TRENTO. After the first “incursion” in Trentino, verified in the summer of last year, a “strengthened” surveillance on the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) led to the identification of new presences along the motorway axis, at the height of the Nogaredo Est and Paganella Est stations. This was communicated by the Provincial Phytosanitary Service, which carries out monitoring in close collaboration with the Edmund Mach Foundation, highlighting how however, no outbreaks of this harmful organism have been identifiedsubject to mandatory control under specific Community regulations.
Adult beetles during the summer They feed on leaves, flowers and fruits of over 300 species, both forest and ornamental as well as fruit-bearing, including vines and various species of prunus (from cherry to plum to apricot), creating considerable damage.
The larvae, however, develop in the soil on the roots of herbaceous plants, with a preference for lawns and damp meadows.
Last year the Japanese beetle reached Trentino for the first time. There was no talk of an outbreak or a limited area, because it was the discovery of a single adult individual inside a trap, positioned at the Nogaredo Est motorway service station. The incursion was promptly responded to by intensifying investigations in the surrounding areas, in order to identify the presence of further individuals of the phytophagous.
Investigations that continued in 2024, with checks throughout the province, in particular in sites assessed as at risk based on the insect’s “hitchhiker” behavior (main roads, parking lots, campsites). The activities carried out by the Phytosanitary Service and Fem consist of trapping, visual inspections, sampling and laboratory analysis. During the month of July 2024, five specimens of Japanese beetles, all males, were caught in the traps of the Nogaredo Est area; to these are added two other individualsa male and a female, found in traps placed near the Paganella Est service station, always along the A22.
However, the investigations carried out throughout the period, more intense and frequent in the areas surrounding the discovery sites, have not yet highlighted the presence of the harmful organism in the environment, nor signs of compatible damage on susceptible vegetation.
These events are therefore still considered to be incursions, demonstrating thehigh risk of spread of the Japanese beetle through passive transport. Although these findings do not necessarily turn into real outbreaks, they require maintaining a high level of attention and implementing all possible prevention measures, including surveillance and information, in order to intercept any new arrivals early.
After colonizing large areas of North America, Popillia japonica has also been reported in Europe, first in Portugal and then in Italy (2014), where it gave rise to an outbreak between Piedmont and Lombardy. In the following years, despite the containment measures applied, new outbreaks affected Emilia Romagna, Val d’Aosta and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
2024-09-04 00:16:34