New plant pests and weeds in Greece
59
1991).
The tansy leaf beetle
Galeruca tan-
aceti
(Linneaus) (Chrysomelidae
)
was re-
corded in May 2005 as a pest of
Origanum
vulgare
L. growing in the wild in Crete. At
the same time the insect was observed to
be a pest of origanum plants in a commer-
cially grown organic crop, in the area of
Meronas (Perfecture of Rethymno) (Rodi-
takis & Roditakis, 2006).
The rose curculio
Homalorhynchites
hungaricus
(Herbst) (Rhynchitidae
)
has
been recorded in Attica (May 2004), infest-
ing blooms of ornamental roses (
Rosa
sp.)
(Kontodimas & Kavallieratos, 2004).
The wood eating beetle
Coroebus rubi
(Linneaus)
(
Buprestidae
)
was observed
in 2004 in the area of Korinthia to cause
an infestation on blackberries
Rubus
spp.
(Bouchelos & Chalkia, 2004).
Diaperis boleti
Linneaus (Tenebrion-
idae
)
was recorded in 1994 in peach or-
chards. The adults open shallow burrows
on branches where they hibernate. The
larvae develop in mines on the branch-
es and appear around mid June. Infest-
ed branches break and the trees as well
as the production are severely affected
(Savopoulou-Soultani & Chatzivassiliadis,
1999).
Sinoxylon sexdentatum
(Olivier) (Bo-
strychidae) was recorded as a pest of wal-
nuts in the area of Larissa and Magnesia
in May 1996. The insect in other countries
has a wide range of tree species as hosts.
It is a wood-eating insect attacking the
stems of young vigorous trees (Gravanis
et al.,
1998)
Cassida seraphina
Menetries (Chry-
somelidae
)
was found on sugarbeet in the
Region of Evros (Northern Greece) in 1992
(Doulias & Ioannidis, 1995). It feeds on the
leaves and can cause severe damage by
sceletonizing the leaves.
Attagenus unicolor
(Brahm) (Derme-
stidae) was recorded in 1999 as a pest of
stored wheat products in Farsala and La-
konia (Bouchelos & Athanassiou, 1999).
Pseudopachymerina lallemantii
(Mar-
seul) (Bruchidae) was recorded on the or-
namental tree
Acacia farnesiana.
It infests
the pods causing a significant damage on
it (Bouchelos & Chalkia
,
2003).
The species
Prionus coriarius
Linnaeus,
Cerambyx velutinus
Brulle,
Cerambyx
dux
Faldermann and
Rhopalopus clavipes
(Fabricius) of the family Cerambycidae were
recorded in 1994 as pests of the almond
tree in the area of Magnesia (Koutroubas,
1994). They are all wood-eating insects.
1.4. Diptera
Hexomyza(Ophyiomya)simplex
(Loew)
(Agromyzidae)
is a stem miner that was re-
corded for the first time in 2002 on aspar-
agus plants in the areas of Aitoloakarnania
(Central-Western Greece) and Orestias
(North-Eastern Greece) (Anagnou-Veroni-
ki
et al.
2004). Damage is caused to the hy-
podermal cells of the stem. In cases of a
large infestation the epidermis dries out
and tears apart. The most serious damage
is caused to young asparagus plantations.
Damaged plant tissue favours fungal in-
festation. The pest is currently spreading
in Greece while its control is difficult.
Two new leaf-miners, originating from
the United States,
Liriomyza huidobrensis
(Blanchard) and
L. trifolii
(Burgess) (Agro-
myzidae), were found in 1993 in Crete
(Roditakis 1993) while soon later they were
found in cultivations all over Greece.
L. hu-
idobrensis
Blanchard, that is considered
as the tomato leaf-miner is of the great-
est economic importance while it has the
most hosts of all the other leaf-miners and
it is found in great numbers on mainland
Greece as well as in the Greek islands.
L.
trifolii
prefers warmer areas and this is why
it appears especially in Southern Greece
and in Crete.
Delia (Phorbia) platura
(Meigen) (An-
thomyiidae) was reported to cause signif-
icant damage to asparagus plantations in
1,2,3,4,5,6 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,...68