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First record of Icerya seychellarum and confirmed occurrence of Aulacaspis tubercularis (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) in Italy

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Abstract

The Seychelles scale, Icerya seychellarum (Westwood, 1855) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Monophlebidae), is reported for the first time in Italy. Moreover, the occurrence of the white mango scale, Aulacaspis tubercularis (Newstead, 1906) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Diaspididae), firstly reported in 1990 on mango trees growing outdoors in a nursery near Milazzo (Messina province, Sicily), and then intercepted in 2013 on mango plants imported from Florida (USA) to the Botanical Garden in Padova (Italy), is confirmed. Both species were found in two Sicilian mango orchards located in the province of Messina. Their introduction is most likely due to the orchards planting using infested mango nursery plants. The potential impact of these species, which in the Mediterranean area appeared to be occasionally invasive, is briefly discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Pietro Cuccio, Maruzza and Felice Cupane, owners of the two orchards, and to Gaetana Mazzeo, for revising the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers who helped to improve the paper.

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  1. Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale Scienze bd 5A, 90128, Palermo, Italy

    Gabriella Lo Verde, Giuliano Cerasa, Beatrice Altamore & Vittorio Farina

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  1. Gabriella Lo Verde
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  2. Giuliano Cerasa
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Correspondence to Giuliano Cerasa.

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Lo Verde, G., Cerasa, G., Altamore, B. et al. First record of Icerya seychellarum and confirmed occurrence of Aulacaspis tubercularis (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) in Italy. Phytoparasitica 48, 175–182 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-020-00792-w

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