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
Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time from Mexico. In February 2022, a wilt disease was observed on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants grown in a greenhouse in Culiacan, Sinaloa state. Laboratory tests (colony morphology, PCR, sequencing, pathogenicity) confirmed the presence the bacterium in diseased plants (Garcia-Estrada et al., 2023). Present, not widely distributed.
Tomato chlorosis virus (Crinivirus, ToCV - EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time from India. It was detected once in a mixed infection on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in Una district of Himachal Pradesh during surveys conducted in 2015 and 2017. Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus, ToLCNDV – EPPO A2 List) is also reported from Himachal Pradesh and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV - EPPO A2 List) from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh (Chaudhary et al., 2022). Present, not widely distributed.
- Detailed records
In China, Aphelenchoides besseyi (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time causing white tip disease of rice in Heilongjiang province. During summer 2021, A. besseyi was found in a rice field in Acheng district. Its identity was confirmed by morphological, molecular and pathogenicity tests (Hu et al., 2023).
In Portugal, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time from Madeira Island. The insect was observed in December 2022 in Funchal. In addition, records provided via social media (or citizen science platforms) and verified by entomologists showed a rapid spread of the insect across mainland Portugal and a sharp increase in numbers. Specimens of H. halys have been found in the districts of Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisboa, Porto, Viana do Castelo, and Madeira (Gaspar et al., 2023).
In Spain, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae – formerly EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time from the Canary Islands. The first specimens were found in December 2021 in an urban environment in Costa Adeja, on the island of Tenerife. In March 2023, further specimens were found in the vicinity of the first finding site, suggesting an established population (van der Heyden & Petrovan, 2023).
In India, the root knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time from guava (Psidium guajava) orchards of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states in Northern India (Naveenkumar et al., 2023)
In the USA, Meloidogyne enterolobii (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time in Georgia. The nematode was detected in 2 symptomatic sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) samples which had been collected in October 2021 from a field located in Reidville (Tattnall county) (Hajihassani et al., 2023).
In Brazil, Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae – EPPO A2 List) was first recorded in a greenhouse in the state of Ceará in 2018 (EPPO RS 2020/216). In 2019 it was also recorded outdoors causing damage in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) production in the state of Bahia (Nakayama & Lindner, 2022).
- Host plants
In China, Meloidogyne enterolobii (EPPO A2 List) has been found infecting wild plants of Acalypha australis (Euphorbiaceae) in Guangxi province. It is noted that A. australis is also widely cultivated in China and used for traditional medicine (Jia et al., 2023).
Tobacco ringspot virus (Nepovirus, TRSV – EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time naturally infecting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Symptomatic plants were observed in Oklahoma, USA: cotton plants showed typical virus-like symptoms including mosaic, yellow ring spots, discoloration, and short internodes (Ferguson et Ali, 2022)
- Taxonomy
The taxonomic placement of the genus Diaphorina, which includes one of the vectors of huanglongbing (Diaphorina citri – EPPO A1 List), has been subject to several changes. It was moved from the family Psyllidae to the family Liviidae (Burckhardt & Ouvrard, 2012), but it has recently been proposed to place it back again under Psyllidae (Burckhardt et al., 2021).
Sources
Burckhardt D & Ouvrard D (2012) A revised classification of the jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea). Zootaxa 3509, 1-34.
Burckhardt D, Ouvrard D & Percy DM (2021) An updated classification of the jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) integrating molecular and morphological evidence. European Journal of Taxonomy 736, 137–182. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.736.1257
Chaudhary P, Kaur A, Singh B, Kumar S, Hallan V, Nagpal AK (2022) First report of tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV) and detection of other viruses in field-grown tomatoes in North-Western region of India. VirusDisease (early view). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13337-022-00801-y
Garcia-Estrada RS, Marquez I, Osuna-Garcia LA, Tovar-Pedraza JM, Cruz-Lachica I (2023) First report of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum causing wilt disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants from Mexico. Plant Disease 107(early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-22-1838-PDN
Gaspar H, Castro S, Grosso-Silva JM, van der Heyden T, Loureiro J (2023) Exponential outspread of Halyomorpha halys (Stål, 1855) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Portugal. Arquivos Entomolóxicos 22, 373-376.
Ferguson C, Ali A (2022) First report of tobacco ringspot virus naturally infecting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) in the United States. Plant Disease 106(10), 2764. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-02-22-0303-PDN
Hajihassani A, Nugraha GT, Tyson C (2023) First report of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii on sweet potato in Georgia, United States. Plant Disease 107(early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-11-22-2692-PDN
Hu Y, Pan F, You J, Sha H, Fang J (2023) First report of Aphelenchoides besseyi causing white tip disease of rice in Heilongjiang province of China. Plant Disease (early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1387-PDN
Jia L, Wang Y, Gao F, Chen Q, Yang S, Wu H (2023) First report of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii infecting Acalypha australis in China. Plant Disease 107(2), 587. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-22-1063-PDN
Nakayama K, Lindner MF (2022) Ocorrência do tripes da pimenta (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, [Thysanoptera: Thripidae]) em cacaueiro (Theobroma cacao L.). Agrotrópica 34(2), 121-130.
Naveenkumar KR, Dash M, Khan MR, Kumar S, Pasupuleti S, Kundu A, Sirohi A, Kranti KVVS, Kamil D, Somvanshi VS (2023) A survey of guava orchards of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states in northern India to assess the spread of root-knot nematodes. Indian Phytopathology. (early view) https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-023-00608-x
van der Heyden T, Petrovan S (2023) New records of Heteroptera from the Canary Islands (Spain), II. Arquivos Entomolóxicos 26, 109-111.