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First Report of Leptopilina japonica in Europe.

ABSTRACT: Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura; Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a key pest of sweet cherry and small fruits worldwide. Biological control remains unutilized in the framework of D. suzukii management. Nonetheless, natural enemies may play an important role in regulating this pest. We report for the first time the presence of Leptopilina japonica Novkovi? and Kimura (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) in Europe. Two specimens emerged from ripened fruits and one was collected after direct observation on a cherry tree in June 2019. They showed the distinctive morphological traits already described and shared more than 99% sequence similarity with specimens of L. japonica collected in Asia. This first finding was confirmed by a wider survey carried out in 2020; L. japonica emerged from cherry fruit samples collected in five other sites across the Trentino region, suggesting that L. japonica has already colonized a wide area. Detection of this Asian species is relevant to the future direction in managing D. suzukii, both in Europe and North America. In fact, L. japonica showed similarity with Ganaspis brasiliensis (Ihering) (Hymenoptera: Figitidae), the most promising candidate for the classical biological control, in terms of developmental time, egg maturation, host age preference and lifetime fecundity.

SUBMITTER: Puppato S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7563833 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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First Report of Leptopilina japonica in Europe.

Puppato Simone S Grassi Alberto A Pedrazzoli Federico F De Cristofaro Antonio A Ioriatti Claudio C

Insects 20200908 9

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura; Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a key pest of sweet cherry and small fruits worldwide. Biological control remains unutilized in the framework of D. suzukii management. Nonetheless, natural enemies may play an important role in regulating this pest. We report for the first time the presence of Leptopilina japonica Novković and Kimura (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) in Europe. Two specimens emerged from ripened fruits and one was collected after direct obser ...[more]

PMID: 32911672

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Project description:Insect pest invasions cause significant damage to crop yields, and the resultant economic losses are truly alarming. Climate change and trade liberalization have opened new ways of pest invasions. Given the consumer preference towards organic agricultural products and environment-friendly nature of natural pest control strategies, biological control is considered to be one of the potential options for managing invasive insect pests. Drosophila suzukii (Drosophilidae) is an extremely damaging fruit pest, demanding development of effective and sustainable biological control strategies. In this study, we assessed the potential of the parasitoid Leptopilina japonica (Figitidae) as a biocontrol agent for D. suzukii using ecological niche modeling approaches. We developed global-scale models for both pest and parasitoid to identify four components necessary to derive a niche based, target oriented prioritization approach to plan biological control programs for D. suzukii: (i) potential distribution of pest D. suzukii, (ii) potential distribution of parasitoid L. japonica, (iii) the degree of overlap in potential distributions of pest and parasitoid, and (iv) biocontrol potential of this system for each country. Overlapping suitable areas of pest and parasitoid were identified at two different thresholds and at the most desirable threshold (E = 5%), potential for L. japonica mediated biocontrol management existed in 125 countries covering 1.87 × 107 km2, and at the maximum permitted threshold (E = 10%), land coverage was reduced to 1.44 × 107 km2 in 121 countries. Fly pest distributional information as a predictor variable was not found to be improving parasitoid model performance, and globally, only in half of the countries, >50% biocontrol coverage was estimated. We therefore suggest that niche specificities of both pest and parasitoid must be included in site-specific release planning of L. japonica for effective biocontrol management aimed at D. suzukii. This study can be extended to design cost-effective pre-assessment strategies for implementing any biological control management program.

Project description:In Winter 2016, root and soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere soil at 10 to 15?cm depth of turfgrass, in the yard of a complex of houses in Caxias, a region near Lisbon, Portugal. The grass (dominated by tall fescue) showed yellow patches, stunting, and poor growth. Several specimens of a ring nematode (50-60 nematodes/100?ml soil) were recovered from soil and identified as Mesocriconema xenoplax (peach ring nematode) based on morphological and morphometrical analysis of females. The observed morphological features were with previous descriptions. Species identification was confirmed through sequencing of the fragment spanning D2/D3 domain of the 28S rDNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Portuguese isolate grouped with M. xenoplax isolates (98% similarity), supporting its identification as M. xenoplax. This is the first report of M. xenoplax from turfgrass in Portugal and in Europe contributing with additional information on the distribution of this phytoparasite.In Winter 2016, root and soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere soil at 10 to 15?cm depth of turfgrass, in the yard of a complex of houses in Caxias, a region near Lisbon, Portugal. The grass (dominated by tall fescue) showed yellow patches, stunting, and poor growth. Several specimens of a ring nematode (50-60 nematodes/100?ml soil) were recovered from soil and identified as Mesocriconema xenoplax (peach ring nematode) based on morphological and morphometrical analysis of females. The observed morphological features were with previous descriptions. Species identification was confirmed through sequencing of the fragment spanning D2/D3 domain of the 28S rDNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Portuguese isolate grouped with M. xenoplax isolates (98% similarity), supporting its identification as M. xenoplax. This is the first report of M. xenoplax from turfgrass in Portugal and in Europe contributing with additional information on the distribution of this phytoparasite.

Project description:The Plant Health Panel reviewed the paper by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) and compared their findings with previous predictions on the establishment of Phyllosticta citricarpa. Four species of Phyllosticta were found by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) in Europe. P. citricarpa and P. capitalensis are well-defined species, with P. citricarpa recorded for the first time in Europe, confirming predictions by Magarey et al. (2015) and EFSA (2008, 2014, 2016) that P. citricarpa can establish in some European citrus-growing regions. Two new species P. paracitricarpa and P. paracapitalensis were also described, with P. paracitricarpa (found only in Greece) shown to be pathogenic on sweet orange fruits. Genotyping of the P. citricarpa isolates suggests at least two independent introductions, with the population in Portugal being different from that present in Malta and Italy. P. citricarpa and P. paracitricarpa were isolated only from leaf litter in backyards. However, since P. citricarpa does not infect or colonise dead leaves, the pathogen must have infected the above living leaves in citrus trees nearby. Guarnaccia et al. (2017) considered introduction to be a consequence of P. citricarpa having long been present or of illegal movement of planting material. In the Panel's view, the fruit pathway would be an equally or more likely origin. The authors did not report how surveys for citrus black spot (CBS) disease were carried out, therefore their claim that there was no CBS disease even where the pathogen was present is not supported by the results presented. From previous simulations, the locations where Guarnaccia et al. (2017) found P. citricarpa or P. paracitricarpa were conducive for P. citricarpa establishment, with number of simulated infection events by pycnidiospores comparable to sites of CBS occurrence outside Europe. Preliminary surveys by National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) have not confirmed so far the findings by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) but monitoring is still ongoing.

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First Report of Leptopilina japonica in Europe.

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First Report of <i>Leptopilina japonica</i> in Europe.

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