First finding of Pochazia shantungensis in Germany
The NPPO of Germany recently informed the EPPO Secretariat of the first finding of Pochazia shantungensis (Hemiptera: Ricaniidae, EPPO Alert List) on its territory. In August 2021, a private individual found a small number of adults of Pochazia shantungensis in a Catalpa bungei tree in a private garden in Baden-Württemberg. These adults were killed, and one was frozen and provided to the plant protection service for identification. The plant protection service could not detect oviposition on the infested Catalpa bungei in the private garden. The plant had been bought at a local tree nursery, that had imported Catalpa plants from another EU Member State in May 2021. The regional plant protection service did not detect any P. shantungensis at that nursery. Considering the low temperatures in winter in that region, it is not expected that the pest could establish. The plant protection service considers that the pest is no longer present in Baden-Württemberg. However, the plant protection service of Baden-Württemberg will carry out a survey on this pest in 2022 to ensure that no overwintering of possibly undetected individuals of P. shantungensis has occurred.
The pest status of Pochazia shantungensis in Germany has not yet been determined.
Sources
NPPO of Germany (2022-01).
JKI (2021) PRA for Pochazia shantungensis. 8 pp. Available at https://pflanzengesundheit.julius-kuehn.de/en/pest-risk-analyses.html