Pomegranate, Punica granatum L., is a deciduous fruit tree cultivated in Greece since ancient times for both nutritional and medicinal purposes. The main regions where pomegranates are cultivated include the Aegean Islands, Crete, the Peloponnese, Central Greece, and Central Macedonia (Pontikis, 1987). Traditionally, pomegranates were cultivated more for household use than commercial use. However, in recent years cultivation of pomegranates has gained more and more importance in terms of economic significance. In recent years, new plantations have been established in several areas, mainly in the regions of East and Central Macedonia, covering a total area of more than 1500 ha (Drogoudi et al., 2012). Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the pests of pomegranates in Greece (Tsagkarakis, 2012).Within a pomegranate orchard in the area of Vrontou (42°11′N, 22°26′E) of Central Macedonia (northern Greece) (Figure 1), we observed in April 2011 several unhealthy trees with most of their branches having red discolored leaves. Moreover, round holes (about 0.3-0.4 cm in diameter) and packed frass or bore dust were visible at the base of these branches near the buds (Figure 2A). Samples of these branches were collected and placed in plastic bags (50 × 50 cm), which were afterwards shipped or carried to the laboratory within 2 h. In order to avoid exposure to high temperatures, plastic bags were carried in a cooler (approximately 15 °C). A layer of newspaper was used to prevent direct contact of the plastic bags with the ice packs at the bottom of the cooler. As soon as they were transferred to the laboratory, they were placed into ventilated wooden cages (30 × 30 × 30 cm) at 25 ± 1 °C and 70 ± 10% relative humidity, with a photoperiod of 16:8 h (L:D). Examination of the branches under a microscope revealed that the branches were infested by adults of an unrecognized beetle species forming galleries inside the bark. These specimens were subsequently identified, based on morphological characteristics, as the grape cane borer, Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier, 1790). This is the first record of A. bimaculatus attacking pomegranate trees in Greece. So far A. bimaculatus was reported only on grapes in Greece (Navrozidis and Andreadis, 2012).The grape cane borer is a univoltine species. Adults are 1.1-1.8 cm long, cylindrical, and uniformly black or brownish black, with the antennae, palpi, and tarsi brownish or brownish yellow (Figures 2B and 2C) (Navrozidis and Andreadis, 2012). The head is relatively small and completely covered by the large pronotum. The basal half of the pronotal lateral margins are covered with Abstract: Discoloration of the leaves of unhealthy pomegranate trees, caused by the Coleopteran species Amphicerus bimaculatus (Olivier, 1790), was found in a newly planted pomegranate orchard in April 2011 in northern Greece (Vrontou area). Identification of the species was based on morphological characteristics. This report is the first record of A. bimaculatus in Greece infesting pomegranate trees.

Pear tree (Pyrus communis) is an important crop in Greece. In 2012, fruits of the pear cv. Kontoula were observed in commercial fields located in Tirnavos, Prefecture of Larrisa, Greece, with symptoms of well-defined brown angular margins and their grayish white centers in which a few pycnidia (about 180 × 150 μm) were produced within the spots. Pycnidia were dark, separate, and globe-shaped with an ostiole (opening at the apex) from which conidia (about 40 to 60 × 3 μm) were extruded, and erupted through the surface of the infected tissue. Conidia were produced on short conidiophores. They were clear, narrowly elongated to filiform, and several-celled. The pathogen was isolated on acidified-PDA (2.5 ml 85% lactic acid per liter of nutrient medium) and incubated at 23°C for 7 days. The pathogen was identified as Septoria pyricola Desm. based on morphological characteristics. Koch's postulates were completed in the laboratory by placing a 40-μl drop of suspension (4 × 105 conidia ml−1 of water) on a wounded area of healthy fruits of cv. Kontoula. Fruits were surface sterilized with dipping in 0.1% chlorine solution, allowed to dry in a laminar flow hood. There were 15 inoculated and 15 control fruits (similarly inoculated with sterile distilled water) in a randomized design. Fruits were covered with perforated polythene bags to maintain a high humidity necessary for infection and these bags were removed 48 h after inoculation and maintained at room temperature (23 ± 2°C). Lesion development was recorded daily for each fruit. Koch's postulates were satisfied after re-isolating the fungus from inoculated fruit that developed symptoms similar to those observed on fruits collected from fields. Symptoms of this disease were found in all pear orchards cultivating the cv. Kontoula located in Tyrnavos (a municipality in the Prefecture of Larissa). Symptoms of septoria leaf spot were also observed in the above pear orchards. In contrast, no symptom of septoria fruit spot and septoria leaf spot was observed in apple orchards of the above regions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence of S. pyricola as causal agent of fruit spot of pears in Greece. Fruit spotting is relatively uncommon; nevertheless, Sivanesan (3) gives two reports of conidia infecting pear fruits from Italy and South Africa (1,2). References: (1) G. Florenzano. Int. Bull. Plant Prot. 20:17, 1946. (2) A. J. Louw. Farming in South Africa 23:737, 1948. (3) A. Sivanesan. IMI Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria, vol. 99, sheet 989. CABI, Wallingford, UK, 1990.