Davranoglou, LR

Koutsoukos, V

Davranoglou, Leonidas-Romanos

Oxford University Research Archive

Ecologica Montenegrina, 16, 2018,  32-33                         First record of the Nearctic sycamore seed bug Belonochilus numenius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) from Greece   LEONIDAS-ROMANOS DAVRANOGLOU1* & VANGELIS KOUTSOUKOS2  1*Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK;  e-mail: leonidas-romanos.davranoglou@queens.ox.ac.uk 2Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athens 118 55, Greece; e-mail: evanentomology@yahoo.gr   Received: 9 December 2017│ Accepted by V. Pešić: 22 January 2017 │ Published online: 23 January 2018.    The sycamore seed bug Belonochilus numenius (Say, 1832) (Lygaeidae: Orsillinae) is a Nearctic seed bug, native to Canada, USA and Mexico, which has recently expanded its range in much of Europe (Gessé et al. 2009; Protić & Šeat 2016). It has so far been recorded from the following countries: Spain (Palma de Mallorca, first European record), France (mainland and Corsica), Italy, Austria, Portugal (Azores), Monaco, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Kulijer & Miljević 2016; Protić & Šeat 2016). In Europe, all stages of B. numenius feed on the seed balls of various species and hybrids of ornamental plane trees (Platanus spp.). Although not damaging to the trees, outbreaks of B. numenius are considered a public nuisance and this species has achieved urban pest status in Spain (Riba et al. 2015). On July 3, 2017, a female specimen of B. numenius from Salamis Island, Greece was photographed (Fig. 1) by V. Koutsoukos in a garden in the suburban area of Paloukia (37°57′46.82″N, 23°30′52.77″E, 24 m a.s.l.). Although the specimen was unfortunately not collected, the unique morphology of this species makes it easy to distinguish from native Orsillus spp. Several diagnostic characters discernible from the photograph (Fig. 1), such as the overall elongate habitus, the distinct colouration, and the anteocular length of head being three times the length of eye (Gessé et al. 2009), confirm that the photographed specimen indeed represents B. numenius. Sex was assigned based on the shape of the distal part of the abdomen (Fig. 1). The area surrounding Paloukia consists of fields covered with phrygana, Pinus halepensis and Juniperus. Although there were no plane trees in the immediate area were the specimen was found, several ornamental plane trees exist in a radius of 2 km. Examination of those trees did not yield additional specimens, although they might have been overlooked due to their habit of staying on/in the seed balls which were high up on the trees. The specimen may have been dispersing in search for additional host plants, in congruence with previous studies (Carapezza & Cusimano 2014). Several collecting efforts by L. R. Davranoglou in parks in central Athens and in semi-natural habitats in the Athens suburbs (Tatoi, Nea Erythrea) were unsuccessful in obtaining additional specimens, suggesting that this species may be in its early phase of invasion, at least in the southern parts of the country. Its presence in Salamis is not unexpected, given it is the country’s second largest port. The distribution of this species in Greece will hopefully be elucidated by further collecting efforts.  Ecologica Montenegrina 16: 32-33 (2018) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em  DAVRANOGLOU & KOUTSOUKOS Ecologica Montenegrina, 16, 2018,  32-33                                                                                                                        33    Figure 1. Adult female of Belonochilus numenius from Salamis, Greece.   References  Carapezza, A. & Cusimano, C. (2014). Heteroptera in the aeroplancton of Palermo town, with two new records for Italy (Hemiptera Heteroptera). Naturalista Siciliano, 38, 367–380. Gessé, F., Ribes, J. & Goula, M. (2009) Belonochilus numenius, the sycamore seed bug, new record for the Iberian fauna. Bulletin of Insectology, 62, 121–123. Kulijer, D. & Miljević, I. (2016) First report of Belonochilus numenius (Say, 1832) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Folia Historico-Naturalia Musei Matraensis, 40, 61–63. Protić, L. & Šeat, J. (2016) First records of the alien sycamore seed bug Belonochilus numenius in Serbia (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Acta Entomologica Serbica, 21, 13–19. Riba, J.M., Marti, I. & Goula, M. (2015). Updating data on the sycamore seed bug Belonochilus numenius (Say, 1832) (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) in Spain. Butlletí de la Institució Catalana d’Història Natural, 79, 157–163.  

First record of the Nearctic sycamore seed bug Belonochilus numenius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) from Greece

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