Pest Management Science (2013) 69, 627-634

Agostino Strangi, Giuseppino Sabbatini Peverieri and Pio Federico Roversi (2013)
Managing outbreaks of the citrus long-horned beetle Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) in Europe: molecular diagnosis of plant infestation
Pest Management Science 69 (5), 627-634
Abstract:
Background
Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) (Coleoptera Cerambycidae) is a polyphagous long-horned beetle native to Eastern Asia that infests a wide range of broadleaved plants, causing disruption of vascular tissue, structural weakness and tree death. As a result, A. chinensis is a quarantine pest for the European Union. In order to confirm its infestations on plants, it is necessary to obtain adult or larval specimens on which morphological or molecular analysis can be performed. However, obtaining such specimens from infested plants can be a demanding and difficult task. Therefore, a diagnostic tool that is non-invasive for the plant and able to be performed in the absence of any insect stages may be useful to confirm infestations of A. chinensis on plants.
Results
A protocol is presented that is based on polymerase chain reaction amplification using DNA extracted from A. chinensis faecal material collected in the field.
Conclusion
Results obtained in the present work show that the non-invasive approach is a reliable and accurate alternative diagnostic tool in phytosanitary surveys.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Pio Federico Roversi

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anoplophora chinensis