Insights into the Diversity and Population Structure of Predominant Typhlocybinae Species Existing in Vineyards in Greece.

Insects of the subfamily Typhlocybinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) are pests of economically important agricultural and horticultural crops. They damage the plants directly or indirectly by transmitting plant pathogens, resulting in significant yield loss. Several leafhoppers of this subfamily use vines as hosts. Accurate and rapid identification is the key to their successful management. The aim of this study is to determine the Typhlocybinae species that exist in vineyards all over Greece and investigate the relationship between them. For this purpose, yellow sticky traps were placed, morphological and molecular data were collected, and phylogenetic models were analyzed. The mitochondrial marker Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (mtCOI) was applied for the DNA and phylogenetic analysis. The combination of morphological and molecular data resulted in identifying the existence of six different species all over Greece: Arboridia adanae, Asymmetrasca decedens, Hebata decipiens, Hebata vitis, Jacobiasca lybica and Zygina rhamni. Forty-eight different haplotypes were found to exist in the different regions of the country.

Potential global distribution of Aleurocanthus woglumi considering climate change and irrigation.

Citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is an important agricultural quarantine pest, causing substantial economic losses to citrus and many other cultivated crops. Aleurocanthus woglumi is found in tropical and subtropical regions but is presently unknown in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. We used CLIMEX to model the potential distribution of A. woglumi under an historical climate scenario (centred on 1995), including a spatially explicit irrigation scenario. We found that A. woglumi could potentially invade the Mediterranean Basin, and south-east Asia, including Australia. There is potential for it to invade most of sub-Saharan Africa. Irrigation is revealed as an important habitat factor affecting the potential distribution of A. woglumi, increasing its potential range by 53% in Asia. Under a future climate scenario for 2050, its potential distribution increased across all continents except Africa, where potential range expansion due to relaxation of cold stresses was limited, and was offset by range decrease due to lethal heat or dry stress. As global climates warm, Europe is likely to face a substantial increase in the area at risk of establishment by A. woglumi (almost doubling under the 2050 irrigation scenario). The biosecurity threat from A. woglumi is significant in current citrus production areas and poses a challenge to biosecurity managers and risk analysts.