First report of Dasineura oxycoccana in the Czech Republic
The NPPO of the Czech Republic recently informed the EPPO Secretariat of the first finding of Dasineura oxycoccana (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) on its territory. The pest was initially found on Vaccinium corymbosum plants grown outdoors in containers in a nursery in the Central Bohemian region. In this nursery, suspicious symptoms had been observed in July 2016 but as only eggs were found on damaged leaves, the identity of the pest could not be ascertained. In August 2016, adult specimens were caught using sweeping nets and yellow sticky traps. The identity of the pest was confirmed in September 2016 by morphological and molecular methods. In the nursery concerned, approximately 75% of the V. corymbosum plants (out of a total of 42 000 plants) were infested by D. oxycoccana. Affected plants showed distortion, brown to black discoloration followed by desiccation of vegetative buds and a few leaves on terminal shoots. The infestation was evenly distributed across the nursery but damage was not considered to be very severe. Following this initial finding, a detection survey was conducted in nurseries, garden centres and fruit production plantations of V. corymbosum throughout the country. Results showed that D. oxycoccana was more widely distributed than originally thought (found at 15 locations in 6 regions) and could be considered as established in the Czech Republic. In addition, a rapid PRA was conducted and concluded that the overall phytosanitary risk was low with a moderate uncertainty. As a consequence, no phytosanitary measures will be taken.
The pest status of Dasineura oxycoccana in the Czech Republic is officially declared as: Present, only in some parts of the Czech Republic.
Sources
NPPO of the Czech Republic (2016-10).