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ISSN 2075-1117, Russian Journal of Biological Invasions, 2022, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 375–378. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2022.
Russian Text © The Author(s), 2022, published in Rossiiskii Zhurnal Biologicheskikh Invazii, 2022, No. 2, pp. 124–128.
Focus of the Mass Accumulation of the Invasive Oak Lace Bug,
Corythucha arcuata (Say, 1832) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae),
on the Ai-Petri Plateau (Crimea)
K. I. Shorenkoa, *, V. B. Golubb, **, and A. M. Nikolaevac, ***
a Vyazemsky Karadag Scientific Station–Nature Reserve, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Kurortnoe, Feodosia, 298188 Republic of Crimea, Russia
b Voronezh State University, Voronezh, 394018 Russia
c Oksky State Natural Biosphere Reserve, Brykin Bor, Spassky district, Ryazan oblast, 391072 Russia
*e-mail: k_shorenko@mail.ru
**e-mail: v.golub@inbox.ru
***e-mail: Nikolaeva.2005@mail.ru
Received January 16, 2022; revised April 23, 2022; accepted May 18, 2022
Abstract—The results of observations of the mass accumulations of adults of the harmful invasive oak lace
bug, Cor ythucha arcuata (Say, 1832), in 2018 and 2021 at the highest point of the Ai-Petri Plateau (Crimea;
1234 m a.s.l.) are presented. The approximate number of aggregations of this species reached several thousand
specimens, and the density of groups reached 50 specimens/dm2 of cableway structures. There are no food
plants of this invader on the plateau. It is most likely that adults of C. arcuata are brought to the plateau by
vertical air currents from the areas located below, where the pest successfully reproduces and develops. The
Ai-Petri Plateau is a reserve of the adult pest, which provides its expansion to other territories of southern
Crimea by air currents. Chemical control of the C. arcuata population at the apex of Mount Ai-Petri is rec-
ommended.
Keywords: invasive, Corythucha arcuata, mass accumulation, Сrimea, Ai-Petri Plateau, Yalta Mountain-For-
est Nature Reserve
DOI: 10 .1134/S 2 0 75111722 0 3 0158
INTRODUCTION
The invasive North American species oak lace bug
Corythucha arcuata (Say, 1832) is now widely distrib-
uted in central and southern Europe, as well as in Tur-
key and Iran. Indications from a number of countries
in which it was found as an invader and descriptions of
its biological characteristics and harmful activity are
contained in the extensive literature (Bernardinelli
and Zandigiacomo, 2000; Samin and Linnavuori,
2011; Neimorovets et al., 2017; etc.).
In the south of Russia, the oak lace bug is known
from a number of regions of the North Caucasus
(Shchurov et al., 2016, 2017; Gninenko et al., 2017,
2020; Neimorovets et al., 2017; Karpun et al., 2018)
and Crimea (Stryukova et al., 2019; Golub et al., 2020;
Martynov and Nikulina, 2020; Trikoz et al., 2021).
Detection points of C. arcuata in Crimea are shown in
Fig. 1. In all localities of the Crimea, the species was
collected only on species of oak—Quercus robur L.,
Q. pubescens Willd., Q. cerris L. (Stryukova et al., 2019;
Golub et al., 2020; Martynov and Nikulina, 2020).
On the basis of the results of the analysis of the pro-
portion of oak leaves inhabited by the oak lace bug and
the number of eggs on them at different points of
detection of the species in Crimea, a conclusion was
made about the manifestation of aggregation: areas
with a high number of bugs alternate with areas where
the species is few or absent (Martynov and Nikulina,
2020); the number of larvae and adults in the exam-
ined groups is not given in the cited article. The focal
nature of distribution of C. arcuata in the oak forests of
mountainous Crimea indicates its potential threat to
oak plantations during mass reproduction (Golub
et al., 2020; Martynov and Nikulina, 2020).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection of material of C. arcuata and population
counts were carried out by the first author of this arti-
cle from the first days of July to the end of September
2021 on the Ai-Petri Plateau, with an area of 300 sq. km,
with coordinates 44°26–27′ N, 34°03–04′ E within
the boundaries of the Yalta Mountain-Forest Nature
Reserve (Fig. 1).
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RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS Vol. 13 No. 3 2022
SHORENKO et al.
To identify the species, more than 200 specimens
were collected using a standard entomological net,
which, after pickling, were laid on cotton layers. Pop-
ulation censuses of C. arcuata carried out on the flat
surfaces of the structures of the cableway at the top of
Ai-Petri (1150 m a.s.l.) on test sites with an area of
1dm
2. Statistical processing of the obtained quantita-
tive data was not carried out owing to the high error in
the results of counts because of the high mobility of
the bugs. Identification of collected individuals was
carried out using a key to determine C. arcuata and
outwardly similar species (Golub and Soboleva, 2018)
and confirmed by comparison with specimens stored
at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of
Sciences (St. Petersburg).
The collected material is stored in the collections of
the Department of Zoology and Parasitology of the
Voronezh State University (Voronezh) and the Oksky
State Natural Biosphere Reserve (Brykin Bor, Ryazan
oblast).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the first time, we recorded a mass accumula-
tion of oak lace bugs on Mount Ai-Petri near the upper
station of the Miskhor–Ai-Petri cableway in Septem-
ber 2018, using video materials of Crimean bloggers
as signal information. The group density exceeded
10 ind./dm2 of surfaces of cableway structures. At the
same time, bugs (imagoes) were noted in high num-
bers on buildings, clothes, personal belongings, goods,
and open areas of the body of people. Tourists com-
plained of numerous insect bites, which they called
“midges.” Pricks with a proboscis in the integument of
a person of phytophage C. arcuata were associated
with the search for liquid food during mass reproduc-
tion, which was repeatedly observed by the second
author of this article in relation to another mass spe-
cies of Tingidae—pear lace Stephanitis pyri (Fabricius,
1775 ) .
From the beginning of July to September 2021 on
the Ai-Petri Plateau, 1100–1234 m a.s.l., we again
observed a massive f light of oak lace bug imagoes. The
flight had a pronounced focal character. At the same
time, adults settled in clusters on various substrates.
The largest centers of oak lace bugs were observed at
the upper station of the cableway Miskhor–Ai-Petri and
the rocky massif of the pinnacles of Ai-Petri (Fig. 2). The
approximate number of individual aggregations was
several thousand adults, and the density of groups on
building structures, rock outcrops, and various objects
reached 50 ind./dm2. There were no larvae of C. arcu-
ata and there was no obvious damage to the leaves of
any plant species, including oak. At the same time, the
abundance of oak lace bug in the state reserve Grand
Canyon of Crimea, which is located on the northern
side 600 m lower, directly under Mount Ai-Petri, and at a
distance of 10 km from the focus of mass accumulation,
was low and did not exceed 1–2 specimens/dm2 of sub-
strate.
Main forage plants C. arcuata are various species of
oak (Drake and Ruhoff, 1965). In addition, feeding on
plant species from other genera and families was noted
(Neimorovets et al., 2017; Borisov et al., 2018;
Gninenko et al., 2020). However, oak as a genus is
Fig. 1. Detection points of Corythucha arcuata in Crimea. Yellow circles indicate localities according to the literature (Stryukova
et al., 2019; Golub et al., 2020; Martynov and Nikulina, 2020); the red circle indicates the area of observations and counts of the
species by the authors of the article on the Ai-Petri Plateau in 2018 and 2021.
100 km
Yalt a
Alushta
Sevastopol
Simferopol
Evpatoria
Zheleznyi Port
Feodosia
Taman
Kerch
RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS Vol. 13 No. 3 2022
FOCUS OF THE MASS ACCUMULATION OF THE INVASIVE OAK LACE BUG 377
absent on the Ai-Petri Plateau. The main forest-form-
ing species of this mountain plateau are forest beech
(Fagus sylvatica L.), Crimean pine (Pinus nigra subsp.
pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe), yew berry (Taxus bac-
cata L.), and in some places drooping birch (Betula
pendula Roth) and common aspen (Populus tremula L.);
all these species are not marked as fodder plants for
C. arcuata. At the same time, the oak layer is present
in the Grand Canyon of Crimea Nature Reserve,
where there were no mass accumulations of oak lace
bug in 2021. Thus, we observe a mass accumulation of
phytophage pest adults on the territory where the main
fodder plants and obvious damage to potential fodder
plants are absent. The most reliable explanation of this
phenomenon seems to us to be the invasion of small
and very light adults of C. arcuata on the Ai-Petri Pla-
teau by vertical air currents, with the thinnest open-
work elytra, from the areas located below with planta-
tions of oak and other plants suitable for feeding larvae
and adults. In these areas, successful reproduction and
development of the pest occurs. Imagoes that have
penetrated to the top of the plateau with air currents
settle in large quantities on open, well-heated surfaces
of rocky outcrops, buildings, and reinforced concrete
structures. Here they can easily find shelters for win-
tering (the species hibernates in the imago phase).
Thus, the Ai-Petri Plateau with the highest point of
Crimea is a reserve of adult pests, from where they can
be passively dispersed by wind to other areas of south-
ern Crimea. Manifestation of migratory activity of
adults C. arcuata in the form of the transfer of millions
of adults by the prevailing air currents and its decisive
importance in the expansion of this species over con-
siderable distances were noted earlier in the North
Caucasus (Shchurov et al., 2019).
To prevent the further spread of C. arcuata, a dan-
gerous quarantine pest, it is necessary to treat with
insecticides the upper station of the cableway Misk-
hor–Ai-Petri in accordance with the methodological
recommendations for protection against the oak lace
bug (Gninenko et al., 2019).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to O.V. Zorina (Center for Additional
Education Intellect, Feodosia) for providing photographs
of the study area.
FUNDING
The work of the second author (data analysis) was
funded by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 22-
24-00556).
COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICAL STANDARDS
Conf lict of interest. The authors declare that they have no
conf licts of interest.
Statement of the welfare of animals. The article does not
contain any studies involving animals in experiments per-
formed by any of the authors.
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