EPPO Global Database

EPPO Reporting Service no. 04 - 2022 Num. article: 2022/076

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 8.


  • New records

In Kenya, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae – EPPO A2 List) was first detected in 2019, in one fruit farm during a survey. A follow-up survey conducted in 2020 in 14 locations in 6 counties, in the main berry-growing areas in Kenya, indicated that so far D. suzukii is restricted to Nakuru county where it was initially detected. This is the first record for continental Eastern Africa (Kwadha et al., 2021). Present, not widely distributed.


Chinese wheat mosaic virus (Furovirus, CHMV, formerly EPPO Alert List) has been reported from limited areas in Northern Japan on wheat (Triticum aestivum) since 2008. It has also been identified in barley (Hordeum vulgare) (Kondo et al., 2022).


Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) was found on Hibiscus spp. in Brandenburg at the end of 2021. It is considered unlikely to establish because of climatic conditions (JKI, 2021).


  • Detailed records

In China, during surveys conducted in the main stone fruit production regions in 2008-2018, plum pox virus (Potyvirus, PPV – EPPO A2 List) was detected on Prunus mume in the provinces of Beijing, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and on Prunus armeniaca in Shanxi (Zhou et al., 2021).


In Brazil the citrus blackfly Aleurocanthus woglumi (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae – EPPO A1 List) was first reported in citrus orchards from Rio Grande do Sul in March 2021 (Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Desenvolvimento Rural - Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2022).


In Colombia, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (associated with huanglongbing – EPPO A1 List) was first detected in 2015 (EPPO RS 2016/062) in La Guajira department. According to ICA (2021), citrus huanglongbing is now present in the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena and Norte de Santander. A pest-free area is established in the Suroeste de Antioquia. 


In France, the tiger longicorn beetle Xylotrechus chinensis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae – EPPO Alert List) was first found in 2018 in the Hérault and Gironde departments (EPPO RS 2018/220, 2019/098). Since then, reports from private individuals have been received regularly by the regional service in Gironde. In 2022, an official delimiting survey will be conducted.

The pest status of Xylotrechus chinensis in France is officially declared as: Transient, actionable, under surveillance.


  • Absence

In Denmark Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae – EPPO A1 List, vector of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) was detected in wood packaging material in June 2021 (EPPO RS 2021/155). The NPPO of Denmark informed the EPPO Secretariat that surveillance has confirmed that this finding did not result in establishment of the pest. This past finding should be considered as an interception. 

The pest status of Monochamus alternatus in Denmark is officially declared as: Absent.
 

Prodiplosis longifila (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae - EPPO A1 List) was reported from Bolivia on the native plant Jatropha clavuligera (Euphorbiaceae) (EPPO RS 2019/133). However, further surveys by Kolesik et al. (2022) showed that the gall midge present on Jatropha gossypiifolia and J. clavuligera in Paraguay and Bolivia is not P. longifila but a new species, called Prodiplosis hirsuta Kolesik sp. nov. As the record on J. clavuligera was the only one for Bolivia, P. longifila is now considered absent from Bolivia. 


In Brazil, a record of Tilletia indica (EPPO A2 List) in Rio Grande do Sul was published in 1993 (Da Luz et al., 1993). This single record was associated with wheat grain and there was no confirmation of establishment of the fungus. The NPPO of Brazil recently informed the EPPO Secretariat that T. indica has been officially recognized as absent from Brazil since 1999 (NPPO of Brazil, 2022).

The pest status of Tilletia indica in Brazil is officially declared as: Absent, pest no longer present.


  • New pests and taxonomy

Rhagoletis merzi sp. nov. has recently been described as a new species of Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae). It was found on Juniperus sabina in Switzerland (Korneyev et al., 2022).


Sources

Da Luz WC, Mendes MAS, Ferreira V, Urben AF (1993) [Tilletia indica on wheat in the southern part of Rio Grande do Sul and means for its eradication]. Fitopatologia Brasileira 18, 329 (In Portuguese).

ICA (2021) Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario. Resolución No.102579 (03/08/2021) Por la cual se declara la región del Suroeste de Antioquia como área libre de HLB de los cítricos ocasionado por Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus y se establecen las medidas fitosanitarias para su mantenimiento. https://www.ica.gov.co/getattachment/6862a3b3-279c-4db7-802c-2be32bb1112b/2021R102579.aspx

JKI (2021) Express-PRA zu Thrips parvispinus. 6 pp. available at https://pflanzengesundheit.julius-kuehn.de/risikoanalysen.html

Kolesik P, Kumaran N, Oleiro M, Goñalons CM, Brookes D, Cabrera Walsh G, Dhileepan K (2022) Prodiplosis hirsuta Kolesik sp. nov., a new species of gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) feeding on shoot tips of Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) in South America. Austral Entomology 61(1), 37-48.

Kondo H, Masejima H, Maruyama K, Fujita M, Ohki T (2022) First report of Chinese wheat mosaic virus infecting barley in Japan. Plant Disease, early view. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-21-2803-PDN

Korneyev SV, Smith JJ, Hulbert DL, Frey JE, Korneyev VA (2022) A new species of Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Switzerland, with discussion of its relationships within the genus. Zoodiversity 56(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6289063

Kwadha CA, Okwaro LA, Kleman I, Rehermann G, Revadi S, Ndlela S, Khamis FM, Nderitu PW, Kasina M, George MK, Kithusi GG (2021) Detection of the spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, in continental sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Pest Science 94(2), 251-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-021-01330-1

NPPO of Brazil (2022-04).

NPPO of Denmark (2022-04).

NPPO of France (2022-04).

Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Desenvolvimento Rural – Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (2022-01-25) Estado apresenta primeiro registro de mosca-negra-dos-citros https://www.agricultura.rs.gov.br/estado-apresenta-primeiro-registro-de-mosca-negra-dos-citros

Zhou J, Xing F, Wang H, Li S (2021) Occurrence, distribution, and genomic characteristics of plum pox virus isolates from common apricot (Prunus armeniaca) and Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) in China. Plant Disease 105(11), 3474-3480.