Exotic insects in Italy

Since the postwar period until present time exotic species introduced in Italy have raised exponentially.

An inquiry made on the open spaces sector has shown that the total warning of new insects has gone above the hundred. As a matter of fact whereas between  the years 1946-1965 there had been registered only 13 drops in, between 1976 and 1995 the number of pointed out insects has raised over 80,  about 6 times as much.

Causes of such a high “immigration” must be due to a progressive increasement of trade exchanges with foreign countries, in particular way with America and Asia. In fact more than 60 % of introduced insects come originally from those regions.

The major part of introduced species is responsible of damages to ornamental open spaces, and also, even if in a decreasing way, of damages to forestall and urban spaces, fruit bearings, vegetables and other plants.

Homopterons are the kind of insect that is most represented, in particular we are talking about cochineals and aphids. After them in a smaller quantity we have beetles, lepidoters, dipterons, and thysanopterons. Many of these insects have naturalized in our country: whereas some of them have stayed around those areas of introduction, others have spread out in the country through lines of communication ways and trade.

Therefore Italy itself has become a carrier of these parasites in other states.

What can we do?

Even thought the open spaces sector is touched by this problem in a consistent way, we cannot forget that it concerns other sectors as well as food stuff and provisions, in combination with the problem of the introduction of insects that may concern human health or breeding animals one (as in the case of tiger mosquito)

Progressive climate modifications could also favour insects establishing in certain areas. In case we face a parasite whose identity is difficult to define, it is very important to ask for a  professional help in order to have an exact classification of it and the best eliminating solution.

It is therefore very important to have a correct classification and a brief description of all conditions that can come useful for a complete and correct identification of the insects we are facing. For example is mostly important to take a note of place, time, kind of damage, kind of plant, every possible information may be decisive to allow a rapid identification