It does not measure more than 3 millimeters, but sows growing concern in the Var department.
The pine tortoiseshell scale, recognizable by its reddish-brown oval shell, attacks exclusively pine trees.
She started her feast in Italy in 2014, before being reported for the first time in September 2021 in France in the town of Saint-Tropez, reports
Le Parisien
.
“
Toumeyella parvicornis (its Latin name, Ed)
entered through the port of Naples, probably on imported trees ,
”
explains Italian agronomist Franco Milito.
This pest has since decimated trees in the regions of Campania and Lazio.
Rome in particular suffered a
“
massive attack
: out of approximately 100,000
umbrella pines, approximately 70
% were infected
”.
Some municipalities in Puglia and Abruzzo are also affected, like Bari and Pescara, adds Antonio Garonna, professor of entomology at the Frederick II University of Naples.
To date, according to him,
“
tens of thousands of umbrella pines…
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