The accidental introduction of Ophraella communa in the EPPO region
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (Asteraceae: EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants) is native to North America and an invasive alien plant species in the EPPO region, Asia, Africa and Australia. A. artemisiifolia is an annual weed which competes strongly with crop plants for water and nutrients. It also causes major impacts on health because of its strong allergenic pollen. The North American herbivorous leaf beetle Ophraella communa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a natural enemy of A. artemisiifolia in its native range and has been accidentally introduced into Asia and the EPPO region. It was first reported from Europe from northern Italy in 2013 (EPPO RS 2013-204) and in Switzerland in the same year. It has been recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2020), Croatia (2018), France (2023), Hungary (2020), Romania (2020), Serbia (2020), Slovenia (2017) and more recently in Austria (2024) and Slovakia (2024). Its effectiveness as a biological control agent has been shown as in the Milano region (Lombardia, Italy), where it has reduced the airborne concentration of A. artemisiifolia pollen by 86 %. Even though there has been a lot of research on the host specificity of O. communa, the potential environmental risk of this beetle for EPPO countries still remains to be determined. The host range of O. communa is not yet entirely clear, but may be wider than is currently known. Further host specificity studies should be conducted to fully assess the potential non-target risks by O. communa in agricultural and natural habitats.
Sources
Nduwayo P, Schaffner U, Tarigan SI, Dorner Z, Kiss J, Desneux N, Lesieur V, Rousset Z, Müller-Schärer H, Toepfer S (2025) Risk assessment approaches for Ophraella communa as a biological control agent for Ambrosia artemisiifolia in agricultural landscapes of southeastern Central Europe: a review. Agronomy 15, 1771. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15081771