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First record of the invasive leafhopper Sophonia orientalis in mainland Portugal

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Abstract

The presence of Sophonia orientalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in mainland Portugal is reported here for the first time. Previous reports of S. orientalis in mainland Europe include only three detections in the Iberian Peninsula (Gibraltar, Andalusia and Catalonia). Species identification was confirmed both by morphological analysis of male genitalia and molecular analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequence. Forty specimens of S. orientalis were found associated to three crops (orange orchards, peach orchards and vineyards) from distinct regions across Portugal. The wide distribution of plots where specimens were collected suggests introduction might not be recent, and that this species has successfully established in the territory. Given the known invasive potential of S. orientalis in Hawaii, where it is a pest of multiple crops and a threat to native plant biodiversity, particular attention should be paid to this species in the future.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Research was financed by: Operational Group FDControlo (PDR2020-101-031408); Operational Group PrunusFito (PDR2020-101-031707); Forest Research Centre, a research unit funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P., Portugal (UIDB/00239/2020); and Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (UIDB/50017/2020), Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P./Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino through national funds, and the co-funding by European Regional Development Fund, within the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. We would like to thank wine growers associated to Associação dos Viticultores do Vale do Lima, Joaquim Duarte e Filhos Lda. associated to Associação de Proteção Integrada e Agricultura Sustentável do Zêzere and to Direção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas do Algarve for allowing us to work in their properties. Likewise, we thank to the anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments and suggestions that have contributed to the improvement of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon’s Microscopy Facility, a node of the Portuguese Platform for Bioimaging, reference PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122, where images from insect specimens were acquired.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL), Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Carina Neto, Vera Guerreiro & Maria Teresa Rebelo

  2. Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV), Avenida da República, Quinta do Marquês, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal

    Célia Mateus & Eugénia de Andrade

  3. Associação de Proteção Integrada e Agricultura Sustentável do Zêzere (APPIZÊZERE), Avenida Eugénio de Andrade, Lote 80 R/C, 6230-291, Fundão, Portugal

    Anabela Barateiro

  4. Centro de Estudos Florestais (CEF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maurício Bigolin & José Carlos Franco

  5. Unidade de Investigação Qualidade de Vida no Mundo Rural, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, Quinta da Senhora de Mércules, 6001-909, Castelo Branco, Portugal

    José Pereira Coutinho

  6. Associação dos Viticultores do Vale do Lima (AVITILIMA), Edifício Copalima, Sernados – Feitosa, 4990-351, Ponte de Lima, Portugal

    Miguel Chaves & Francisco Pereira

  7. Direção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas do Algarve, Rua do Moinho, Patacão, 8005-511, Faro, Portugal

    Celestino Soares & Dora Tomé

Authors
  1. Ana Carina Neto
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  2. Célia Mateus
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  3. Eugénia de Andrade
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  4. Anabela Barateiro
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  6. Miguel Chaves
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  7. Vera Guerreiro
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  8. Francisco Pereira
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  11. José Pereira Coutinho
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  12. José Carlos Franco
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  13. Maria Teresa Rebelo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Teresa Rebelo.

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Communicated by J. Gross.

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Neto, A.C., Mateus, C., de Andrade, E. et al. First record of the invasive leafhopper Sophonia orientalis in mainland Portugal. J Pest Sci 94, 241–249 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01289-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-020-01289-5

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