Viburnum leaf beetle

Viburnum leaf beetle
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Chrysomelidae
Subfamily: Galerucinae
Tribe: Galerucini
Genus: Pyrrhalta
Species:
P. viburni
Binomial name
Pyrrhalta viburni
(Paykull, 1799)

Pyrrhalta viburni is a species of leaf beetle native to Europe and Asia, commonly known as the viburnum leaf beetle. It was first detected in North America in 1947 in Ontario, Canada. However, specimens had been collected in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia in 1924. In 1996 it was discovered in a park in New York, where native plantings of arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum complex) were found to be heavily damaged by larval feeding.[1] The UK-based Royal Horticultural Society stated that its members reported Pyrrhalta viburni as the "number one pest species" in 2010.[2][3]

The spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris is used and developed as a biological control agent against the beetle.[1]

  1. ^ a b Desurmont, G.; Weston, P. A. (2008). "Predation by Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on Viburnum Leaf Beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Under Laboratory and Field Conditions". Environmental Entomology. 37 (5): 1241–1251. doi:10.1093/ee/37.5.1241. ISSN 0046-225X. PMID 19036203.
  2. ^ "Top 10 pests". Wisley, England: Royal Horticultural Society. 19 January 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Viburnum beetle". Wisley, England: Royal Horticultural Society. 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.