Page 8 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008

Anagnou-Veroniki et al. 60
asparagus-growing locations of the Im-
athia and Pella perfectures (Stamopoulos
et al. 1994). The pest has probably been
present in the area since the end of 1980s.
The larvae burrow into the soft stems
and around the neck of the plant caus-
ing anomalous development and curling
of the main stems. The most important
damage is on young shoots before they
are harvested, thus seriously reducing the
marketable yield.
The species Plioreocepta (Platyparea)
poeciloptera Schrank (Tephritidae) was
found in 1992 in asparagus plantations
at Platy (Imathia) damaging the stems of
young plants (Chlapoutakis, 1999).
A population of Diopsis sp. (Diopsi-
dae) was found in 2002 and 2003 in rice
pads at the area of Chalastra (Thessalon-
iki), causing the named “green sickness”
(chlorosis) to the rice plants. The charac-
teristic symptom is the development of
chlorotic leaves and later the drying of the
plants creating gaps in the crop. The in-
sect is regarded as an important pest of
rice in Africa (Bouras et al., 2003).
The gall inducing insect Monarthro-
palpus buxi (Laboulbene) (Cecidomyii-
dae) was found in Attica in infested leaves
on a species of Buxus (Vamvakas et al.,
2007).
The dipterous insect Lasioptera sp.
(Cecidomyidae) was first recorded in 2001
on cucumber plants in the area of Trifilia in
Western Peloponnese. Since then infesta-
tions are observed in this area mainly from
September to December on tomato and
from March to June and from September
to December on cucumber. In 2004 and
2005 the insect was also recorded from
greenhouse tomato and cucumber in the
area of Marathon (Attica). The insect in-
fests the peduncles at the point of their
attachement to the fruit which turns to
black. In tomato, upon infestation, plant
growth is retarded and number and size
of fruit is reduced., while the presence of
larvae on the fruit, at the point of their at-
tachment to peduncles, renders them un-
marketable. In cucumber, the effect of in-
sect infestation becomes evident mainly
on the apical part of the plant (Perdikis et
al., 2006).
1.5. Lepidoptera
The citrus leaf-miner Phyllocnistis cit-
rella Stainton (Gracillariidae) was first re-
cordedinRhodes(Anagnou-Veroniki,1995),
most probably introduced into Greece
from eastern countries of the Mediterra-
nean basin. It has already spread through-
out the country and is currently found on
most citrus species. For the control of this
pest, parasitoids were introduced and es-
tablished so that to supplement its indig-
enous natural enemies.
The leafminer Cameraria ohridella De-
schka & Dimic (Gracillariidae) was found
in 1999 to cause a serious infestation on
leaves of horse chestnut (Aesculus hip-
pocastaneum L.) in areas of the North-
Western and Central Greece. The infesta-
tion was known to exist since 1984 at the
area of Ohrid (Emmanouel & Broumas,
2000; Diamantis et al., 2001).
The spotted tentiform leaf-miner Phyl-
lonorycter blancardella (Fabricius) (Gra-
cillariidae), that is known to feed on ap-
ple trees, was found in 1997 to attack also
cherry trees of the varieties “Tragana Edes-
sis” and “Bourla” in the area of Pella. Dam-
aged cherry leaves had the characteristic
whitish elliptical mines on their underside
and corresponded to palegreen spots on
the upper surface (Kyparissoudas, 1997).
Loxostege stictialis (Linnaeus) (Pyrali-
dae), which is considered to be a pest spe-
cific to cotton, was recorded in 1989 to
feed on sugar beet, alfalfa and maize. This
infestation is caused by its larvae that eat
the lower epidermis and the leaf paren-
chyma (Evangelopoulos, 1994).
Parahypopta (Hypopta) caestrum
(Hübner) (Cossidae) was first recorded in