In recent years, several species of alien scale insects have arrived and spread rapidly through European and Mediterranean countries. One hundred and twenty‐nine species of alien scale insects have so far been recorded in Europe. This paper presents a list of alien scale insect species for Croatia, comprising 56 species from 8 different families. Four of them are new records for Croatia: Aonidiella taxus Leonardi, 1906, Ichnaspis longirostris (Signoret, 1882), Phoenicococcus marlatii (Cockerell, 1899) and Spilococcus mammillariae (Bouche, 1844). The majority of species recorded belong to the following families: Diaspididae (28 species), Coccidae (12 species), Pseudococcidae (10 species), Eriococcidae (two species). The scale insect families Dactylopidae, Margarodidae, Ortheziidae and Pheniococcidae comprised only one recorded alien species each. During the time frame covered in the review (from the beginning of the 20th century until 2015), the majority of alien scale insect species (23) were registered in the period from 2000 to 2015. Data on the origin of introduced alien scale insects shows that the majority of the species originate from Asia (22 species), followed by North America (6 species), Africa, Australia and Central America (5 species each) and South America (4 species), with 9 species being of unknown origin.
Bemisia tabaci was reported for the first time in the Mediterranean part of Croatia in 2000. It was found in glasshouses in the agricultural area between the towns of Trogir and Omis, on the following crops: Euphorbia pulcherrima, Thunbergia grandiflora, Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Solanum melongena (aubergine), Phaseolus spp. (beans), Ficus carica (fig), Rubus spp. and several weeds of the families Asteraceae and Solanaceae. In 2001, monitoring for the pest was organized all over the country, in each of the 21 counties. In each county, there were several monitoring points so that all the major vegetable and flower producers were included. A special effort was made to record the spread of B. tabaci in the region where it was first found, bearing in mind that optimal conditions for outdoor spread exist along the Adriatic coast. Yellow sticky traps and visual inspection are used to monitor for B. tabaci. Eradication measures are being applied, and regulatory measures have been taken to prevent further spread of B. tabaci to continental parts of Croatia.
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