Abstract
The aim of this study is to identify plant lice Cacopsylla pulchella a new alien insect in the fauna of Croatia. We propose a new method of infestation level assessment in order to assess the potential of this insect as a pest. In May 2020 samples were collected from eleven locations in Croatia, where Cercis siliquastrum is grown in parks. Adults and nymphs of C. pulchella were collected together with a plant material and brought to entomological laboratory for further analysis. Field research was performed in order to assess the distribution and infestation intensity across various localities in Croatia. The intensity of infestation was assessed heuristically by visual examination and was categorized in four categories: 0) no infestation, 1) low, 2) moderate and 3) high infestation. C. pulchella was confirmed on C. siliquastrum in eleven localities in Croatia. Most of the infested trees had a low or moderate intensity of infestation. Damages caused by this insect are due to the emission of honey dew, a small spherical drop covered with waxy secretion causing necrotic areas which could lead to the premature fall of the leaves. It is not known what kind of progress in infestation intensity could be expected so infested trees found in this study should be checked closely in the coming years. It is strongly suggested to continue the monitoring of this alien insect on C. siliquastrum in Croatia and to estimate its potential of become an invasive pest which could endanger ornamental and other values of its hosts.
Highlights
Insects have been documented as a successful invaders and one of the most important alien invasive species group, in term of numbers as well as in impact (Brockerhoff and Liebhold 2017)
In Europe more than 400 alien invasive insect species feeding on woody plants have been identified (Roques et al 2016), with new species constantly introduced with no signs of saturation (Seebens et al 2017)
In May 2020 samples were collected from eleven locations in Croatia, mostly in the Mediterranean part, where C. siliquastrum is grown in parks
Summary
Insects have been documented as a successful invaders and one of the most important alien invasive species group, in term of numbers as well as in impact (Brockerhoff and Liebhold 2017). The first confirmed record of C. pulchella in Europe dates to 1964 in France (Hodkinson and White 1979) and afterwards in many European countries, such as: Austria, France, Great Britain, Greece, Swizerland (ZeidanGèze and Burckhardt 1998), Germany, Italy, Ukraine (Burckhardt 2010), Spain, Portugal (Sánchez 2011), Slovenia (Seljak 2006), Hungary (Ripka 2008), Serbia (Jerinić-Prodanović 2011) and Russia (Balakhnina et al 2015). The nymphs produce sugary honeydew which contaminates everything under the tree and is a nuisance to inhabitants
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
