First report Myzus mumecola in Germany, Hungary, and Serbia
The Asian apricot aphid, Myzus mumecola, (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was detected for the first time in the EPPO region in Italy in 2016 (EPPO RS 2018/090, RS 2019/199), where it is considered established.
M. mumecola was first recorded in Germany in May 2020 on apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca) in Brandenburg. An express PRA (JKI, 2020) was conducted and concluded that this new aphid species was likely to establish in Germany, but that no significant damage was to be expected.
M. mumecola was also recorded in Hungary in spring 2020. A survey was conducted by Borbely et al. (2021) in apricot trees (P. armeniaca) in six different locations in Hungary in April and May 2020 in home gardens and orchards where no pesticides were applied: Győr and Győrszentiván in Western Transdanubia; Balatonalmádi in Central Transdanubia; Budapest Budafok and Pomáz in Central Hungary; and Gönc in Northern Hungary. M. mumecola was detected in all sites. It is suspected that M. mumecola may have arrived in Hungary in 2017/2018. Damage depends on cultivars, but the authors consider that it is an important pest. In addition, Plum pox virus (Potyvirus, PPV – EPPO A2 List) was detected by RT-PCR in M. mumecola samples from all regions.
M. mumecola was first recorded in Serbia in spring 2021 in several localities (Ljig, Smederevo, Velika Plana, Belgrade and Šid) on cultivated apricot trees. Damage was mainly recorded on trees on which no insecticides are used, and not in conventional apricot cultivation (Petrović-Obradović, 2021).
Sources
Borbely C, György Z, Szathmáry E, Marko V (2021) Apricot aphid, Myzus mumecola (Matsumura), a new and important pest of apricot in Hungary. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 128(3),781-787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-021-00436-z
JKI (2020) Express PRA for Myzus mumecola. Available at: https://pflanzengesundheit.julius-kuehn.de/en/pest-risk-analyses.html
Petrović-Obradović O (2021) Asian apricot aphid, Myzus mumecola (Matsumura, 1917) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), found in Serbia. Acta Entomologica Serbica 26(2), 19-26. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5785772