EPPO Global Database

EPPO Reporting Service no. 02 - 2021 Num. article: 2021/027

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

Two invasive eucalyptus psyllids, Blastopsylla occidentalis (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) and Glycaspis brimblecombei (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae - formerly EPPO Alert List) are reported for the first time in Malta (Mifsud, 2020). Present.

In Argentina, ‘Ca. Phytoplasma pruni’ (EPPO A1 List) and ‘Ca. Phytoplasma meliae’ were detected in symptomatic plum (Prunus domestica) and peach (Prunus persicae) trees during surveys carried out in 2019-2020 in fruit production plots in Jujuy province (Northwest region). Present.

In Belarus, Cydalima perspectalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) was first observed in July 2019 in Brest. The pest was found on Buxus sempervirens in a recreation park and in the botanical garden of the Ecology Center (Sinchuk et al., 2020). Present, few occurrences.

In China, Elsinoë australis (EU Annexes) was detected for the first time in 2016-2017 causing leaf anthracnose on poplar trees (Populus tomentosa and P. deltoides) in South-eastern China (Anhui and Jiangsu). This is the first report in China, and the first report on poplar. Pathogenicity tests found that isolates from two poplar species caused red spot symptoms on leaves from different poplar species and also led to scab formation on the fruit of one hybrid citrus but not on fruit of orange, lemon, or grapefruit. The authors considered that this is a new pathotype (Zhao et al., 2020). Present: only in some areas.

In Saudi Arabia, Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was first found in October 2019 in the city of At‐Taif (south-western part of the country). The pest was observed in a garden on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Katbeh Bader and Al-Jboory, 2020).

Squash leaf curl virus (SLCV, Begomovirus - EPPO A2 List) was detected for the first time in 2016 on squash plants in Oman (Shahid et al., 2020). Present.

In Malta, Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae - formerly EPPO Alert List) was first found in December 2020 in several on Eucalyptus spp. (Mifsud and Carapezza, 2020). Present.

Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time from continental USA. In July 2020, T. parvispinus was found in Orange county, Florida on greenhouse plants of Hoya and Anthurium. Prior to this record in Florida, it was known to occur only in Hawaii (Soto-Adames, 2020). Present: only in some areas.


  • Detailed records

In Indonesia, the potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiensis (EPPO A2 List) was detected for the first time in Sulawesi. Its presence is also confirmed in North Sumatra, Central Java and East Java (Handayani et al., 2020).

Scaphoideus titanus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae – vector of flavescence dorée) was first found in July 2010 on the island or Madeira (Portugal). Surveys conducted from 2010 to 2017 have shown that S. titanus is common in the main wine-producing areas in the north of Madeira. During these surveys, flavescence dorée has not been detected on Madeira island (Aguin-Pombo et al., 2020).


  • New pests and taxonomy

A new species of root-knot nematode, named Meloidogyne vitis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae), was described from China (Yunnan province). The nematode infested grapevine plants (Vitis vinifera) and infestation resulted in plant dwarfing, leaf yellowing and shedding, reduced fruit production, declining and low growth (Yang et al., 2021). 

Neopestalotiopsis rosae has been recently observed causing root rot, crown rot and leaf spot on strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) in Mexico (Rebollar-Alviter et al., 2020), in Florida (USA) (Baggio et al., 2021) and in Taiwan (Wu et al., 2020). These are all first records of this pathogen in strawberry production. The disease is associated with transplants.

In Germany, a new Emaravirus tentatively called ‘common oak ringspot-associated emaravirus’ (CORaV) has been detected by high-throughput sequencing in diseased oak trees (Quercus robur). Affected trees showed leaf symptoms such as mottle, chlorotic spots and ringspots. CORaV was also detected in leaf samples collected from various locations in Germany, Sweden, and Norway. It is noted that further studies are needed to understand the biology and epidemiology of CORaV (Rehanek et al., 2021).

A new Emaravirus tentatively called ‘aspen mosaic‐associated virus’ (AsMaV) has been identified in aspen trees (Populus tremula) in Scandinavia. Affected trees showed leaf symptoms such as mottle, yellow blotching, variegation and chlorosis along the veins. AsMaV has been found in leaf samples collected from Finland, Norway and Sweden. Experiments have shown that AsMaV is graft-transmissible (von Bargen et al., 2020).


Sources

Aguin-Pombo D, Aguiar AMF, Cravo D (2020) First report of Scaphoideus titanus for Madeira Island. EPPO Bulletin 50(3), 564-567.

Baggio JS, Forcelini BB, Wang NY, Ruschel RG, Mertely JC, Peres NA (2021) Outbreak of leaf spot and fruit rot in Florida strawberry caused by Neopestalotiopsis spp. Plant Disease online https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-20-1290-RE

Bongiorno V, Alessio F, Curzel V, Nome C, Fernandez FD, Conci LR (2020) ‘Ca. Phytoplasma pruni’ and ‘Ca. Phytoplasma meliae’ are affecting plum in Argentina. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 15, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-020-00406-8

Handayani ND, Esquibet M, Montarry J, Lestari P, Couvreur M, Dikin A, Herlder J, Grenier E, Bert W (2020) Distribution, DNA barcoding and genetic diversity of potato cyst nematodes in Indonesia. European Journal of Plant Pathology 158(2), 363–380. 

Katbeh Bader A, Al-Jboory IJ (2020) First record of cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley 1898 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), from Saudi Arabia. EPPO Bulletin 50(3), 557-560.

Mifsud D (2020) The jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) of the Maltese Islands. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta 11, 103-117.

Mifsud D, Carapezza.A (2020) A new Eucalyptus pest in Malta: Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Thaumastocoridae). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta 11,129-132.

Rebollar-Alviter A, Silva-Rojas HV, Fuentes-Aragón D, Acosta-González U, Martínez-Ruiz M, Parra-Robles BE (2020) An emerging strawberry fungal disease associated with root rot, crown rot and leaf spot caused by Neopestalotiopsis rosae in Mexico. Plant Disease 104(8), 2054-2059.

Rehanek M, von Bargen S, Bandte M, Karlin DG, Büttner C (2020) A novel emaravirus comprising five RNA segments is associated with ringspot disease in oak. Archives of Virology 166, 987-990. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-021-04955-w

Shahid MS, Al-Sulaimani H, Al-Sadi AM (2020) Squash Leaf Curl Virus: a new world bipartite begomovirus threatening squash production in Oman. Plant Disease 104(9), 2533.

Sinchuk A, Sinchuk N, Kolbas A (2020) First record of Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Brest (Belarus). Bulletin of the Lithuanian Entomological Society 4(32), 61-64. https://www.entomologai.lt/leidiniai/category/54-volume-4-32-2020#

Soto-Adames FN (2020) Thrips parvispinus (Karny). Pest Alert. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Plant Industry, 3 pp. https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/93435/file/PESTALERT-Thripsparvispinus%28Karny%29.pdf

von Bargen S, Al Kubrusli R, Gaskin T, Fürl S, Hüttner F, Blystad DR, Karlin DG, Jalkanen R, Büttner C (2020) Characterisation of a novel Emaravirus identified in mosaic‐diseased Eurasian aspen (Populus tremula). Annals of Applied Biology 176(2), 210– 222. https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12576

Wu HY, Tsai CY, Wu YM, Ariyawansa HA, Chung CL, Chung PC (2020) First report of Neopestalotiopsis rosae causing leaf blight and crown rot on strawberry in Taiwan. Plant Disease online https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-20-1045-PDN

Yang Y, Hu X, Liu P, Chen L, Peng H, Wang Q, Zangg Q (2021) A new root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne vitis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae), parasitizing grape in Yunnan. Plos One 16(2), e0245201. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245201

Zhao L, Xiao H, Ma X, Cheng Q (2020) Elsinoë australis causing spot anthracnose on Poplar in China. Plant Disease 104(8), 2202–2209.