Page 3 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008
Basic HTML Version
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
1:
55-78, 2008
REVIEW ARTICLE
New records of plant pests and weeds in Greece, 1990-2007
M. Anagnou–Veroniki
1
, P. Papaioannou–Souliotis
2
, E. Karanastasi
3
and
C.N. Giannopolitis
4
Summary
More than 70 new insect records have been reported from Greece during the peri-
od 1990-2007. The woolly whitefly
Aleurothrixus floccosus
Maskell and the citrus leaf-miner
Phyl-
locnistis citrella
Stainton, which are among the most important new records, have already spread
throughout the country but severe damage has been avoided with the introduction of effective
exotic parasitoids. Other species of the newly reported pests that are considered important are:
the thrips
Pezothrips kellyanus
(Bagnall) and
Frankliniella occidentalis
(Pergande), the red palm
weevil
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus
(Olivier)
,
the gall inducing wasps
Ophelimus maskeli
(Ashmead)
and
Leptocybe invasa
Fisher & LaSalle and the asparagus pests
Parahypopta caestrum
(Hübner) and
Hexomyza simplex
(Loew)
.
Nine new records of phytophagous mites have been reported from Greece during the period
1990-2007. Of these species,
Eutetranychus orientalis
(Klein) and
Tetranychus evansi
Baker & Pritch-
ard are quarantine mites. Especially
T. evansi
although not yet widespread in the country may have
a serious economic impact since it can cause damage by reducing market value of the affected
crops.
A total of 30 plant parasitic nematode species have been reported from Greece, during the period
1990-2007, most of which are known to be important pests worldwide. From these, only one spe-
cies,
Globodera pallida
Stone on potato, appears to be of special interest.
Three weed species known to be very troublesome and widespread in the United States have re-
cently appeared in Greece and are causing serious problems in irrigated summer crops, particu-
larly in maize. They include
Ipomoea hederacea
(L.) Jacquin (Convolvulaceae) which has already
spread in the western part of the country,
Sicyos angulatus
L. (Cucurbitaceae) which is spreading in
the northern part and
Panicumdichotomiflorum
Michaux (Gramineae) which is currently restricted
in a small area in the central part of the country. The appearance of these weeds in Greece demon-
strates the need for measures to prevent invasion and spread of aggressive alien species.
to elaborate on data published in nation-
al and international literature and sum-
marize new records reported for Greece
during the period 1990-2007. This will pro-
vide a reliable update of existing up to
1990 national checklists for plant patho-
gens, pests and weed species occurring in
Greece.
The plant pest records, including in-
sects, mites and nematodes as well as the
weed species records for the period 1990-
Introduction
An attempt has been initiated by scientists
at the Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Laboratories of Microbiology & Insect Pathology (1),
Acarology & Agricultural Zoology (2) and Nematolo-
gy (3), Department of Entomology & Agricultural Zo-
ology. Laboratory of Chemical Weed Management (4),
Department of Weed Science. Benaki Phytopathologi-
cal Institute, 8 St. Delta str., GR-145 61 Kifissia (Athens),
Greece.
Corresponding author:
