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
The oak lace bug, Corythucha arcuata (Hemiptera: Tingidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) and the sycamore lace bug Corythucha ciliata (Heteroptera: Tingidae) occur in Argentina. Both insects were recorded in the province of Buenos Aires in 2022: C. arcuata on Quercus robur and C. ciliata on Platanus x hispanica (Carpintero et al., 2022)
Isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum (EPPO A2 List) from Zimbabwe existed in collections, but there was no published record of brown rot on potato (Solanum tuberosum) in the field. Muhera et al. (2025) conducted an intensive survey on 19 farms in the Nyanga potato quarantine area where all seed potatoes for Zimbabwe are produced. R. solanacearum was detected (biochemical analysis) in samples from ten farms. The authors note that R. solanacearum had been first detected in Zimbabwe in Nyanga district (Manicalan province) in 1988 and official measures applied. Bacterial wilt was observed again there in 2016. Many other potato farmers outside Nyanga have also confirmed the occurrence of infections with R. solanacearum since 2012.
Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time from Algeria. One specimen was observed in the city of Constantine (van der Heyden, 2025).
- Detailed records
In Greece, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae – EPPO A2 List) was first reported in the city of Rhodes (Rhodes Island, Dodecanese) in 2017 on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in private and public gardens. In August 2024, the mealybug was found in another region of Greece on heavily infested Albizia julibrissin and Grevillea robusta in Alimos, South Athens (Attica) (Tsagkarakis et al., 2025). This is the first record on A. julibrissin as a host plant.
In China, tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus solanumdelhiense, ToLCNDV – EPPO A2 List) is known to occur in Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang (EPPO RS 2023/103) on tomato and cucurbits. In March 2023, it was first reported in Anhui province on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) plants showing leaf curling and plant stunting (Han et al., 2025). This is the first report on P. vulgaris worldwide. The authors believe this to be a natural infection.
In Brazil, Zaprionus tuberculatus (Diptera: Drosophilidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) was known to occur in several states in the southern part of the country (EPPO RS 2022/096, RS 2024/001, RS 2024/085). It was recently reported in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) production in Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Rio de Janeiro states (Santos et al., 2024). In addition, it was recently recorded in the northern part of Brazil. It was first recorded in the state of Paraiba (north-eastern Brazil) in May 2022 in fruit of Psidium guajava (Ribeiro et al., 2024). It was also first recorded from the Amazon region (State of Pará) in May 2024: three adult females were observed in the municipality of Belém (Mendes et al., 2025).
- Absence
In Finland, an adult Manchurian fruit moth Grapholita inopinata (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae, EPPO A2 List) had been found in a trap in 2019 (EPPO RS 2021/126). Surveys were subsequently conducted with pheromone traps and the pest was not found again (NPPO of Finland, 2025).
The pest status of Grapholita inopinata in Finland is officially declared as: Absent, confirmed by survey.
Sources
Carpintero DL, De Magistris AA, Faúndez EI, Porrini DP (2022) Presencia de Corythucha ciliata (Say, 1832) y Corythucha arcuata (Say, 1832)(Hemiptera: Tingidae) en Argentina, ampliación de la distribución de C. ciliata en Chile e inclusión de una nueva sinonimia específica. Revista chilena de entomología 48(2), 377-391.
Han K, Ma C, Zhao W, Yan D (2025) First report of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus infecting common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in China. Plant Disease (early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-25-0592-PDN
Muhera S, Chinheya C, Kageler S, Ngadze E, Mtetwa E (2025) Epidemiology of potato bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) in Nyanga potato quarantine area, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Agricultural Research 21(4), 325-329. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2024.16818
Mendes MF, Lamas CJ (2025) First report of the invasive species and potential pest Zaprionus tuberculatus Malloch, 1932 (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in Pará, Brazil. Entomological Communications 7, ec07010. https://doi.org/10.37486/2675-1305.ec07010
NPPO of Finland (2025-05).
Ribeiro LS, Sousa NR, Salustino AS, Morais MM, Maddalena A, Abreu KG, Oliveira-Filho MC, Brito CH, Araujo HF, Martins JV, Ribeiro WS (2024) First record of Zaprionus tuberculatus (Malloch, 1932)(Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Paraíba state, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 84, e285905. https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.285905
Santos JP, Bitner-Mathé BC, Rosa JM, Fiedler M, Scapin VL, Garcia FR, Santos FC, Oliveira MA, Antunes A (2024) First records of Zaprionus tuberculatus (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in strawberry in Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 84, e283652. https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.283652
Tsagkarakis AE, Kaydan MB, Stathas GJ, Gastouniotis G (2025) First record of Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)(Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on Albizia julibrissin - Honeybee foraging on mealybug honeydew. Hellenic Plant Protection Journal 18, 13-16. https://doi.org/10.2478/hppj-2025-0003
van der Heyden T (2025) First record of Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Thaumastocoridae) in Algeria. Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey, 7(1), 1-3. https://zenodo.org/records/15313071