The ‘Réunion’ planthopper Euroxenus vayssieresi (Hemiptera: Issidae) a potential emerging pest of Solanaceae in the tropics
The ‘Réunion’ planthopper Euroxenus vayssieresi (Hemiptera: Issidae) is a species first described from La Réunion island in 2001. In 2021-2022, it was reported for the first time in Ghana, Hawaii (US) and in northern Australia.
It is suspected that the insect has been introduced to these locations via transport of plant material.
In Australia E. vayssieresi was first observed in March 2021 in Cairns (Queensland) on a Thai eggplant plant (Solanum melongena) and in 2022 on a number of plants, notably red basil (Ocimum basilicum) and cherry tomato (S. lycopersicum). In September 2022, it was detected in Darwin Botanical Gardens (Northern Territory), 1670 km away from Cairns.
E. vayssieresi has a wide host range encompassing at least 25 plant species across 20 families.
Moir et al. (2026) note that there is a growing number of recent public reports of E. vayssieresi made through the website iNaturalist across India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, China, the Philippines and Taiwan, although these occurrences need to be confirmed. These reports suggest that either E. vayssieresi originates from these countries, or that the species is rapidly moving across the tropics, and that it may be a newly invasive pest species. Climate modelling suggests that this species may establish in tropical areas.
Sources
Moir ML, Schneider IC, Gorton MJ, Bertazzoni S (2026) Is the ‘Réunion’ planthopper Euroxenus vayssieresi (Hemiptera: Issidae) a new emerging invasive pest species spreading across the tropics? Austral Entomology 65(1), e70039.