Distribution area of Hyphantria cunea Drury: the analysis of Ukrainian and world data

Abstract

Hyphantria cunea Drury is a polyphagous quarantine pest, which is not evolutionarily tied to the territory of Ukraine. We have analyzed data from literary sources on the geographical spreading of Hyphantria cunea Drury, indicated the current area of the pest and noticed factors that influence the acclimatization of a pest. The motherland of Hyphantria cunea Drury is North America; in 1770, an entomologist Druri first described this species. The first indications of the harmfulness of Hyphantria cunea Drury are noted in the USA in 1899 and on the European continent Hyphantria cunea Drury was found near the city of Budapest (Hungary) on the island of Chepel in August 1940. By 1948, the pest had spread throughout Hungary and began to occupy the tree plantations of neighbouring countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Austria. At present, the pest is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North America. In Europe Hyphantria cunea Drury was found in countries such as: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Moldova, Germany, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine, France, Croatia, and the Czech Republic. In 1945 Hyphantria cunea Drury was found in Japan, in the parks of Tokyo. In 1979 – in China in Liaoning Province and in Southern Korea it was first described in 1958. In 2003, small foci of caterpillars of Hyphantria cunea Drury were found in Wellington (New Zealand). In Russia, the first foci of mass reproduction of Hyphantria cunea Drury were discovered in the forests of Krasnodar Krai in Krasnodar and Abinsk forest enterprises in 1976 on an area of 270 hectares. In Ukraine, the first foci of Hyphantria cunea Drury were found in Transcarpathia in 1952, in June, virtually all over the lowlands of the region. In the Northeastern part of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, in Sumy region in particular, Hyphantria cunea Drury was first registered in 2010. In Kharkiv region Hyphantria cunea Drury was discovered at the beginning of 80s of XX century. This article highlights the peculiarities of spreading of Hyphantria cunea Drury and its harmfulness. We have also established the ways of penetration and the current area of pest spreading in Ukraine and in the world. We have carried out the analysis of spreading data of the regulated pest in the territory of Ukraine and in the world, including in the territory of Kharkiv region and the factors, which influence the pest acclimatization have been noted.