Phoracantha recurva occurs in Italy
The presence of Phoracantha recurva (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) has recently been reported in Italy on eucalyptus trees. P. recurva was first recorded in 2003 in Sardegna and Puglia, and subsequently in the eastern part of Sicilia in 2005. But when studying a collection of insects (Universitá degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria), it was found that two specimens of P. recurva had already been collected in Calabria in 1992 and 1995, thus suggesting that the pest had been introduced much earlier than originally thought. Observations made in 2006 in Calabria confirmed the presence of P. recurva along the Ionian coast in eucalyptus forests together with the other introduced eucalyptus borer, Phoracantha semipunctata (formerly EPPO A2 List). In Calabria, C. recurva does not seem to cause severe damage to eucalyptus plantations. In Sicilia, it was found in various localities in the provinces of Catania and Enna, also together with P. semipunctata. The most important populations were observed at Piazza Armerina in a eucalyptus forest that had been exposed to fire damage, repeated drought periods, and leaf galling insects (Ophelimus eucalypti and Leptocybe invasa).
Sources
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Mazzeo G, Siscaro G (2007) [Phoracantha recurva on Eucalyptus in Sicily.] Informatore Fitopatologico no. 3, 35-37 (in Italian).
Palmeri V, Campolo O (2006) [On the presence of Phoracantha recurva and Phoracantha semipunctat F. (Coleoptera Cerambycidae) in Calabria.] Bolletino di Zoologia Agraria e di Bachocoltura Serie II 38(3), 251-254 (in Italian).
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