Abstract
Context The first detection of A. planipennis in European Russia was in Moscow in 2003, when it began to spread.
Aim To determine the range of A. planipennis as of 2020.
Methods In 2017-2020, our Russian-Ukrainian research team examined >7000 F. pennsylvanica trees and >2500 F. excelsior trees in 84 localities of European Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Results The current range exceeds the area of Spain and includes the Luhansk region of Ukraine and 16 regions of ER: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Orel, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tula, Tver, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl. Agrilus planipennis was not detected in Belarus. The overwhelming majority of the infestations were found on F. pennsylvanica. All known cases of infestation of the native species (F. excelsior) are from artificial plantings.
Conclusion Agrilus planipennis will appear in other European countries soon and damage F. pennsylvanica. Further surveys are necessary to determine whether A. planipennis infests F. excelsior in forests.
Footnotes
Email address Marina J. Orlova-Bienkowskaja, e-mail: marinaorlben{at}yandex.ru, Alexander N. Drogvalenko, e-mail: triplaxxx{at}ukr.net, Ilya A. Zabaluev, e-mail: fatsiccor66{at}mail.ru, Alexey S. Sazhnev, e-mail: sazh{at}list.ru, Elena Y. Peregudova, e-mail: dinamo-l{at}mail.ru, Sergey G. Mazurov, e-mail: mazusergej{at}yandex.ru, Evgenij V. Komarov, e-mail: evkomarov{at}rambler.ru, Vitalij V. Struchaev, e-mail: vivastru{at}mail.ru, Vladimir V. Martynov, e-mail: martynov.scarab{at}yandex.ua, Tatyana V. Nikulina, e-mail: nikulinatanya{at}mail.ru, Andrzej O. Bieńkowski, e-mail: bienkowski{at}yandex.ru
Contributions of the co-authors: Conceptualization: M.O.B.; Investigation: M.O.B., A.D., I.Z., A.S., E.P., S.M., E.K., V.S., V.M., T.N., A.B.; Writing – original draft M.O.B., A.B.; Writing – review & editing: M.O.B., A.B.; Funding acquisition M.O.B.
Funding: This study was funded by Science Foundation, Project (grant number 16-14-10031).
Key message: The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an alien pest native to Asia, has spread to Ukraine and 16 regions of European Russia. It severely damages Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh. introduced from North America, but serious damage to European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) has not been detected in forests.
1. Immediately following the appearance of the first version of this preprint on the Internet, the National Plant Protection Organization of Ukraine conducted an official survey in the same area and did not detect A. planipennis. Since there were no specimens or photos for confirmation, our record of A. planipennis in Ukraine was considered unreliable (EPPO 2019a). On September 4-6 2019, A.N. Drogvalenko visited the Markivka district in the Luhansk region of Ukraine again and repeated his survey of ash trees. He found the same three trees and more than 40 other F. pennsylvanica trees that were heavily infested with A. planipennis, took photos of larvae, larval galleries and exit holes and collected more than 20 larvae of different instars, including the last (4th) instar. After that, the presence of A. planipennis was also confirmed by the Ukrainian NPPO (EPPO 2019b). 2. Six month have passed after the first submission of this article to the journal. And a lot of new localities of A. planipennis were found during this time. We have added all these new data to the current version manuscript. The most important findings are in Kursk and Belgorod Regions of Russia.