The pine tortoise scale, Toumeyella parvicornis, is an insect native to the Nearctic region that is able to infest several Pinus species. It can cause weakening, defoliation and, at high infestation levels, tree death. After its first report in Italy in 2015, the pest spread rapidly over the surrounding areas and was reported in France in 2021. Due to the threat that this pest poses to pine trees, the suitability of European Mediterranean basin areas for T. parvicornis at different spatial scales was estimated by constructing species distribution models (SDMs) using bioclimatic variables. Our results showed that several coastal areas of the Mediterranean basin area could be suitable for T. parvicornis. Based on performance assessment, all the SDMs tested provided a good representation of the suitability of European Mediterranean non-native area for T. parvicornis at different spatial scales. In particular, most of the areas with a medium or high level of suitability corresponded to the geographical range of distribution of different Pinus spp. in Europe. Predicting the suitability of European Mediterranean areas for T. parvicornis provides a fundamental tool for early detection and management of the spread of this pest in Europe.

BACKGROUND: The pine tortoise scale, Toumeyella parvicornis (Cockerell, 1897), is a damaging insect pest native to North America. Its accidental introduction into Europe, where it was first reported in central‐southern Italy, is leading to severe infestations among stone pine trees, Pinus pinea L. causing severe infestations and generating a major risk to the health and safety of the citizens as well. This preliminary study aimed at finding an effective low‐impact control strategy against Toumeyella parvicornis. We evaluated the effect of endotherapic abamectin injected into infested stone pines in the Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica (Rome).RESULTS: Results showed that endotherapic abamectin significantly reduced the pine tortoise adult female populations and had a persistence into plants of approximately 60 days. The first trace of abamectin on the plant's crown was detected 1 month after the treatment. Moreover, the survey highlighted a higher presence of the pest on the twigs of the plants than on needles.CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer an important tool in fighting the damaging activity of this phytophagous, especially in an urban context where interventions with treatments are strictly regulated by national laws. Endotherapy, in fact, would reduce the dispersion of active ingredients by drift, an aspect that could represent a valid alternative to manage plants in public areas. Given the actual lack of scientific information about other control solutions, abamectin endotherapic treatments would be the more effective strategy currently applicable. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Mite pests are a serious threat for hazelnut cultivations, causing economic losses every year. At least two species of big bud mites, Phytoptus avellanae (Acari: Phytoptidae) and Cecidophyopsis vermiformis (Acari: Eriophyidae), are involved in severe hazelnut bud infestations, even though few studies report P. avellanae as the most present and harmful. Great steps forward have been made in monitoring and management strategies of these mite pests, but a plethora of questions remains unanswered about their ecology and behaviour and how agronomical practices impact populations. Given this precondition, we conducted a four-year monitoring in an experimental hazelnut orchard located in the Viterbo hazelnut district, Central Italy, to: (i) explore the potential effect that irrigation has on mite infestations, (ii) assess if mites locate in a particular band height of hazelnut plants; and (iii) assess the overall field infestation over the years. This study showed that not-irrigated plants and plants irrigated by underground pipe systems were similarly infested. Mites tend to locate in the middle band of the plant, namely from 1.5 to 3 m from the ground. The four-year survey showed an overall increasing infestation trend, with a peak in 2021 for irrigated plants and 2022 for not-irrigated. These results are a milestone for further exploration of the biology and ecology of this pest and to formulate ad hoc monitoring and control strategies as well.

The capability of entomopathogenic fungi to live as plant endophytes is well established. However, their presence in undiscovered environmental niches represents the beginning of a new challenging research journey. Recently, Akanthomyces muscarius (Ascomycota, Cordycipitaceae) (Petch) Spatafora, Kepler & B. Shrestha was isolated from hazelnut buds infested by the big bud mite pest Phytoptus avellanae Nalepa, which makes the buds swollen, reddish, and unable to further develop. Gall formation is known to be regulated by a consortium of microbes and mites, and to better understand the possible role of A. muscarius within the infested gall, its whole genome sequence was obtained using a hybrid approach of Illumina and Nanopore reads. The functional and comparative genomics analysis provided within this study may help answer questions related to the ecology and the entomopathogenicity of this fungus.

We present the first record of the tropical ambrosia beetle Xyleborus bispinatus in the Iberian Peninsula, collected in traps located in Murcia, Alicante and Valencia provinces (Spain). Insects have been captured in baited traps of long-time trapping networks (ESFP, MUFFET, RAT and SAMFIX) installed in Eastern Spain. Several individuals (410) of X. bispinatus have been collected in seven locations, first in 2009 in Murcia Region, and from 2018 to 2021 in Valencia Region. No attacks by X. bispinatus have been detected on plants thus far, and therefore the host plant in Spain remains unknown. Stable X. bispinatus populations have been detected in a wide area of central Valencian province. We may consider this as an alarming scenario that should be kept under surveillance by maintaining the current trapping network and intensifying the search for the host plants.

Background: Toumeyella parvicornis is an invasive soft scale insect native to North America that is rapidly spreading in Italy and France, provoking severe infestations on Pinus pinea L. To date, the control of this pest is entrusted to three endotherapic techniques whose short‐term efficacy is partially known. No information on long‐term efficacy is currently available, although fundamental. This work aims to report on the long‐term effect that abamectin‐based insecticides, injected with the three different techniques, have on adult female populations.Results: The study was carried out in an infested P. pinea forest in the area of Rome, Italy. Results showed that the tested methods had a similar long‐term effect, and only in one case there were differences with the untreated control. Multiresidue analysis reported a zero level of abamectin in plant tissues 14 months apart from injection, except for one treatment where pesticide concentration was just above the limit of quantification.Conclusions: This study represents the first long‐term evaluation about endotherapic control strategy against T. parvicornis. In fact, the pest may quickly bring the death and fall of the stone pines, representing a concerning risk for citizens, however, control actions to manage it are still partially known and deserve more in‐depth investigations. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.