First Record of Cacopsylla pulchella (Hemiptera, Psyllidae) in Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify plant lice Cacopsylla pulchella a new alien insect in the fauna of Croatia. We propose a new method of infestation level assessment in order to assess the potential of this insect as a pest. In May 2020 samples were collected from eleven locations in Croatia, where Cercis siliquastrum is grown in parks. Adults and nymphs of C. pulchella were collected together with a plant material and brought to entomological laboratory for further analysis. Field research was performed in order to assess the distribution and infestation intensity across various localities in Croatia. The intensity of infestation was assessed heuristically by visual examination and was categorized in four categories: 0) no infestation, 1) low, 2) moderate and 3) high infestation. C. pulchella was confirmed on C. siliquastrum in eleven localities in Croatia. Most of the infested trees had a low or moderate intensity of infestation. Damages caused by this insect are due to the emission of honey dew, a small spherical drop covered with waxy secretion causing necrotic areas which could lead to the premature fall of the leaves. It is not known what kind of progress in infestation intensity could be expected so infested trees found in this study should be checked closely in the coming years. It is strongly suggested to continue the monitoring of this alien insect on C. siliquastrum in Croatia and to estimate its potential of become an invasive pest which could endanger ornamental and other values of its hosts.

First Record of Cacopsylla pulchella (Hemiptera, Psyllidae) in Albania

“…Most of the trees (70%) had a moderate or high intensity of infestation (Table 1). When comparing this result with results from Croatia, where infested trees have had mostly a low or moderate intensity of infestation (Pernek et al 2020), it seems that the Judas trees are under heavy attack in Albania. Librazhd and Elbansn districts had the highest recorded infestation level.…”

“…Cacopsylla pulchella Low (Hemiptera, Psyllidae) is a jumping plant-lice that is considered to be an alien species in Europe (Mifsud et al 2010) and was first recorded in 1964 in France (Hodkinson and White 1979). It was also confirmed in many European countries such as Austria, Great Britain, Greece, Switzerland (Zeidan-Gèze and Burckhardt 1998), Germany, Italy, Ukraine (Burckhardt 2010), Spain, Portugal (Sánchez 2011), Slovenia (Seljak 2006), Hungary (Ripka 2008), Serbia (Jerinić-Prodanović 2011), Russia (Balakhnina et al 2015) and Croatia (Pernek et al 2020). It was also found in Israel (Spodek et al 2017) and Lebanon (Zeidan-Gèze and Burckhardt 1998).…”

“…Additional field research was performed in order to assess distribution and infestation intensity across various localities in Albania (Figure 1). The intensity of infestation was assessed by visual examination and was categorized into four categories (Pernek et al 2020): 0) no symptoms visible from distance or when observing single leaves, 1) low -symptoms are not visible when looking at the whole tree, only few specimens can be detected sporadically on single leaves, 2) moderate -symptoms are barely visible when looking at the whole tree, more than 5 specimens can be counted on 50% of the observed leaves; 3) high -symptoms are visible when looking at the whole tree from distance, more than 10 specimens can be counted on at least 50% of the observed leaves.…”