Update on the situation of Agrilus planipennis in Ukraine
The NPPO of Ukraine recently informed the EPPO Secretariat of the current situation of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae - EPPO A2 List) on its territory. The pest was first detected in 2019 in the area of Starokozhiv (Markivske forest, Luhansk region) and eradicated (EPPO RS 2019/202). Further monitoring detected two other small outbreaks also in the Luhansk region at the end of 2019 and eradication measures have been applied in a demarcated area of 13.3 ha (RS 2020/070). In 2020 further surveys were conducted and detected new outbreaks. As a result, an area of 536.8 ha had been delimited and subjected to quarantine measures. In September 2021, 2 new outbreaks were detected further west in the region of Kharkiv (Kupiansk district) in an area of 84 ha.
As of October 2021, the demarcated area covers 620.8 ha in total and is located in the region of Luhansk (districts of Svativskiy and Starobilskiy) and in the region of Kharkiv (district of Kupiansk). The outbreaks are under eradication.
A map of the outbreaks in the region of Luhansk is available in Meshkova et al. (2021). The authors note that Fraxinus pennsylvanica are preferred hosts compared to F. excelsior but both species are attacked.
The pest status of Agrilus planipennis in Ukraine is officially declared as: Present, not widely distributed and under official control.
Sources
NPPO of Ukraine (2021-10).
Meshkova VL, Kucheryavenko TV, Skrylnyk YE, Zinchenko OV, Borysenko AI (2021) Beginning of the spread of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) on the territory of Ukraine. Izvestia Sankt-Peterburgskoj Lesotehniceskoj Akademii no. 236, pp. 163–184 (in Russian with English summary).