© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Invasive insect pests on ornamental urban plants on Corfu island
57
Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae
Psyllaephagus bliteus Riek 1962
Native range: species native to Australia.
Distribution: it spread to New Zealand, Bra-
zil, Spain, Italy (including Sicily and Sardin-
ia), Greece (Corfu), Morocco and Algeria and
is due to an accidental introduction, proba-
bly together with its host (Bella and Rapisar-
da, 2013; Reguia and Peris-Felipo, 2013). For
psyllid biological control programmes,
P.
bliteus
has been deliberately introduced to
the USA (California), Mexico and Chile (Bel-
la, 2013).
Host:
P. bliteus
is a specific parasitoid of the
invasive Red gum lerp psyllid,
Glycaspis brim-
blecombei
, a pest on different species of
Eu-
calyptus
(Myrtaceae).
Material examined: Benitses, 39°32΄N,
19°54΄E, 6 m a.s.l., 16.VIII.2013, found to par-
asitize nymphal instars of
G. brimblecombei
infesting
Eucalyptus camaldulensis
.
Biological remarks:
P. bliteus
is an endopar-
asitoid that delays development until the
psyllid host reaches the late fourth or fifth
instars. It pupates within the remains of the
host. Adults have a metallic green body, the
female with darker antennae and more pu-
bescent than the male. Their lifespan de-
pends on the temperature. The biological
cycle completes between 16 and 41 days,
depending greatly on weather conditions
(Bella and Rapisarda, 2013).
Observed parasitisation: personal observa-
tions made during summer 2013 in the town
of Benitses: from a total of 713 lerps (500
examined leaves of
E. camaldulensis
), 168
nymphs (23.6%) of
G. brimblecombei
result
were parasitised.
Discussion
In the present contribution, seven alien in-
sect species (1 Hemiptera, Psyllidae; 1 Hemi-
ptera, Tingidae; 1 Diptera, Cecidomyiidae; 1
Diptera, Agromyzidae; 1 Lepidoptera, Lycae-
nidae; 1 Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) asso-
ciated with non-indigenous
ornamental
plants on Corfu (Greece) are recorded. One
of these pests, the agromyzid
Phytoliriomy-
za jacarandae
, is new to the Greek fauna.
Moreover, the presence of two parasitoid
wasps,
Platygaster robiniae
(Hymenoptera,
Platygastridae) and
Psyllaephagus bliteus
(Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) obtained from
Obolodiplosis robiniae
and
Glycaspis brimble-
combei
,
respectively, are also reported. The
introduction of all new recorded alien in-
sects must be considered accidental; also
the two associated antagonists were most
probably introduced together with their
hosts, as has already happened in other Eu-
ropean countries.
In the Palaeartic region, the only records
of
Phytoliriomyza jacarandae
are in Italy
(mainland and Sicily) and Portugal; it was
probably imported to these countries and to
Greece with infested ornamental Blue jaca-
randa trees (Bella
et al.
, 2007; Bella, 2013).
The detected species show a high level
of host-plant specificity, and their dispersion
is related to the presence of their exotic host
plants, thus they should remain restricted to
artificial habitats, such as nurseries, parks,
gardens and urban areas. However, two spe-
cies,
Corythucha ciliata
and
Cacyreus mar-
shalli
, can spread to natural environments
and attack spontaneous plants.
The rapid colonisation in Mediterrane-
an countries by the psyllid
Glycaspis brimble-
combei
can represent a more serious threat,
with both economic and ecological impacts,
because of the large diffusion of
Eucalyptus
trees used for extensive reforestations (Bella
and Rapisarda, 2013). The spontaneous dis-
persal of the psyllid’s exotic parasitoids also
in Greece leads to a remarkable interest in
the biological control of the pest, as already
shown in the countries where it has been
found. The rapid colonisation of European
countries by alien pests
requires continuous
investigation of their possible impacts and
population dynamics.
I thank Paola Giambertone (Sesto S. Giovanni,
Italy) for the collaboration during collection of
samples.
