Pest survey card on Thaumatotibia leucotreta

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Published on: Fri, 28 Aug 2020

This pest survey card was prepared in the context of the EFSA mandate on plant pest surveillance (M‐2017‐0137) at the request of the European Commission. Its purpose is to guide the Member States in preparing data and information for Thaumatotibialeucotreta surveys. These are required to design statistically sound and risk‐based pest surveys, in line with current international standards.Thaumatotibialeucotreta is a clearly defined taxonomic entity,currently absent from the EU and surveys would thus be aimed at substantiating pest freedom. In the EU, T. leucotretais expected to be able to become established outdoors in the southernmost parts and indoors in other areas where susceptiblecrops are grown in greenhouses only if there is a year‐round availability of fruit. The most likely introduction of T.leucotreta would be via transport of infested fruit or cut flowers. Imports of fruit of the major host plants iscurrently subject to specific measures aiming to prevent entry of the pest into the EU.Thaumatotibialeucotreta is a moderate disperser; the maximum annual spread distance is estimated to be approximately 1.5 km. Thaumatotibialeucotreta is a highly polyphagous species and a large number of hosts are cultivated in the EU. The recommended hosts for detection surveys in the EU would be the main hosts that are grown on a large scale (e.g. Capsicum spp., Citrus spp. and Prunus spp.). Surveys should be based on a trapping strategy and target the adult moths. Both morphological and molecular methods are available for the identification of the pest.