Incursion of Popillia japonica in Spain
A single adult female Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae – EPPO A2 List) was found in Oleiros (A Coruña, province Galicia) on 20th June 2025 in a suitcase of a private individual who had taken a direct flight from Milan, Italy to A Coruña airport. The identity of the pest was confirmed by morphological identification. Eradication measures have been taken according to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1584. They include intensive surveys in the house where the specimen was found and along the route taken between the airport and the house. Traps have been installed in the vicinity of the house, near the airport, as well as in a golf course and two nurseries located in an area 1 km around the place of the finding and will be checked during the flight season of the pest for one life cycle and an additional year.
The pest status of Popillia japonica in Spain is officially declared as: Transient, actionable, under surveillance.
Sources
NPPO of Spain (2025-07).
EU (2023) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1584 of 1.8.2023 on measures to prevent the establishment and spread of Popillia japonica Newman and on measures for the eradication and containment of that pest within certain demarcated areas of the Union territory. OJL 194, p. 17–38. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/1584/oj