© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
in Greece
81
we report the first presence of
M. hirsutus
in
Greece.
Feedingby larvae and adults causes char-
acteristic symptoms on the damaged plants.
During feeding both larvae and adults inject
toxic saliva that causes curling and contor-
tion of leaves. Infested plants become stunt-
ed, swollen with leaf curl, shortened inter-
nodes or malformed stems. Damage varies
according to the susceptibility of each host
species; in highly susceptible plants feeding
can ultimately cause the death of the plant
(EPPO, 2005; Vitullo
et al
., 2009; Hoy
et al
.,
2014; García Morales
et al
., 2016).
Materials and Methods
Infested hibiscus plants were found on
the island of Rhodes (36°26’1.49”N and
28°13’28.54”E) in September 2014 and sam-
ples were sent to BPI. New samples were
sent to BPI collected from the Municipali-
ty of Rhodes coming from
Hibiscus
sp. (Mal-
vaceae),
Ceratonia silique
(Fabaceae),
Erythri-
na
sp. (Fabaceae) and
Bauhinia
sp. (Fabaceae)
in autumn of 2016. All of them are known
host plants of
M. hirsutus
. Microscopic slides
were prepared following the procedure de-
scribed by Kosztarab and Kozár (1988) and
identified according to description and illus-
tration by Williams and Watson (1988). Spec-
imens are deposited at the Biological Con-
trol Laboratory of BPI.
Material examined:
Rhodes (Dodeca-
nese islands); 02.ix.2014, 2
♀♀
,
Hibiscus
sp.
(Malvaceae); Rhodes, 02.ix.2014 1
♀♀
Hi-
biscus
sp. (Malvaceae); Rhodes; 13.xii.2016,
2
♀♀
,
Hibiscus
sp (Malvaceae); Rhodes;
13.xii.2016, 1
♀♀
,
Hibiscus
sp. (Malvaceae).
Results and Discussion
This is the first record of the pink hibiscus
mealybug,
M. hirsutus
in Greece. Reports
from local authorities from the island of
Rhodes had pointed out that infestation has
expanded within the island during the years
2014-2016. No other outbreaks or records of
M. hirsutus
have been reported outside Rho-
des. The specific pathway of introduction of
the species into Rhodes is unknown. How-
ever, long distance dispersal of the pest is
likely to occur through movement of infest-
ed plant material and to a lesser extend with
infested fruits and cut flowers (EPPO 2005).
The introduction of the pink hibiscus
mealybug in Rhodes without its natural en-
emies could pose a serious threat for sev-
eral crops of high economic importance,
such as vegetables, vineyards and orna-
mental plants in urban areas and in nurser-
ies. Control efforts of the mealybug should
principally focus on the identification and
mapping of the actual infested area on the
island of Rhodes in order to design an effi-
cient management plan that would restrict
further spread of the pest in the area. A sus-
tainable solution should definitely include
the careful introduction of its natural ene-
mies following all the appropriate proce-
dures for such an approach.
Because of the minimum tolerance lev-
el for
M. hirsutus
damage, intense man-
agement approaches are often required.
Management tactics include monitoring,
cultural, biological and chemical treatments.
Observations for typical damage symptoms
like bunchy top, honeydew and sooty-mold
presence can help in the identification of in-
festation spots. The pheromone of
M. hirsu-
tus
has been identified and can be used in
pheromone traps for monitoring and detec-
tion especially in areas with low infestation
density. Monitoring with pheromone traps
is also useful for timing insecticide applica-
tions.
After its introduction into a new area
M. hirsutus
is usually difficult to eradicate
due to its high reproductive ability and
polyphagy. In areas where it has been estab-
lished, long standing sustainable manage-
ment has been provided by biological con-
trol. Especially, classical biological control
attempts have been quite successful (Kai-
ro
et al.
, 2000). Several natural enemies have
been associated with
M. hirsutus
, includ-
ing specialist and generalist parasitoids and
predators. In classical biological control the
