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Title: Post entry interception of the yellow-spotted longhorned beetle,Psacothea hilaris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Italy Genbank Accession Number GU244486

Author
item BON, MARIE-CLAUDE - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL)
item HERARD, FRANCK - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL)
item MASPERO, MATTEO - Fondazione Minoprio
item COLOMBO, MARIO - University Of Milan

Submitted to: Genbank
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2009
Publication Date: 12/23/2009
Citation: Bon, M., Herard, F., Maspero, M., Colombo, M. 2009. Post entry interception of the yellow-spotted longhorned beetle,Psacothea hilaris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Italy Genbank Accession Number GU244486. Genbank.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Psacothea hilaris (Pascoe) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) known as the yellow-spotted longhorned beetle is native from eastern Asia (China, Japan including Ryukyu, Shikoku and Honshu archipelago and Taïwan) where it attacks plants belonging to Moraceae family, in particular to Morus and Ficus genera. In Japan, it is an important pest of the sericulture, because larvae bore tunnels in the trunks and adults feed on leaves of mulberry trees, which are the food source for Bombyx mori L. In September 2005, two dead specimens of this pest were intercepted by the Regional Phytosanitary Service in the Lombardia Region (Italy) and incidentally, this interception should be considered as the first record of Psacothea hilaris in Europe. More recently, at Erba, near Milano, the Regional Phytosanitary Service discovered a relatively dense adult population of this pest living on Ficus carica. The subunit 1 of the cytochrome oxidase gene for some of these intercepted larvae was amplified using the primers recommended for the barcoding of quarantine significant pests. The sequence was found to be 96 to 99% similar to Psacothea hilaris sequences on Genbank. The partial COI sequence has been deposited in GenBank under accession number GU244486. The DNA-based diagnostic test described here will be further used to assist all phytosanitary services for early detection of the pest and to allocate plant shipments efficiently to compatible markets according to their xylophagous insect quarantine status.