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
Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae - EPPO A2 List) is first reported in Iraq. It was found on Vigna radiata in Baghdad province (Al-Ashbal et al., 2025). Present.
Metcalfa pruinosa (Hemiptera: Flatidae) is first reported in Japan. It was recorded in 2022-2023 in Togichi prefecture (central Honshu) (Mita et al., 2025). Present, not widely distributed and not under official control.
Potato mop-top virus (Pomovirus solani, PMTV) was first detected in Australia. It was detected in potato (Solanum tuberosum) in Tasmania in July 2025. PMTV is present and under official control in Tasmania. It is absent from the Australian mainland (IPPC, 2025).
The pest status of Potato mop-top virus in Australia is officially declared as: Present: not widely distributed and under official control.
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (Tobamovirus fructirugosum, ToBRFV – EPPO A2 List) is first reported in Colombia. It was detected in 19 out of 20 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fields tested across eight municipalities in the province of Antioquia (Sánchez et al., 2025). Present.
Xanthomonas hortorum pv. gardneri (EPPO A2 List) is first reported causing bacterial spot on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Argentina. It was detected in December 2020 in a tomato field in the horticultural belt of Buenos Aires-La Plata (Felipe et al., 2025). Present, not widely distributed and not under official control.
Xanthomonas euvesicatoria pv. euvesicatoria (EPPO A2 List) occurs in Thailand. It was detected in symptomatic tomatoes and Capsicum plants during studies conducted in 1987-2022. (Preangtong et al., 2025). Present.
Tomato chlorosis virus (Crinivirus tomatichlorosis, ToCV - EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time in the Dominican Republic. During a study to detect the presence of ToCV in the Dominican Republic conducted between September 2022 and February 2024, ToCV was first found in 2023 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants showing flower abortion, leaf and fruit deformation and leaf yellowing in greenhouses and open-fields in three tomato-producing provinces in the west of the Dominican Republic (San José de Ocoa, La Vega, and San Juan). In all three provinces, tomatoes also tested positive for tomato yellow leaf curl virus (Begomovirus coheni, TYLCV - EPPO A2 List) and co-infection of both viruses was also reported. The identity of the pests was confirmed by molecular testing (Soto-Galán et al., 2025). Present, restricted distribution.
Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is first reported in Costa Rica. It was found for the first time in Alajuela province during surveys conducted in May to October 2024 in protected environments and fields on bell pepper (Capsicum annuum), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and ornamental Croton sp. The presence of the pest was confirmed by morphological and molecular analysis (Rodríguez Arrieta et al., 2025). Present, restricted distribution.
Iris yellow spot virus (Orthotospovirus iridimaculaflavi, IYSV – formerly EPPO Alert List) was detected for the first time in Türkiye. During surveys in 2020-2021 across Marmara region, IYSV was detected on symptomatic onion (Allium cepa), garlic (Allium sativum) and leek (Allium porrum) crops showing diamond-shaped colour patches, as well as chlorotic and necrotic lesions. The identity of the pest was confirmed by molecular testing (Şafak & Köklü, 2025). Present, restricted distribution (Marmara region)
The red palm mite Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time in Costa Rica. R. indica was reported causing damage to Cocos nucifera, Pritchardia pacifica, Phoenix roebelenii, Adonidia merrillii and Musa sp. in Puntarenas province during surveys conducted from May to June 2025.
- Detailed records
In Mexico, Eutetranychus banksi (Acari: Tetranychidae, EPPO Alert List) was known to occur in the states of Nayarit, Veracruz, and Yucatán. It was recently recorded as a damaging pest of papaya (Carica papaya) in Tamaulipas, together with 2 other mites, Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus merganser, the latter of which is expanding its host range in Mexico (Chaires-Grijalva et al., 2025).
In the USA, laurel wilt caused by Harringtonia lauricola (EPPO Alert List) is first recorded from New York State. It was detected on dying sassafras in Suffolk County (Long Island). This is the most northern record of the species in the USA (Department of environmental conservation of New-York, 2025). An updated map of the current distribution of the disease is available at USDA https://gfcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/d43391c8fdb741b597e6ccf1236d2a02.
In Dominican Republic, Ips calligraphus (Coleoptera: Scolytinae, EPPO A1 List) is reported as the primary pest of Pinus occidentalis. For the first time, a study identified ophiostomatoid fungi associated with I. calligraphus: Ophiostoma ips, Leptographium manifestum, and Ophiostoma sp. (Pérez González & Bobadilla-Peñaló, 2024).
In India, Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae - EPPO A2 List) occurs in Assam (Bora et al., 2025).
In China, tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus solanumdelhiense, ToLCNDV – EPPO A2 List) is known to occur in Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang (EPPO RS 2023/103, RS 2025/113) on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and cucurbits. During field surveys conducted from May to December 2024, ToLCNDV was reported for the first time in Shandong province on symptomatic melon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and smooth luffa (Luffa aegyptiaca) crops showing leaf curl, yellowing and mottling symptoms. The identity of the pest was confirmed by molecular testing (Qiao et al., 2025).
- New host plants
Iris yellow spot virus (Orthotospovirus iridimaculaflavi, IYSV – formerly EPPO Alert List) was detected for the first time in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). IYSV was reported to cause yellowing, chlorosis, vein clearing, and curling leaf symptoms in Idaho (USA) (Ramachandran et al., 2025)
- Taxonomy
Globodera vulgaris was recently described as a new cyst nematode species found on potato in China (EPPO RS 2021/108). Based on morphological and molecular analysis, Gu et al. (2025) showed that interspecific variation between Globodera rostochiensis (EPPO A2 List) and Globodera vulgaris is minimal. Consequently, G. vulgaris should be considered as a junior synonym to G. rostochiensis (Gu et al., 2025).
Sources
Al-Ashbal HN, Al-Joboury KR, Jalil SJ (2025) Insects infestation for plants of Fabaceae in different areas in Iraq. InIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1449(1), 012057. IOP Publishing. DOI 10.1088/1755-1315/1449/1/012057
Bora M, Borah N, Bora BK, Rajkumar P (2025) Population dynamics of major insect pests and natural enemies in tomato. Indian Journal of Entomology, 87(3), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.55446/IJE.2024.1679
Chaires-Grijalva MP, Torres-Acosta RI, Abato-Zárate M, Niño-García N, Lerma-Sánchez AM, Reyes-Hernández J (2025) First record of tetranychids mites (Acari: Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) in papayo orchards in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Revista Chilena de Entomología 51(3), 439-446. https://www.biotaxa.org/rce/article/view/87610
Department of environmental conservation of New-York (2025-09) DEC and Partners Confirm Laurel Wilt Invasive Plant Disease on Long Island. https://dec.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2025/9/dec-and-partners-confirm-laurel-wilt-invasive-plant-disease-on-long-island
Felipe V, Montecchia MS, von Baczko OH, Romero AM (2025) First report of Xanthomonas hortorum pv. gardneri causing bacterial spot on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Argentina. Journal of Plant Pathology (early view) https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-025-01978-z
Gu J, Ma X, Fang Y, Li H, Peng D, Gan X, Li X, Shao B, Holgado R, Subbotin SA (2025) The cyst nematode Globodera vulgaris Xu et al., 2023 (Tylenchida: Heteroderidae) is a junior synonym of G. rostochiensis (Wollenweber, 1923) Skarbilovich, 1959. European Journal of Plant Pathology 173, 61-72.
IPPC website. Official Pest Reports- Australia (2025-10-14): Pomovirus solani (Potato mop-top virus, PMTV) Present: not widely distributed and under official control. https://www.ippc.int/fr/countries/australia/pestreports/2025/10/pomovirus-solani-potato-mop-top-virus-pmtv-present-not-widely-distributed-and-under-official-control/
Mita T, Ohara N, Ômori K (2025) First record of the alien planthopper, Metcalfa pruinosa (Hemiptera: Flatidae) from Japan. Japanese Journal of Entomology (New Series) 28(2), 58-60.
Murillo P, Alpízar-Aguilar G (2025) First report of Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in Costa Rica. International Journal of Acarology 7, 1-3.
Pérez González E, Bobadilla-Peñaló EM (2024) First report of ophiostomatoid fungi associated with Ips calligraphus (Germar, 1823)(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) infesting Pinus occidentalis Sw. on the northwestern slope of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. Ciencia, Ambiente y Clima 7(2), 31-48. https://doi.org/10.22206/cac.2024.v7i2.3336
Preangtong Y, Patarapuwadol S, Phiriyangkul P, Kanhayart T, Kositcharoenkul N, Kositratana W, Watcharachaiyakup J (2025) Characterisation and genomic diversity of Xanthomonas species causing bacterial spot disease of tomato and pepper in Thailand. Plant Pathology 74(5),1315-1134.
Qiao N, Yang X, Bai Z, Cao J, Sun Z, Liu F, Zang L, Sun X, Chen Y (2025) Occurrence of Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus in three cucurbits crops in northern China and its fast and accurate detection through heat-labile uracil-DNA glycosylase based LAMP elucidated with lateral flow dipstick. Plant Disease (early view)
Ramachandran V, Chinnadurai C, Cho H, Neher O, Weiland J, Bolton M (2025) First report of Orthotospovirus iridimaculaflavi (Iris yellow spot virus) and Becurtovirus spinaciae (Spinach curly top Arizona virus) in sugarbeet in Idaho, United States. Plant Disease 109(7), 1595 https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-25-0105-PDN
Rodríguez Arrieta J, Barrientos Castro A, Masís Arce J, Varela Benavides IL (2025) First report of the pepper thrips Thrips parvispinus (Karny) in Costa Rica. Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems 28(3), 123. http://doi.org/10.56369/tsaes.6334
Sánchez J, Gutiérrez PA, Panno S, Caruso AG, Davino S, Marín M (2025) Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) isolates in tomato in Antioquia (Colombia). Journal of Plant Pathology https://doi.org/10.1007/s42161-025-01961-8
Şafak F, Köklü G (2025) Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of Iris yellow spot virus from Allium species in Marmara Region, Türkiye. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 132(5), 152.
Soto-Galán D, Moreta A, Molina J, Borbón J, del Orb J, Matos-Casado L (2025) Spread and symptomatology of tomato chlorosis virus in mixed infections with tomato yellow leaf curl virus in the Dominican Republic. Tropical Agriculture 102 (1) 47-58.