SCIENTIFIC OPINION ADOPTED: 27 September 2018 doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5436 Pest categorisation of Aleurocanthus spp. EFSA Panel on Plant Health (PLH), Claude Bragard, Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz, Francesco Di Serio, Paolo Gonthier, Marie-Agnes Jacques, Josep Anton Jaques Miret, Annemarie Fejer Justesen, Christer Sven Magnusson, Panagiotis Milonas, Juan A Navas-Cortes, Stephen Parnell, Roel Potting, Philippe Lucien Reignault, Hans-Hermann Thulke, Wopke Van der Werf, Antonio Vicent Civera, Jonathan Yuen, Lucia Zappala, Maria Navajas Navarro, Virag Kertesz, Ewelina Czwienczek and Alan MacLeod Abstract The Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of Aleurocanthus spp., a well-defined insect genus of the whitefly family Aleyrodidae (Arthropoda: Hemiptera). Difficulties within the taxonomy of the genus give doubt about the ability to accurately identify some members to species level. Nevertheless, the genus is thought to currently include about ninety species mainly reported from tropical and subtropical areas. The genus is listed in Council Directive 2000/29/EC and is regulated on Citrus, Fortunella and Poncirus. Several Aleurocanthus species are highly polyphagous; Aleurocanthus spiniferus has hosts in 38 plant families; Aleurocanthus woglumi has more than 300 hosts including Pyrus, Rosa and Vitis vinifera as well as Citrus. A. spiniferus is present in the EU in restricted areas of Italy and Greece, where it is under official control. No other Aleurocanthus spp. are known to occur in the EU. Host plants for planting, excluding seeds, and cut flowers or branches are the main pathways for entry. Outside of the EU, the genus can be found in regions that have climate types which also occur within the EU, suggesting establishment is possible. Aleurocanthus spp. can be significant pests of crops that are also grown in the EU. Phytosanitary measures are available to reduce the likelihood of entry into the EU, e.g. sourcing host plants for planting from pest free areas. As a genus Aleurocanthus does satisfy all the criteria that are within the remit of EFSA to assess and required by risk managers to give it consideration as a Union quarantine pest. Aleurocanthus does not meet all of the criteria to allow it consideration by risk managers as a Union regulated non-quarantine pest (RNQP). Specifically, Aleurocanthus is not widespread in the EU. © 2018 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority. Keywords: European Union, pest risk, plant health, polyphenic species, plant pest, taxonomy Requestor: European Commission Question number: EFSA-Q-2018-00022 Correspondence: [email protected] www.efsa.europa.eu/efsajournal EFSA Journal 2018;16(10):5436 Aleurocanthus spp.: Pest categorisation Panel members: Claude Bragard, Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz, Francesco Di Serio, Paolo Gonthier, Marie-Agnes Jacques, Josep Anton Jaques Miret, Annemarie Fejer Justesen, Alan MacLeod, Christer Sven Magnusson, Panagiotis Milonas, Juan A. Navas-Cortes, Stephen Parnell, Roel Potting, Philippe Lucien Reignault, Hans-Hermann Thulke, Wopke Van der Werf, Antonio Vicent Civera, Jonathan Yuen and Lucia Zappala. Suggested citation: EFSA Plant Health Panel (EFSA PLH Panel), Bragard C, Dehnen-Schmutz K, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jacques M-A, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas-Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Reignault PL, Thulke H-H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappala L, Navarro MN, Kertesz V, Czwienczek E and MacLeod A, 2018. Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of Aleurocanthus spp. EFSA Journal 2018;16(10):5436, 31 pp. https://doi. org/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5436 ISSN: 1831-4732 © 2018 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Reproduction of the images listed below is prohibited and permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder: Figures 1 and 2: © EPPO The EFSA Journal is a publication of the European Food Safety Authority, an agency of the European Union. www.efsa.europa.eu/efsajournal 2 EFSA Journal 2018;16(10):5436 Aleurocanthus spp.: Pest categorisation Table of contents Abstract................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction................................................................................................................................4 1.1. Background and Terms of Reference as provided by the requestor.................................................. 4 1.1.1. Background ................................................................................................................................4 1.1.2. Terms of reference ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.2.1. Terms of Reference: Appendix 1................................................................................................... 5 1.1.2.2. Terms of Reference: Appendix 2................................................................................................... 6 1.1.2.3. Terms of Reference: Appendix 3................................................................................................... 7 1.2. Interpretation of the Terms of Reference....................................................................................... 8 2. Data and methodologies .............................................................................................................. 8 2.1. Data........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1. Literature search ......................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2. Database search ......................................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Methodologies............................................................................................................................. 9 3. Pest categorisation ...................................................................................................................... 10 3.1. Identity and biology of the pest.................................................................................................... 10 3.1.1. Identity and taxonomy................................................................................................................. 10 3.1.2. Biology of the pest ...................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.3. Intraspecific diversity................................................................................................................... 12 3.1.4. Detection and identification of the pest......................................................................................... 12 3.2. Pest distribution .......................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.1. Pest distribution outside the EU.................................................................................................... 13 3.2.2. Pest distribution in the EU............................................................................................................ 17 3.3. Regulatory status ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.3.1. Council Directive 2000/29/EC ....................................................................................................... 17 3.3.2. Legislation addressing the hosts of Aleurocanthus spp. .................................................................. 17 3.4. Entry, establishment and spread in the EU .................................................................................... 18 3.4.1. Host range.................................................................................................................................. 18 3.4.2. Entry .......................................................................................................................................... 19 3.4.3. Establishment ............................................................................................................................. 20 3.4.3.1. EU distribution of main host plants ............................................................................................... 20 3.4.3.2. Climatic conditions affecting establishment.................................................................................... 20 3.4.4. Spread ....................................................................................................................................... 21 3.5. Impacts ...................................................................................................................................... 22 3.6. Availability and limits of mitigation measures ................................................................................. 23 3.6.1. Identification of additional measures............................................................................................