Identification of pests and pathogens recorded in Europe with relation to fruit imports

Abstract

Within the framework of the EU project DROPSA (‘Strategies to develop effective, innovative and practical approaches to protect major European fruit crops from pests and pathogens’), a review on pests (including pathogens) that have fruit species as their host plants was conducted. The focus was on pests that have been introduced into Europe or were found in the fruit trade during the last 10–15 years. Among the 387 recorded pests, the following groups were identified: 1. fruit and vinegar flies, 2. scale insects, 3. fungi, 4. plant viruses, 5. bacteria, 6. pests of unknown risk, 7. tropical fruit pests, 8. pests that had an unexpected change of hosts, 9. fruit pests not likely to be transported on fruit and 10. ‘hitchhikers’ (non‐fruit pests intercepted on fruit/fruit plants, fruit pests intercepted on other commodities than fruit). The large number of pests identified, from different taxonomic groups and origins, shows that fruit are an important pathway for pests, threatening fruit production in Europe.

Development and validation of a simplified morphological identification key for larvae of tephritid species most commonly intercepted at import in Europe

“…Two other species, Bactrocera minax and Ceratitis quinaria are also occasionally intercepted in Europe (Steffen et al, 2015). in order to differentiate the third-instar larvae of the tephritid taxa most commonly intercepted in Europe: Anastrepha spp., B. correcta, B. dorsalis complex, B. latifrons, B. zonata, C. capitata, C. cosyra and Ceratitis FAR complex, D. ciliatus and Z. cucurbitae.…”

“…in order to differentiate the third-instar larvae of the tephritid taxa most commonly intercepted in Europe: Anastrepha spp., B. correcta, B. dorsalis complex, B. latifrons, B. zonata, C. capitata, C. cosyra and Ceratitis FAR complex, D. ciliatus and Z. cucurbitae. Two other species, Bactrocera minax and Ceratitis quinaria are also occasionally intercepted in Europe (Steffen et al, 2015). However, it was not possible to include them in the key due a lack of reference material to work on.…”

“…Among the 4400 known species of Tephritidae, only about 10 taxa are regularly intercepted during import controls in Europe (Balm es et al, 2010;Steffen et al, 2015). The genera and species frequently detected are: Anastrepha spp., Bactrocera correcta, Bactrocera dorsalis complex, Bactrocera latifrons, Bactrocera zonata, Ceratitis capitata, Ceratitis cosyra, Ceratitis FAR complex (Ceratitis fasciventris, Ceratitis annonae and Ceratitis rosa), Dacus ciliatus and Zeugodacus cucurbitae (new accepted name for Bactrocera cucurbitae; Virgilio et al, 2015).…”

Identification of new pests likely to be introduced into Europe with the fruit trade

“…An important initial step was to prepare a review of non-native pests of fruit species that have been introduced into Europe or were found in the fruit trade during the last 10-15 years. The review identified 387 pest species (see Steffen et al, 2015b for details).…”

Potential spread of kiwifruit bacterial canker (Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae) in Europe

“…No previous modelling approaches examining the temporal and spatial spread of a bacterial plant pest on a continental scale were found. The EU Project DROPSA ('Strategies to develop effective, innovative and practical approaches to protect major European fruit crops from pests and pathogens') started in 2014 and is intended to improve plant health strategies in fruit production and trade (Steffen et al, 2015). Within this project, it was aimed to verify the applicability of the dispersal kernel model for three bacterial pests of fruit crops.…”