Page 37 - Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2008

Introduction

Mealybugs are important plant pests world-

wide (20,21). Their feeding may cause leaf yel-

lowing, defoliation, reduced plant growth,

and in some cases plant death. They may also

cause indirect damage to plants by serving

as vectors of plant diseases (13). In addition,

production of honeydew contributes to the

development of sooty mould that decreases

photosynthesis and may reduce the market-

ability of plant products such as fruits. Besides

direct and indirect damage to crops, mealy-

bugs are also of quarantine concern, adding

to costs of production to prevent or eliminate

their presence on plants and plant products.

Information on the occurrence and dis-

tribution of mealybug species in Greece is

limited. Eleven species have been recorded

by ScaleNet in Greece and a few addition-

al by Kozar

et al

. (19) and Milonas

et al

. (22).

In this study we present an updated list of

mealybugs recorded from Greece and we

document newmealybug records from ag-

ricultural and wild plants in Greece.

Materials and Methods

A thorough literature review was conduct-

ed to locate any publication, including the

database ScaleNet, that refers to mealy-

bugs recorded in Greece. In addition to the

literature review, mealybugs were collect-

ed during 2005-2006 from various plants

in Greece to identify the species present.

Mealybug specimens were collected when

detected on plants during fieldwork or

other activities of the first author and from

plant samples infested by scale insects that

were brought to the Benaki Phytopatho-

logical Institute (BPI) for identification.

All mealybug specimens were slide-

mounted for identification using themeth-

od outlined in Kosztarab and Kozar (15).

Voucher specimens of these insects are

deposited in the arthropod collections of

the Plant Protection Institute in Budapest

(Hungary) and the BPI (Greece).

Results and Discussion

The literature review and the ScaleNet data

provided a list of Pseudococcidae species

that have been recorded in Greece. In total,

32 species have been reported to be pres-

Hellenic Plant Protection Journal

1

: 35-38, 2008

Check list of mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in

Greece: three new records

P.G. Milonas

1

and F. Kozár

2

Summary

An updated list of the pseudococcid species observed in Greece is presented in this

study. Wild plants and cultivated crops from different habitats were surveyed and mealybug samples

were collected from 2005 to 2006. Three mealybug (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) plant pest species,

Heliococcus bohemicus, Phenacoccus hordei

, and

Heterococcus nudus

, are recorded for the first time in

Greece. The species

Planococcus citri,

a common pest of citrus,

P. ficus

a major pest of vineyards,

P. vo-

vae,

a common pest of cypress

trees

,

and

Puto tauricus

from Gramineae were also encountered.

Additional keywords:

Coccoidea, insect fauna, plant pests, scale insects

1

Department of Entomology and Agricultural Zoolo-

gy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, 8 St. Delta str.,

GR-145 61 Kifissia (Athens), Greece

2

Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sci-

ences, Budapest, P.O. Box 102, H-1525, Hungary