New data on Ovalisia (Palmar) festiva (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) and its natural enemies reported from Bulgaria

Abstract

In the last decade the cypress jewel beetle Ovalisia festiva (Linnaeus, 1767) has become a real threat in many European countries. Although it was reported from Bulgaria long ago, there is no data on its current status. The aim of this study is to present new data on cypress jewel beetle’s distribution, damage and natural enemies in the country. The research was conducted in the period 2016-2019, with 106 localities on the territory of Bulgaria examined. As a result of the current study 16 localities new for this species were found. Our rearings identified adults of the parasitoid Metacolus unifasciatus Forster, 1856 (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae) and the parasitizing mites belonging to genus Pyemotes. Amerling, 1861 (Acarina: Pyemotidae). The parasitoid-host association of M. unifasciatus with O. festiva is considered here a new biological relationship, not previously recorded for these species. Currently the cypress jewel beetle O. festiva is widely distributed in Bulgaria and can be regarded as an important pest in landscaping.

Recent records of the cypress jewel beetle: Lamprodila (Palmar) festiva (Linnaeus, 1767) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Serbia

“…In Croatia this species is consider as economically important pest of T. occidentalis, particularly "Smaragd" and "Columna" cultivars (Šubić, 2018) and in Montenegro as well (Kandić, 2019). Ruseva et al (2020) report that there are data on this species in Bulgaria since about 90 years, but until the last few years it was very rare and did not pose threat to plants. At the beginning of the 21 st century, this pest was found mainly in the southwestern part of country, while the most recent surveys during 2016-2019 showed that it is widely distributed in Bulgaria and can be considered as an important pest in the landscape practice.…”

New parasitoid (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) records of bark beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in pine plantations in Bulgaria

“… Metacolus unifasciatus has been previously recorded from Bulgaria as a parasitoid of Ovalisia ( Palmar ) festiva (Linnaeus, 1767) ( Coleoptera , Buprestidae ) ( Ruseva et al 2020 ).…”

Occurrence of two lesser known Mediterranean insect species in Serbia

“…Klimatske promene i globalna trgovina izazvali su ogromne promene u životnoj sredini širom sveta i time pružili velike mogućnosti invazivnim i drugim vrstama da zauzmu nove teritorije, pa je to slučaj i sa tujinim krascem, Lamprodila (Palmar) festiva (Linnaeus, 1767). Tokom prethodne dekade, a verovatno i ranije, ova štetočina se brzo širila na sever i istok sa svog izvornog mediteranskog područja (Salvetti, 2013;Pedersoli, 2016;Nitzu et al, 2016;Rabl et al, 2017;Jendek et al, 2018;Bunescu & Florian, 2019;Ruseva et al, 2020).…”