Invasive Stink Bugs and Related Species (Pentatomoidea)

362 Invasive Stink Bugs and Related Species (Pentatomoidea)

found only recently in the north of Bulgaria (Black Sea Coast in 2001, Sofia in 2011) (Simov et al. 2012)
and in western Romania (Grozea et al. 2012). These more recent records are from artificial habitats
(i.e., city center, gardens, crop field), which indicate a human-assisted translocation rather than a range
expansion due to natural dispersal. The invasion history within the Ukraine, Crimea, and on the northern
coast of the Black Sea (i.e., Krasnodarskiy Kray in the European part of Russia [Kirichenko 1951, 1955;
Rider 2006a,b; Neimorovets 2010]) is not well documented and the status remains unclear. Further north,
records in Bryansk Region of Russia (Novozybkov town, 52°32’N, close to Belarus; Giterman 1931) are
considered erroneous (Putshkov 1961).
There is little doubt that Nezara viridula will increase further in abundance and become established in
new regions in Europe outside its natural range. It is likely that such records will be in cities and urban
habitats and along the climatically milder western European coastline. This is supported by the number
of documented interceptions of N. viridula by the Plant Health Authorities in the United Kingdom (23
interceptions between 1930 and 2007), most of which were associated with imported plant materials
from Italy. It remains to be seen, however, if N. viridula is capable of adapting to the still harsher conti-
nental winter climate and thriving well in Central European territories.

7.3.3 North America

For the purposes of this section, North America includes Canada, Mexico, and the continental United
States of America plus Hawaii. Dependent countries/territories of North America are discussed in
Section 7. 3. 4.
DeWitt and Armbrust (1978) stated that the first record of Nezara viridula (form smaragdula) in the New
World, as reported by Fabricius (1798), was in the West Indies. The first collection in the United States
was from Texas and reported by Distant (1880). The distribution of N. viridula throughout the continen-
tal United States has been reported previously (McPherson 1982, Todd 1989, McPherson and McPherson
2000) and mapped (Commonwealth Institute of Entomology 1953, 1970; Todd and Herzog 1980; CABI/
EPPO 1998; Panizzi and Lucini 2016) but, given the species’ potential for range expansion (Musolin and
Saulich 2012), it is not surprising that its range now extends beyond these earlier distribution maps.

TABLE 7.1

First Records (Interception Data and Records from the Field) and Additional Reports of Nezara viridula in
Its Nonnative Range in Europe

Country

Year of First

Record Reference

Current
Status Additional Reports Confirming Presence
Germany 1922 Reichensperger 1922 Established Hoffmann 1992, Rieger 1994, Schuster
1986, Voigt 1998, Werner 2005
Great Britain 1930 Salisbury et al. 2009 Established Barclay 2004, Lansbury 1954, Reid 2006,
Shardlow and Taylor 2004, Southgate and
Woodroffe 1952
Belgium 1950 Schmitz 1986 Established Dethier and Chérot 2014, Dethier and
Gallant 1998, Dethier and Steckx 2010,
Gallant 1996
European part
of Russia

1951 Kirichenko 1951 Established Kirichenko 1955, Neimorovets 2010

Finland 1956 Kontkanen 1956 Casual –
Austria 1962 Dethier 1989 Unknown Heiss 1977, Rabitsch 2016
Bulgaria north 2001 Simov et al. 2012 Established –
Hungary north 2002 Rédei and Torma 2003 Established Rédei and Vétek 2005
Switzerland north 2005 Werner 2005 Established –
Romania west 2010 Grozea et al. 2012 Unknown –
Slovakia 2014 Vétek and Rédei 2014 Unknown –
Netherlands 2014 Aukema 2016 Unknown –