The knowledge of the endemic drosophilid assemblage is a useful reference to study population dynamics when new species are introduced in a geographical area. The introduction of invasive species can change the structure of the drosophilid community; hence, the distribution data for endemic species ...

Several permanent populations of Thrips hawiiensis (Morgan) were discovered outdoors for the first time in 2015, in different sites in Italy. The species widely distributed and common in tropical countries is now recorded from three European countries: France, Spain and Italy. It is a phytophagous...

This article provides a comparison of the vascular alien flora of Sardinia (Italy) and that of Corsica (France), both territories belonging to the Western Mediterranean biogeographic subregion. The study has recorded 598 (90 doubtful) alien taxa in Sardinia (18% of the total flora) while 553 (87...

Narrow-leaved ragwort (Senecio inaequidens) is an invasive alien species and a poisonous weed containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA). It usually spreads in rural environments along communication ways such as railroads and road embankments, but it can occasionally thrive also in dry grassland. As...

During the spring of 2015, plants of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) cv. Frastagliata, grown under tunnel (one hectare) in the Campania region near Salerno (southern Italy), showed symptoms of a previously unknown foliar disease. First symptoms developed at temperatures of 16 to 18°C on...

During 2012-15, extensive field surveys were performed in new and old kiwifruit orchards located in the province of Trentino, Italy. Symptoms resembling those incited by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), i.e, leaf spotting, twig wilting, were observed mainly on Actinidia deliciosa cv....

In the late summer of 2014, two weeks after a heavy rain, severe soft rot symptoms, especially in flooded areas, were observed on cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) cultivars Littoral F₁ (Clause) and Terzolo F₁ (Enza Zaden), grown in a 5 ha-field located in Potenza province, Basilicata,...

During 2012, several postharvest fruit rots were observed on three lots of lychees (Litchi chinensis) cv. Bengali-Mauritius coming from South Africa and commercialized in Italy, with an average incidence of 17%. Fruit blotch resulted in brown discoloration of the rind at the stem-end, rapidly...

A two-year survey (2011-12) was conducted to determine the population composition of Fusarium species on maize (Zea mays) in Lombardy (northern Italy). Maize ears exhibiting typical symptoms of Fusarium ear rot (FER) (∼30%), such as white to pink coloured mycelia on the tip or scattered all over...

In May 2015, symptoms of light brown necrotic lesions were observed on mandarin (Citrus reticulata) leaves in Calabria region in southern Italy. The fruiting bodies (acervuli) of the fungus appeared on the necrotic tissues. Isolation was made on potato dextrose agar from small sections (3-5 mm²) of ...