New findings in Italy of the recently introduced alien psyllid Macrohomotoma gladiata and additional distributional records of Acizzia jamatonica and Cacopsylla fulguralis (Hemiptera Psylloidea)

The distribution in Italy is updated and new regional collecting data are reported of the exotic psyllids Macrohomotoma gladiata Kuwayama (Psylloidea, Homotomidae), Acizzia jamatonica (Kuwayama) and Cacopsylla fulguralis (Kuwayama) (Psylloidea, Psyllidae), all of them native to Asia and recorded in Italy during recent times. In particular, M. gladiata is a serious pest of Ficus microcarpa L. f. (Moraceae), one of the most frequently cultivated ornamental trees in southern Europe. The psyllid was reported for the first time in Europe in 2009, from Spain, and in 2012 it was recorded in Italy, based on its findings on ornamental F. microcarpa trees in Naples town centre. Data here reported on its outbreak presence in many localities in Sicily indicate a dangerous spread over Italy of this noxious psyllid pest.