Paz AI, Botella-Guillén M, Otazo-González HC, Alfaro-Fernández A, Font-San-Ambrosio I, Galipienso L, Rubio L (2019) First report of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus infecting cucurbits in the Canary Islands. Plant Disease 103(7), p 1798. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-19-0054-PDN
Li X, Tambong J, Yuan KX, Chen W, Xu H, Levesque CA, De Boer SH (2018) Re-classification of Clavibacter michiganensis subspecies on the basis of whole-genome and multi-locus sequence analyses. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 68, 234-240.
Loyd AL, Chase KD, Nielson A, Hoover N, Dreaden TJ, Mayfield AE, Crocker E, Fraedrich SW (2020) First report of laurel wilt caused by Raffaelea lauricola on Sassafras albidum in Tennessee and Kentucky. Plant Disease 104(2), p 567. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-19-1914-PDN
Sergeeva EV, Stolbov VA (2019) [The fauna of jewel beetles (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) of Tyumen region]. Acta Biologica Sibirica 5(3), 159-166 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.14258/abs.v5.i3.6578
Spanou K, Marathianou M, Gouma M, Dimou D, Nikoletos L, Milonas PG and Papachristos DP (2019) First record of black twig borer Xylosandrus compactus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Greece. 18th Panhellenic Entomological Congress, Komotini 15–17/10/2019, abstract page 77
Túler A, Valbon W, Rodrigues H, Noia L, Santos L, Fogaça I, Rondelli V, Verdin Filho A (2019). Black twig borer, Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff), a potential threat to coffee production. Revista de Ciencias Agrícolas, 36(E), 5-16. https://revistas.udenar.edu.co/index.php/rfacia/article/view/4877/5774