DRYOCOSMUS KURIPHILUS YASUMATSU: AN OUTLINE SEVEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST REPORT IN PIEDMONT (ITALY)

In 2002, for the first time in Europe, the oriental chestnut gall wasp (CGW), D. kuriphilus, was reported spreading in a large chestnut area in the south of Piedmont (Northwest Italy). Movement of infested plants from nurseries of this area has allowed the pest to progressively reach many other regions in Italy.
CGW infestation has contributed, together with other factors such as drought and fungal diseases, to a significant reduction in chestnut fruits production.
Death of chestnut trees due to CGW attack, however, has so far never been observed.
Chemical treatments have proved ineffective for preventing the diffusion of this pest.
Indigenous parasitoids, shifting from oak cynipids, show a low rate of parasitization on CGW. Since the first years of the outbreak, the Plant Health Service of Regione Piemonte has been trying to face the emergency, developing different activities: monitoring of chestnut areas, survey of nurseries, funding of research projects for biological control and evaluation of cultivar susceptibility.

I European Congress on Chestnut – Castanea 2009

G. Bosio, C. Gerbaudo, E. Piazza

chestnut, gall wasp, diffusion, chemical control, phytosanitary rules

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.866.43