Quarantine pests: which are already in Greece and which are approaching

The quarantine pests recorded in this article, in three bands by distance from Greece — Figure 1The twenty seven organisms this article records, by distance. Ten are already inside the country, and two of them were recorded for the first time during 2026. Nine have a confirmed focus in the wider region. Eight are priority pests with no record in any country of the region, and are included so that the difference is visible.

Savvas Pastopoulos, Agronomist MSc, Pastopoulos Agronomics, Neos Mylotopos, Pella, Greece

This text records which quarantine pests have already been found in Greece, which are present in the wider region and moving closer, and which remain far away yet are monitored under a legal obligation. Every entry states the exact legal status, the region and date of the record, and its source. The position is frozen at 21 October 2026, and it changes.

Scope of this article Quarantine status under Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 applies across the whole European Union. The authorities that receive notifications, the national survey programme and the contingency plans described here are Greek. A reader in another Member State is subject to the same Union lists but to a different national administration, and should consult their own national plant protection organisation.

The list carries a date, and that is not a formality Annex II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 is amended continually. Its latest amendment applies from 15 October 2026, that is from six days before this text was written [2]. In that same amendment one organism moved from one Part of the Annex to the other and nine were deleted [4][5]. Before any decision, the status in force is checked at source.

20Union priority pests, with compulsory annual surveys and contingency plans

10quarantine pests officially recorded in Greece, listed here

2new to the country during 2026, the Asian citrus psyllid and a leafminer

15/10/2026the date from which the latest amendment of the Union list applies

Contents

What «quarantine» means, and what it does not
Those already inside Greece
Those in the wider region
Priority pests that remain far away
How the ones that were found were found, and what is asked of the grower
Sources

1. What «quarantine» means, and what it does not

The designation is not about how much damage an organism causes. It is about who decides what happens next. For an ordinary pest, management is the grower's choice. For a quarantine pest, management is a matter for the competent authority, diagnosis is made only by an official laboratory, and informing the service is a legal obligation on every party concerned, under Articles 14 and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 [1][9].

Four regimes that must not be confused

Regime	Where it is set	What it means
Union quarantine pest, Annex II Part A	Reg. (EU) 2019/2072	Not known to occur in Union territory. The objective is eradication. Every record opens a demarcated area.
Union quarantine pest, Annex II Part B	Reg. (EU) 2019/2072	Known to occur in the Union. Eradication where it is feasible, otherwise containment.
Protected zone quarantine pest, Annex III	Reg. (EU) 2019/2072	A quarantine pest only for those parts of the Union recognised as free of it. Outside those zones it carries no quarantine status.
Regulated non-quarantine pest, Annex IV	Reg. (EU) 2019/2072	Not a quarantine pest. Regulated only on plants for planting, with tolerance limits. It opens no demarcated area.

Two cases where the confusion is costly Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni of almond and stone fruit is not a quarantine pest for Greece. It does appear in Annex III, but the only protected zone defined for it is the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and no Member State of the Union [2]. For a Greek orchard its status is regulated non-quarantine pest, in Annex IV, Parts D and J, with a 0 per cent threshold on plants for planting other than seeds [2]. A categorization that gives only «Annex III» without naming the zone is accurate but misleading. The same applies to tomato brown rugose fruit virus, which was under emergency measures until 2024 and from 2025 is listed in Annex IV, so eradication is no longer pursued [5]. The same again for Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae of kiwifruit, in Annex IV since 2021 [5]. Older information sheets on all three cite legislation that has since been replaced.

The twenty priority pests

Within the quarantine pests a small group stands apart. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 designates twenty priority pests, those with the most severe economic, environmental and social consequences [3]. That status creates specific duties for the Member State: annual surveys, a contingency plan, simulation exercises and public awareness campaigns. The Directorate for Plant Production Protection of the Greek Ministry publishes eleven contingency plans, dated 2024 and 2025 [6].

Of the twenty, twelve appear below in chapters 2 and 3, because they are already in Greece or in the wider region. The remaining eight are recorded in chapter 4.

The EPPO A1 and A2 lists are not Union quarantine status The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization maintains its own lists, A1 for organisms absent from its region and A2 for those present with limited distribution. Those lists are a recommendation to EPPO member countries, not law. In Greece the law is made by Regulation (EU) 2019/2072. There are organisms on the EPPO A2 list with no Union quarantine status, and the reverse. The two are always stated separately in this text.

The diagnosis is not made by the article For a quarantine pest, identification is made only by an official laboratory. In most of the records that follow, that laboratory was the Benaki Phytopathological Institute. The descriptions here help in recognising that something needs to be reported, not in putting a name to the organism. The correct action on any suspicion is to inform the service, not to intervene.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 9

2. Those already inside Greece

Ten organisms with Union quarantine status have an official record in the country. The first two arrived during 2026.

Where the biological figures come from

Each card gives a life cycle, generations per year, egg numbers and egg placement, or, for the pathogens and the nematode, survival, vectors and infection conditions. For none of the nineteen organisms was a generations-per-year figure measured under Greek conditions found, and for most of them none measured in a Mediterranean climate either. The only datum that names Greece is a modelled projection for Spodoptera frugiperda, and it is stated as such on its card. Where a source does not state a country or a temperature, that is written out rather than filled in. The figures show which stages are exposed and how fast a population renews, not a calendar for a Greek field.

Which ones concern each crop

Select a crop for the list of organisms that concern it, with the position of each.

Asian citrus psyllid

Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, EPPO code DIAACI

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part A

The insect itself causes limited direct damage. Its importance is that it transmits the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter, the agents of huanglongbing or citrus greening, for which there is no cure and which brings the tree to decline and death [7].

Where and when: August 2026, in an orange orchard on Rhodes. First record in the country [7][5].
How it was found: In traps of the annual national survey programme. Identification by the Benaki Phytopathological Institute [7].
Hosts grown in Greece: All citrus, with sour orange, lime and grapefruit the most susceptible [7].
Position now: Under official control. The bacteria have not been found in Greece, and in Cyprus, where the psyllid has been present since 2023, tests for the bacteria were negative [5].

Biology

The adult in its characteristic slanted posture, body angled to the leaf.Image: Florida Department of Agriculture, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in 3 days at 28 degrees and 10 at 15. Five nymphal instars follow, 11 to 40 days, with no temperature stated. From egg to adult, a mean of 14.1 days at 28 degrees and 49.3 at 15, with an optimum of 25 to 28. Development fails at 10 and at 33 degrees.
Generations per year: 9 to 14 overlapping generations at mean temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees, and 9 to 10 as a world figure, with up to 16 under protection. None of these figures refers to a named country, and no measurement in a Mediterranean climate was located. The number is limited by the flushing activity of the citrus.
Egg numbers: More than 800 eggs in a lifetime, with reports of up to 1,900. No daily rate is stated.
Egg laying and overwintering: Eggs are placed inside the folds of unexpanded leaves and at the base of the buds, on new growth. The nymphs are sedentary and develop only on tender tissue. It overwinters as an adult, which lives up to six months, and when flush is absent it sits on the underside of mature leaves.

Sources: 5 7 18 19 20

Leafminer Liriomyza sativae

Liriomyza sativae Blanchard, EPPO code LIRISA

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part A

The fourth leafminer of the genus to reach the country. Of its four stages, three lie beyond the reach of a foliar spray. The subject is developed in a separate article.

Where and when: October 2026, in a leaf sample of gypsophila from a cut-flower business, Regional Unit of the Islands of Attica [8].
How it was found: In a foliage sample, with identification by the Benaki Phytopathological Institute [8].
Hosts grown in Greece: Tomato, cucumber, melon, bean, pepper and ornamentals, with the emphasis on greenhouse crops [8].
Position now: The Region of Crete issued an alert because the insect entered the country, not because it was found on the island [8].

Biology

The adult. The visible features are common to the whole genus.Image: Forest and Kim Starr, licence CC BY 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg is placed inside the leaf tissue and hatches in two to eight days. Three larval instars follow inside the leaf, four to seven days. The puparium lasts seven to fourteen days at 20 to 30 degrees. The full cycle closes in about 15 days at 30 degrees and 25 at 15.
Generations per year: With a fifteen-day cycle and an adult that lives a month, in a warm climate all stages are present at once and the generations overlap completely. No generation count has been measured for Greek conditions.
Egg numbers: 200 to 700 eggs per female, at 30 to 40 a day, declining with age.
Egg laying and overwintering: The egg inside the tissue, the larva inside the mine, the puparium in the soil. Only the adult is exposed. The lower development threshold lies between 4.6 and 7.9 degrees depending on the stage.

Sources: 8 18

Oriental fruit fly

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), EPPO code DACUDO

Recorded in GreecePriority pestAnnex II Part A

Its history in Greece has a withdrawal in the middle of it, and that is its most instructive feature. One capture in 2024, a declaration of absence after a delimiting survey, and a reappearance a year later.

Where and when: June 2024, one adult male in a trap in the Central Sector of Athens. In August 2024 the country declared absence after a dense delimiting survey. On 8 July 2025 16 adult males were caught in 6 traps, and during 2025 a total of 41 males in 23 traps, over 8 to 9 square kilometres [10][5].
How it was found: The trap network of the national survey programme. In Attica 103 Delta traps, raised to 203 after the July 2025 captures. Identification by the Benaki [10].
Hosts grown in Greece: Mainly citrus. The Attica documents regulate the movement of host fruit and name sour orange specifically for collection and destruction in the infested zone [10].
Position now: A demarcated area in Attica, shared with the next entry: an infested zone of about 93 square kilometres and a buffer zone of about 250, extending 7 kilometres beyond the infested zone [10]. The measures are set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/311 [11].

Biology

The adult. The species of the genus cannot be separated by eye.Image: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Full cycle about 37 days at 25 degrees. The larva lasts 7 days at 35 and 36 at 15. Pupa to adult 9 days at 30 and 34 at 15. Egg laying starts 18 to 48 days after adult emergence. The adult lives up to eleven weeks.
Generations per year: 4 to 5 generations in Hubei Province, China, with the heaviest damage from the fourth. That is a humid subtropical climate, not a Mediterranean one. No figure for Mediterranean conditions was located in any source.
Egg numbers: Under optimum conditions more than 3,000 eggs, while in the field 1,200 to 1,500 is considered the usual production. Per insertion 10 to 50.
Egg laying and overwintering: Eggs go beneath the fruit skin, the three larval instars feed inside the fruit, and the third leaves and pupates in the soil, at 2 to 3 centimetres. It overwinters as a puparium. Only the adult is exposed.

Sources: 5 10 11 18 20 21

Peach fruit fly

Bactrocera zonata (Saunders), EPPO code DACUZO

Recorded in GreecePriority pestAnnex II Part A

Its common name shows why it concerns Northern Greece more than the place of the record suggests. Its hosts are high-income crops: citrus, stone fruit, pome fruit.

Where and when: 17 June 2025, first capture in one trap in Attica. Captures continued until December 2025: 43 adult males in 35 positive traps, over about 50 square kilometres. A separate record in the Regional Unit of Laconia, one adult male in a trap inside a citrus orchard [10][12].
How it was found: In Attica, through the trap network already set up for the oriental fruit fly. In Laconia, from a trap of the annual national survey programme. Identification by the Benaki as the official laboratory [12].
Hosts grown in Greece: Peach as the main host, and orange, mandarin, grapefruit, apple, apricot, pomegranate, quince, fig [13].
Position now: Two demarcated areas, in Attica and in Laconia, both for the application of Regulation (EU) 2025/311 [12][11]. In Laconia, by 20 January 2026, 338 weekly trap inspections and 319 fruit samplings had been carried out within a radius of 7.5 kilometres [12].

Biology

The adult. Identification is made in the laboratory only.Image: IAEA Imagebank, licence CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Full cycle about 61 days at 25 degrees, from work in La Réunion. The larval stages last 4 days at 35 and 30 at 15. The puparium 8 days at 35 and 53 at 15. Egg laying starts two to three weeks after emergence. The female lives up to eighteen weeks.
Generations per year: Three to nine overlapping generations, with no region stated. Although the species is established in Egypt, no figure for a Mediterranean climate was located.
Egg numbers: 303 eggs in a lifetime and up to 13 a day, from the La Réunion work. Another source gives a mean of 137, with no region. The two figures differ and were not averaged.
Egg laying and overwintering: As in the oriental fruit fly: eggs beneath the fruit skin, larvae inside the fruit, puparium in the soil. It overwinters as a puparium. The immature stages do not develop below 15 degrees according to one source and below 10 according to another.

Sources: 10 11 12 13 18 21

Orange spiny whitefly

Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Quaintance), EPPO code ALECSN

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part B

The first entry that sits in Part B of Annex II, meaning it is known to occur in the Union. Its regime is containment, not eradication, and that difference determines what is asked of the grower.

Where and when: 2016, Corfu, with extensive infestation on citrus, roses and grapevine. A more recent record in August 2026 in the Regional Unit of Lefkada, in the Kalligoni area, inside a vineyard [14].
How it was found: On Lefkada, in two yellow sticky traps of the national survey programme that had been placed for a different organism, Scaphoideus titanus. The Benaki found the adults in them [14].
Hosts grown in Greece: Citrus as the main host, and grapevine, rose, fig, pomegranate, apple, pear, mulberry, bay. More than 95 species in all, including wild vegetation and urban greenery [14].
Position now: Present with restricted distribution. The containment areas are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1927, as amended in 2025 [5].

Biology

The adult. Colonies settle on the lower leaf surface.Image: Francesco Porcelli, Università di Bari, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in 4 to 15 days, and in Croatia in 12 to 15. The first three nymphal instars last 36 to 43 days. The last stage 12 to 17 days in Croatia and 7 to 34 in Japan. The cycle closes in two to four months at mild temperatures and high humidity.
Generations per year: Four in Japan and six in Guam, overlapping, and two to three in India. For the Mediterranean, Italy, Croatia or Montenegro no figure exists at all in the sources checked.
Egg numbers: Not stated for this species in any source. Only the batch size is given, spiral groups of 12 to 22 eggs according to one source and 35 to 50 according to the other. The figures in circulation for more than 100 eggs belong to the related A. woglumi and are not carried across.
Egg laying and overwintering: Eggs are placed in spiral groups on the lower leaf surface. The nymphs stay on the lower surface to avoid the sun, in dense colonies reaching hundreds of individuals per leaf, and mainly on the lower parts of the tree. Overwintering is as egg, early larva or pupa, and varies with region and year.

Sources: 5 14 18 19

Fall armyworm

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), EPPO code LAPHFR

Recorded in GreecePriority pestAnnex II Part A

More than 350 host species, and the only entry in the list that concerns arable crops rather than trees.

Where and when: September and October 2023, in seven Regional Units. The confirmation dates, as the Ministry gives them: Laconia 20/09, East Attica 21/09, Lasithi 22/09, Heraklion 26/09, Euboea 29/09, Lesbos 31/10, and Chania in December [15].
How it was found: Pheromone funnel traps, in maize, rice and solanaceous crops, through a survey programme running since 2019. Identification by the Benaki under EPPO Standard PM 7/124(1), confirmed by the Union Reference Laboratory [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Maize, rice, cotton, sorghum, pepper, aubergine, and among ornamentals carnation, chrysanthemum and pelargonium [16].
Position now: The most recent official status located is the declaration of October 2023, «present, under eradication». The measures are set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1134 [5][15]. No later official update for Greece was located.

Biology

The larva, the stage by which an infestation is recognised in the field.Image: Frank Peairs, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org, licence CC BY 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Egg to adult 20 days at 32 degrees and 71 at 18, on maize, with an optimum of 26 to 30. Six larval instars. In the United States the full cycle is given as about 30 days in summer and 80 to 90 in winter. The adult lives on average ten days.
Generations per year: Four generations in the far south of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, if it establishes. This is the only figure in the whole list that names Greece, and it is a projection from a model, not a measurement. Where winter rarely falls to 10 degrees, four to six generations are given, and in colder regions one to two.
Egg numbers: 900 to 1,000 eggs per female according to one source, and a mean of about 1,500 with a maximum over 2,000 according to the other. The two figures differ and were not averaged. In clusters of 100 to 300 eggs.
Egg laying and overwintering: Egg masses are usually stuck to the lower leaf surface, covered with greyish scales. Young larvae feed deep in the whorl of the maize, and older ones enter the growing point and the ear from the side. Pupation takes place in the soil. It cannot enter diapause, so in cold regions the population migrates. Lower development threshold about 12 degrees.

Sources: 5 15 16 18 19 21

Chilli thrips

Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, EPPO code SCITDO

Recorded and eradicatedAnnex II Part A

The only entry in the list where eradication was completed, and worth recording for that reason: it shows that the system works when the organism is caught at the door.

Where and when: June 2025, Regional Unit of Chania, on avocado plants for planting imported from Spain [5].
How it was found: Within an imported consignment. The source does not describe the detection method beyond that.
Hosts grown in Greece: Citrus, grapevine, pepper, strawberry, cotton, kiwifruit, tomato, aubergine, cucumber, bean, onion, rose [5].
Position now: Considered eradicated. Follow-up trapping surveillance did not detect the organism, and the declared status since April 2026 is «absent, confirmed by survey» [5].

Biology

The adult. Body length is under two millimetres.Image: Aderksen, licence CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Six stages: egg, two larval instars, prepupa, pupa, adult. Incubation lasts 7 to 10 days on average, the larval and pupal periods together 11 to 13 days under laboratory conditions. At 28 degrees, first instar to adult takes 11 days on pepper and 13.3 on squash. The female lives about 19 days.
Generations per year: Four to eight in temperate parts of Japan, more than five in Japan according to another source, six or more in southern Japan and South Korea, and 14 to 18 in Florida from a degree-day model. For southern Europe it is stated that similar numbers could occur, without a figure being given.
Egg numbers: On chilli pepper, 2 to 4 eggs a day over about 32 days, a total of 60 to 200. The region of the measurement is not stated. Reproduction is also parthenogenetic, and unfertilised eggs give males.
Egg laying and overwintering: The female inserts the eggs inside plant tissue, above the soil surface, where they are hard to detect. Larvae and adults feed on young growth, flowers and small fruit, often on the midrib. Pupation takes place in leaf litter, in leaf axils, in curled leaves or under the calyx. Lower development threshold 9.7 degrees, with 265 degree-days to the adult.

Sources: 5 18 19 21

Potato wart disease

Synchytrium endobioticum (Schilbersky) Percival, EPPO code SYNCEN

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part B

The oldest entry in the list and the only one for which no Greek primary document was located.

Where and when: 2011, in two potato fields in the municipality of Kato Nevrokopi, Regional Unit of Drama, under official control [5].
How it was found: Not established by any source located.
Hosts grown in Greece: Potato.
Position now: The evaluation is «present, few occurrences», and it rests on information from 2015. There is no later record for Greece, and the country is not among the outbreaks recorded in the Union in 2025 [5].

Biology

Tubers with the characteristic warty outgrowths. The roots are not attacked.Image: USDA-APHIS-PPQ, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The winter sporangia germinate in spring at a soil temperature above 8 degrees and with sufficient moisture, releasing motile zoospores that swim in the soil water and penetrate the cells. Each infected cell produces a summer sporangium with 200 to 300 zoospores, which reinfect neighbouring cells. The cycle repeats while conditions last.
Survival: In the soil, as resting spores, at least 30 years according to one source and 40 to 50 according to the other, with a recorded recurrence from a single spore after 43 years. They are found at depths of up to 50 centimetres. The spores survive even passage through the digestive tract of animals.
Vectors and spread: No vector. Natural spread is very limited, by water and wind. The real dispersal is human, through infected seed potato, especially tubers with inconspicuous early warts, and through soil on machinery, vehicles and footwear.
Infection conditions: No single optimum temperature is given, and the sources explicitly disagree. It is reported that cool summers averaging 18 degrees or less favour the disease, as do wet soils and annual rainfall of 700 millimetres or more. New outbreaks are however recorded in south-eastern Europe, where summers are warmer.

Sources: 5 18 19

Bacterial wilt of bean

Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Hedges) Collins & Jones, EPPO code CORBFL

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part A

The most unsettling entry in terms of method, because it was found with nothing visible at all.

Where and when: Samples collected in December 2024 in the Regional Unit of Florina. Four bean seed samples from four fields of 0.6 to 1.2 hectares, with the bacterium present in one of them [5].
How it was found: Official surveys. No wilt symptoms had been observed, either on the crops or on the seed [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Common bean, and its seed as the means of spread.
Position now: «Present, under eradication». Further surveys of bean crops in the area were planned [5]. No Greek primary document was located.

Biology

Life cycle: It is transmitted by the seed, both within and on it. It enters the plant mainly through wounds, usually in windy or hail weather, and entry through the stomata is rare, unlike other bacteria of bean. Inside the plant it moves mainly in the xylem, often within biofilms.
Survival: In the seed, up to 24 years, but only in laboratory storage. In the soil far less: in bean rotated with wheat, survival does not exceed two winters, while another source gives about eight months in residues. The two figures were not averaged.
Vectors and spread: No vector has been found. The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita may ease entry by wounding the roots, but it is not reported as a vector. Spread within the field is favoured by sprinkler irrigation and hailstorms, and by minimum or no tillage.
Infection conditions: Disease expression is accelerated above 30 degrees, and according to another source above 27 to 30, especially under water stress. At lower temperatures the infection stays latent, and that explains why it was found in seed with no symptoms at all.

Sources: 5 18 19

Bacterial wilt Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum

Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum Safni et al., EPPO code RALSPS

Recorded in GreeceAnnex II Part B

The entry that shows most clearly why the list needs a date. Until 15 October 2026 this organism was in Part A. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/826 moved it to Part B [4][5]. Any text written before that date gives the other Part, and is not wrong for its time.

Where and when: Municipality of Troizinia-Methana, Attica, in a commercial greenhouse producing cut roses, with about 10 per cent of plants affected. A sample was submitted for diagnosis in March 2021. No detection date is given [5].
How it was found: By the grower, who submitted a sample of diseased plants. Symptoms: dieback, black necrosis of pruned shoots, brown vascular discoloration in shoots and roots, whitish slime from the cuts. Identification by the Benaki [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: In the Greek record, rose under glass. The 2026 amendment added requirements for plants for planting and rhizomes of turmeric and ginger [4].
Position now: «Present, not widely distributed». Official measures to prevent further spread are provided for [5].

Biology

Life cycle: Entry is usually through root injuries, and from there the bacterium colonises the xylem. Blocking of the vessels by the bacterial biofilm is the main cause of wilting. Severity increases when root-knot nematodes are also present.
Survival: In bare soil at low temperature survival is short-lived, with no duration given. In wet environments, on plant debris and in symptomless weed hosts, it survives for years. Latent infections are common at low temperatures.
Vectors and spread: No vector is stated. Nematodes are mentioned only as factors that worsen severity. Spread is by surface water, drainage water and root contact, and the main route of international movement is infected propagating material.
Infection conditions: The disease is usually most severe at 24 to 35 degrees. High soil moisture or rainy periods are associated with high incidence. An optimum temperature for infection itself, as distinct from severity, is not given.

Sources: 4 5 18 19

Chapter sources: 4 5 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

3. Those in the wider region

For every entry that follows the same item is given: the nearest confirmed focus to Greece, with country, region and year. That is the figure that matters, not the list of countries.

What absence from the table means, and what it does not In the EPPO distribution database, a country that has declared absence appears with explicit wording, «absent, confirmed by survey». A country that simply does not appear in the table has declared nothing. For most of the organisms in this chapter Greece does not appear at all. The correct formulation is that no record exists, not that the country has been declared free.

Xylella

Xylella fastidiosa (Wells et al.), EPPO code XYLEFA

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

The organism with the largest Greek stake, because olive is a host and because the subspecies pauca is the cause of the rapid decline of olive trees in the Salento [5].

Nearest focus: Italy, Apulia, since 2013, in the Salento, on olive. Since August 2026 there is also a focus in Basilicata, in the municipality of Matera, on almond, with subspecies multiplex [5].
Where else: Portugal since 2018, France since 2015 with Corsica under containment, Spain since 2016 with the Balearic Islands under containment, Israel since 2019. Türkiye, Albania, Cyprus and Slovenia have declared absence confirmed by survey [5].
In Greece: The Greek contingency plan states that the country is at present considered free of it. The organism has been included in the annual national survey programme since 2014 [9].
Hosts grown in Greece: Olive, grapevine, almond, stone fruit, citrus, oleander. No single strain infects all hosts, and the sources do not give a complete mapping of subspecies to crop [5].
What follows a record: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1201 sets an infected zone of at least 50 metres around the infected plant and a buffer zone of at least 2.5 kilometres for eradication or 5 kilometres for containment [17]. The Greek plan explicitly requires the destruction of all infected plants by burning [9].

Biology

Life cycle: A bacterium confined to the xylem, which in nature is transmitted exclusively by insects feeding on xylem fluid. Symptoms arise from the blocking of the vessels. It does not spread on its own, by contact or through the air, and it is not seed-transmitted. The main route of entry and spread is the movement of plants for planting.
Survival: In the Apulian olive outbreak the infection advanced by an average of 2 kilometres a month. Vector flight is given as 100 to 150 metres on average. The latent period before symptoms appear is from a few months to more than a year, and many species may never express symptoms, remaining a source of inoculum.
Vectors and spread: In the EPPO region the only confirmed vector is Philaenus spumarius, and it is present in Greece, with a wide distribution. Greek research in 28 olive groves in 2017 and 2018 collected 4,350 individuals and recorded P. spumarius and Neophilaenus campestris as the main potential vectors, present both in the ground vegetation and in the olive canopy for a large part of the year. The bacterium was absent from the samples tested.
Infection conditions: No optimum temperature or moisture requirement is given. The only climatic statement is that the diseases it causes occur in areas with a mild winter. Acquisition by the vector happens with no latent period, but the nymphs lose infectivity on moulting, so newly emerged adults must acquire it again.

Sources: 5 9 17 18 19

Red-necked longhorn beetle

Aromia bungii (Faldermann), EPPO code AROMBU

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

For Pella and Northern Greece this is the most serious entry in the chapter. All twenty two of its major hosts belong to the genus Prunus: peach, apricot, sweet and sour cherry, plum, almond [5]. It has been in Italy since 2012 and has not been eradicated in thirteen years.

Nearest focus: Italy, Campania, September 2012, in urban areas between Naples and Pozzuoli. Lombardy followed in 2013, Lazio in 2020 and Tuscany in 2023, with further outbreaks in 2025 [5].
Where else: Germany with few occurrences. Türkiye, the Balkans and the Mediterranean do not appear in the table [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Exclusively Prunus, that is the whole of stone fruit production [5].
What follows a record: Measures under Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1503 and a Greek contingency plan, 2024 edition [5][6].

Biology

The adult. The red pronotum on the black body is the feature that gives it its common name.Image: 罗捷, licence CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in about a week. The larva grows from 2 millimetres to 38 to 50 and matures in 21 to 33 months. Pupation takes place in a cell in the heartwood, and in Italy it begins from mid-May. The adult lives 15 to 20 days, with peak presence in Italy from mid-July to early August.
Generations per year: One generation every two to four years, depending on latitude and climate. The figure is not attributed to any named country by the sources checked. Within the same tree, larvae of different ages coexist from overlapping generations, and that is why an infestation stays hidden for years.
Egg numbers: 350 to 730 eggs in a lifetime, with a maximum recorded of 734. The region of the measurement is not stated.
Egg laying and overwintering: Eggs are placed in bark crevices on the trunk and main branches of healthy or stressed trees, and have been found up to 2 metres above ground. On young trees the female also lays on the graft scar. The larva bores galleries under the bark and moves into the sapwood and heartwood, with a total gallery length of 50 to 60 centimetres. There is no record of infestation in the roots. It overwinters as larvae of various ages, inside the wood.

Sources: 5 6 18 21

Citrus longhorn beetle

Anoplophora chinensis (Forster), EPPO code ANOLCN

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

The nearest focus of the whole chapter in overland distance, and in a crop that is also grown in Northern Greece.

Nearest focus: Türkiye, first recorded 2014, with an outbreak in a nursery at Şile near Istanbul. In 2018 it was recorded in hazelnut orchards at Maçka, Trabzon, and in 2024 in outbreaks across the Marmara, Black Sea, Mediterranean and South-Eastern Anatolia regions, causing damage in hazelnut orchards [5].
Where else: Croatia with few occurrences and repeated reintroductions since 2007, with new findings at Biograd na Moru in 2025 and 2026. Italy with restricted distribution. Eradicated in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Hazel, apple, pear, stone fruit, citrus, and among forest trees plane, maple, alder, beech, poplar, elm [5].
What follows a record: A Greek contingency plan shared with A. glabripennis, 2025 edition [6].

Biology

An adult as a collection specimen, dorsal view.Image: 0959kedi, licence CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg is about 5 millimetres long and no incubation period is given. The larva reaches 50 millimetres. The mature larva overwinters and usually pupates in spring. Adults appear from May to October, peaking May to July, and feed for 10 to 15 days before laying.
Generations per year: One generation a year as a rule, and occasionally two years. The figure is not attributed to a country. A model for the Union uses a two-year cycle, but that is a simulation scenario and not a field measurement.
Egg numbers: An average of 70 eggs per female. The region is not stated.
Egg laying and overwintering: This is the decisive point for the species. Eggs are placed under the bark of the lower trunk, on exposed roots and in the collar region. The larvae tunnel in the trunk and the roots, first in the cambial region and later into the wood. Oviposition and the early larva are at and below the collar, not in the canopy. It overwinters as a larva. In the laboratory larval development is slow or absent below 10 and above 35 degrees.

Sources: 5 6 18 21

Japanese beetle

Popillia japonica Newman, EPPO code POPIJA

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

The breadth of its host range is why it sits on the priority list: grapevine, hazel, apple, stone fruit, maize, soybean, bean.

Nearest focus: Croatia, Zagreb, October 2025, a single capture in a trap inside a park [5].
Where else: Slovenia since 2024, with one adult in a trap in July 2024 and then eleven adults at a motorway station, eight in Ljubljana and one in Novo Mesto. Italy since 2014, first along the Ticino. Switzerland since 2017 in Ticino, with new outbreaks in Valais and Zurich in 2023. Portugal with restricted distribution, Germany with few occurrences [5].
In Greece: Greece does not appear in the distribution table, and no Greek document declaring absence or a monitoring programme was located [5].
Hosts in Greece: From the EPPO host list, those grown in the country: grapevine, maize, soybean, apple, peach, sweet and sour cherry, plum, asparagus, rose, blueberry, and the grasses at family level. The list holds 100 entries, while the overall figure given is more than 300 species, with no region stated. The main hosts of concern in Europe are grapevine and maize [18].
What follows a record: A Greek contingency plan, 2025 edition [6].

Biology

The adult. The white tufts along the sides of the abdomen separate it from native beetles.Image: Bruce Marlin, licence CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in 10 to 14 days depending on temperature, and seven days at 0 degrees kill it outright. Three larval instars: the first in two to three weeks, the second in three to four, while the duration of the third is not given. The adult lives 30 to 45 days. In Italy adults are active from June to September, peaking in mid-July.
Generations per year: One generation a year, and this is stated explicitly for Japan and for Italy. In cooler areas most individuals need two years. It is one of the few entries in the list where the figure comes with a country.
Egg numbers: 40 to 60 eggs per female, singly or in small clusters, in moist grassland in summer.
Egg laying and overwintering: The insect is split in two. Eggs, larvae and pupa are in the soil: laying in the upper 10 centimetres, the larvae feeding on roots just below the surface, and the third instar overwintering at 10 to 20 centimetres. Only the adult is on the plant, where it eats the lamina between the veins, the flowers and the silks of maize, starting at the top of the plant and working down. Lower development threshold 10 degrees.

Sources: 5 6 18 20

Emerald ash borer

Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, EPPO code AGRLPL

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part A

The largest westward movement recorded during 2026. It concerns no agricultural crop but the Fraxinus species, that is the ash of Greek woodland and urban planting.

Nearest focus: Hungary, June 2026, one adult in a trap close to the border with Ukraine, and in August 2026 further findings of adults and larvae. The presence of larvae indicates reproduction in the field, not a single capture [5].
Where else: Ukraine since 2019, with foci in Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kyiv. Belarus and Russia with restricted distribution [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Only Fraxinus. No agricultural crop. The exposure is manna ash and narrow-leaved ash in woodland and plantings [5].
What follows a record: Measures under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/434 [5].

Biology

The adult on a coin. The scale is the useful part of the picture.Image: USDA Forest Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in one to two weeks, and under controlled temperature in 20 days at 20 degrees, 13 at 27 and 7 at 35. Four larval instars. Pupation begins in April or May and lasts three to four weeks. The adult feeds for one to two weeks before maturing and lives three to nine weeks.
Generations per year: One generation a year as a rule, and two years at higher latitudes or where summers are cool. The difference is attributed to diapause requirements. No country is stated.
Egg numbers: An average of 40 to 90 eggs per female. The region is not stated.
Egg laying and overwintering: What matters here is that the insect stays shallow. Eggs are laid on the bark surface, in crevices. The larva feeds in the inner bark and the outermost sapwood, and the pupal cell is in the outer bark or the outer sapwood. Unlike Anoplophora and Aromia, it does not reach the heartwood. It overwinters as a J-shaped fourth-instar larva. Lower development threshold 12.2 degrees.

Sources: 5 18 20

Asian longhorn beetle

Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), EPPO code ANOLGL

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

Nearest focus: Italy, Marche, August 2013, at Grottazzolina, with a new outbreak in March 2020. The Italian national first record was in Lombardy in June 2007. There is also an older record in Lebanon, at Aabrine, in 2015 and 2016, but the source does not state whether the organism established there [5].
Where else: France with restricted distribution, Switzerland with few occurrences. Türkiye, Cyprus and Malta have declared absence confirmed by survey [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Maple, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, birch. No Greek fruit or arable crop is a major host. The exposure is urban greenery and poplar and willow plantations [5].
What follows a record: A Greek contingency plan shared with A. chinensis, 2025 edition [6].

Biology

The adult. The antennae exceed the length of the body.Image: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: The egg hatches in about two weeks, and under controlled temperature in 13.3 days at 30 degrees, 15 at 25, 25 at 20 and 354 at 10. Larval development to the tenth instar takes 165.7 days at 30 degrees and 716.3 at 15. The pupa 12.4 days at 30 and 47.4 at 15. Adults are seen from April to December.
Generations per year: The length of the cycle depends strongly on temperature, as the figures above show: the same larval development that takes five months at 30 degrees requires more than two years at 15. No generations-per-year figure with a stated country was located.
Egg numbers: The young adult stays on the tree it emerged from for 10 to 15 days before starting to lay. A total number of eggs per female is not stated in the sources checked.
Egg laying and overwintering: The larvae tunnel inside the wood of the trunk and main branches. Adults emerge from circular holes and feed on the bark of young twigs. What matters for Greece is that no fruit or arable crop is a major host: the exposure is maple, horse chestnut, poplar, willow and birch, that is urban greenery and plantations.

Sources: 5 6 18 20

Pine wood nematode

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Bührer) Nickle et al., EPPO code BURSXY

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part B

Nearest focus: France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 2025, at Seignosse in the Landes department. During 2026 the focus extended to four further municipalities of the same region and a finding appeared in Centre-Val de Loire [5].
Where else: Portugal with restricted distribution, Spain since 2008 with foci in Extremadura, Galicia and Castile and Leon [5].
In Greece: Absent, confirmed by survey. The same for Italy, Malta, Romania and Slovenia [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Mainly Pinus sylvestris, the Scots pine of northern Greek forests. The French and Spanish findings concern maritime pine [5].

Biology

Life cycle: It is carried by longhorn beetles of the genus Monochamus, inside the tracheal system of the immature adult, which it enters through the spiracles. Primary transmission happens when the beetle feeds on healthy trees, and it is the most important route in Europe. The nematode enters through the feeding wounds, moults to adult within 48 hours and migrates into the conductive vessels. It reproduces in 3 days at 30 degrees, 6 at 20 and 12 at 15.
Survival: From infection to the death of the tree takes two to three months, with no country stated. In Scots pine seedlings, mortality reached 100 per cent after 60 days at 20 and at 25 degrees, while at 15 none died.
Vectors and spread: In Europe the main vector is Monochamus galloprovincialis, and it is present in Greece, recorded as a known vector. It is the only Greek Monochamus species in the vector table. The vector is here, the nematode is not.
Infection conditions: The development threshold is 9.5 degrees, and no optimum temperature is given. The disease is favoured by hot summers, and dieback appears where the mean summer temperature exceeds 20 degrees. That places the southern EPPO region among the most exposed. A critical distinction for Greece: Aleppo and Calabrian pine, which dominate Greek lowland forest, are not on the nematode host list, appearing only as hosts of the vector. On the list are black pine and Scots pine.

Sources: 5 18 21

Citrus black spot

Phyllosticta citricarpa (McAlpine) Van der Aa, EPPO code GUIGCI

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part A

Nearest focus: Tunisia, Governorate of Nabeul, findings of 2019, in the municipalities of Beni Khalled, Bouargoub and Menzel Bouzelfa, and in 2021 in Sousse as well. The source gives no year of first record, so «findings of 2019» is written rather than «first recorded» [5].
Where else: Nowhere else in the Mediterranean. Greece, Italy, Türkiye, Cyprus, Malta, Albania, Croatia, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Spain, Portugal and France have all declared absence confirmed by survey [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Sweet orange and lemon, the only major hosts [5].
What follows a record: A Greek contingency plan, 2024 edition [6].

Biology

Lesions on orange fruit. The symptom appears more than six months after fruit set.Image: P. Barkley, licence CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Two cycles. The primary is driven by ascospores produced exclusively in the leaf litter, and the secondary by pycnidiospores formed on the lesions of fruit, leaves and twigs. Ascospores travel longer distances on the wind, while pycnidiospores move less than 80 centimetres, in rain water.
Survival: Pseudothecia develop in the leaf litter 40 to 180 days after leaf drop, depending on the succession of wet and dry periods. Pycnidiospores lose their germinability in about one month in Australia and in five months in South Africa.
Vectors and spread: No vector. Ascospore release happens during rainfall, and occasionally with irrigation or heavy dew. Pseudothecia form with an optimum of 21 to 28 degrees, and none form below 7 or above 35.
Infection conditions: Ascospores infect at 15 to 29.5 degrees with 15 to 38 hours of wetness. Pycnidiospores germinate from 10 to 40 degrees with 12 to 48 hours of wetness. The decisive point, however, is the latent period: infection is followed by a latent phase of 12 to 36 months in Australia, and the first symptoms on the fruit do not appear until more than six months after fruit set. Flowers and fruit are susceptible for four to six months from anthesis.

Sources: 5 6 18

False codling moth

Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), EPPO code ARGPLE

In the wider regionPriority pestAnnex II Part A

The entry where the nearest record is old and static. It is included for the breadth of its host range, among the largest in the list for Greek crops, not because it is approaching.

Nearest focus: Israel, 1984, on macadamia, a crop that was destroyed. The source names no region and reports that the organism appears to persist on minor hosts, cotton and castor bean, while it has never been found on citrus in Israel [5].
Where else: No other country of the Mediterranean or the Middle East is recorded as present. Italy and Spain only with interceptions in consignments [5].
Hosts grown in Greece: Pepper, aubergine, peach and nectarine, pomegranate, grapevine, maize, citrus, cotton, rose [5].
What follows a record: A Greek contingency plan, 2024 edition [6].

Biology

An adult male, dorsal view.Image: Simon Hinkley and Ken Walker, Museum Victoria, licence CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life cycle: Five larval instars. In measurements on southern African populations, the egg lasts 5.1 days at 25 degrees, 9.8 at 20 and 19.5 at 15. The larva 11.6 days at 25, 18.8 at 20 and 45.6 at 15. The pupa in its cocoon 12.9 days at 25, 22.3 at 20 and 50.7 at 15. The female lives two to ten weeks.
Generations per year: Five generations in Pretoria and six at a South African research station, with about 328 degree-days per generation on a base of 11.7 degrees. A figure of up to ten generations with adults year-round also circulates, but with no region stated at all, and it should not be used as if it were a Mediterranean figure.
Egg numbers: Up to 800 eggs per female. The region of the measurement is not stated in the wording of the source.
Egg laying and overwintering: The larva feeds inside the fruit, and that is where the problem lies: the infestation is invisible from outside except for the entry hole. Pupation takes place in a cocoon, usually in the soil or the leaf litter. Only the adult flies freely. The host range that concerns Greek crops is among the widest in the list.

Sources: 5 6 18 20

Chapter sources: 5 6 9 17

4. Priority pests that remain far away

The remaining priority pests are recorded in no country of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East or North Africa. They are monitored under a legal obligation, but they are not approaching. The distinction is useful precisely because the lists present them all as equal.

Organism	Where it is	Hosts grown in Greece	Status
Anastrepha ludens	Central and North America	Mandarin, lime, sour orange, sweet orange, grapefruit	Annex II Part A
Rhagoletis pomonella	North America	Apple, the only major host	Annex II Part A
Conotrachelus nenuphar	North America	Apple, peach, cherry, pear, blueberry	Annex II Part A
Bactericera cockerelli	The Americas	Tomato and potato	Annex II Part A
Anthonomus eugenii	The Americas. The Italian focus of 2013 in Lazio was declared eradicated in May 2020	Pepper	Annex II Part A
Agrilus anxius	Canada and the United States	Birch only. No agricultural crop	Annex II Part A
Dendrolimus sibiricus	Russia and Kazakhstan. No record in any country bordering Greece or in the Balkans	None. The major hosts are Siberian conifers	Annex II Part A
Candidatus Liberibacter spp.	Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen. No country of the Union	Citrus	Annex II Part A

The exception that is not one The last of the list, the bacterium of citrus greening, is in no country of the Union. Its vector, however, is already on Rhodes, since August 2026, and across Cyprus since 2023 [5][7]. The distance between the vector and the pathogen is all that stands in between, and in Cyprus the tests of the psyllid populations for the bacterium were negative. That is why the vector is itself treated as a quarantine pest.

Sources: 3 5 7

5. How the ones that were found were found, and what is asked of the grower

Collecting the ten Greek records together reveals a pattern that is invisible when each is examined on its own, and it is the most useful finding of this text.

Traps caught the insects, growers brought in the bacteria

All four flies and leafminers in the list, together with the Asian citrus psyllid and the fall armyworm, were detected by the trap network of the annual national survey programme. By contrast, the bacterial wilt of rose at Troizinia came to light because the grower submitted a sample. The same happened with bacterial canker of kiwifruit in Pella in 2014, which is not a quarantine pest but followed the same route.

The conclusion is practical. Traps catch what flies and what has a known lure. For diseases of the wood and the vascular system there is no trap, and the only door into the system is a sample sent in by someone who saw something unusual.

How it was detected	Organisms	What it means
A trap of the national programme	Diaphorina citri, Bactrocera dorsalis, Bactrocera zonata, Spodoptera frugiperda, Aleurocanthus spiniferus	Works for flying insects with a known lure
A trap set for a different organism	Aleurocanthus spiniferus on Lefkada, in traps for Scaphoideus titanus	The network delivers off target too, if the samples reach a laboratory
A sample from the grower	Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum	The only route for vascular and wood diseases
Inspection of an imported consignment	Scirtothrips dorsalis	The only organism in the list that was eradicated
Official survey with no symptoms	Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens in bean seed	Absence of symptoms is not absence of the organism

The duty to notify

In every Greek document that names a recipient, the route is the same. Notification goes to the Section for Quality and Phytosanitary Control of the regional agricultural directorate of the Regional Unit, and to the Regional Centre for Plant Protection, Quality and Phytosanitary Control. The central competent authority is the Directorate for Plant Production Protection of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, at planthealth@minagric.gr [13][16]. The legal basis is Articles 14 and 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 [1].

The obligation is not limited to a suspicion of presence. The announcement on the leafminer Liriomyza sativae explicitly asks that failure of control with the usual products also be reported [8]. An infestation that does not recede as it should is itself information for the service.

What changes inside a demarcated area

A demarcated area consists of the infested or infected zone and the buffer zone around it. The terms differ between regulations, but the logic is common. Within those zones the owner of host plants, public or private, must apply without delay the measures indicated by the regional agricultural directorate [10].

Movement of fruit: host fruit does not leave the infested zone except after effective treatment or under the specific conditions of the regulation [10][11].
Plants for planting: moved free of fruit and with soil free of the life stages of the organism. Where required, with a plant passport, which presupposes inspection before movement, no detection over the preceding period, and traceability of the batch [15].
Collection and destruction of fallen fruit, including from municipal public spaces. The accepted methods set out in the Attica documents are deep burial at 40 to 50 centimetres, solarisation in sealed black bags, or controlled composting. Not in ordinary waste bins [10].
Marking: for Xylella, plants moved from the zones carry the indication «Infected zone, XYLEFA» beside the traceability code [9].

What an orchard can do without waiting for anything Propagating material should arrive with a plant passport and the document should be kept, because in a demarcation traceability is the first thing requested. New trees should be inspected on arrival and not only after planting. Unusual branch dieback, boreholes in the trunk with frass, and vascular discoloration seen in section should be photographed with a date before the branch is removed. And any infestation that does not recede as expected should be reported, because that observation is precisely what is being asked for.

Sources: 1 8 9 10 11 13 15 16

6. Sources

The numbers in the text refer to the list below. The legal status of each organism was taken from sources [2] to [5] and not from the information leaflets, several of which cite legislation that has since been replaced.

[1] Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council on protective measures against pests of plants. Source for the duty to notify under Articles 14 and 15 and for the definition of a quarantine pest.
[2] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, consolidated version. Source for Annexes II, III and IV, for the fact that the only protected zone for Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni is Northern Ireland, and for the Parts and thresholds of Annex IV.
[3] Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1702 of 1 August 2019 establishing the list of priority pests. Source for the twenty priority pests and for exactly which they are.
[4] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/826 of 14 April 2026, which amended the list of pests. Source for the transfer of Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum from Part A to Part B and for the nine deletions, applying from 15 October 2026.
[5] EPPO Global Database, distribution, categorization and host pages by organism, and the Reporting Service. Read 21 October 2026. Source for distribution by country with the wording of each status, for years of first record, for the A1 and A2 lists, and for the Union categorization of each organism.
[6] Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Directorate for Plant Production Protection, Phytosanitary Control. Source for the eleven contingency plans with their dates and for the information leaflets by organism. In Greek.
[7] Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, information leaflet on the quarantine pest Diaphorina citri. Source for the first record on Rhodes in August 2026, for detection through traps of the national programme, and for the fact that the bacteria have not been found in Greece. In Greek.
[8] Region of Crete, announcement of 20 October 2026 on the record of Liriomyza sativae, and the article on the species on this blog. Source for the place and time of the record and for the explicit requirement to report failure of control with the usual products.
[9] Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Contingency Plan for the Quarantine Pest Xylella fastidiosa, 2nd edition, Athens 2024. Source for the country being considered free of it, for inclusion in the annual survey programme since 2014, for the marking of plants and for the duty to inform the competent authority. In Greek.
[10] Region of Attica, actions on the pests Bactrocera dorsalis and Bactrocera zonata, 27 February 2026. Source for the capture and trap figures, for the extent of the zones, and for the accepted methods of fruit destruction. In Greek.
[11] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/311 of 14 February 2025, on the eradication and prevention of spread of Bactrocera dorsalis, B. latifrons and B. zonata. Source for the demarcated area regime and for the conditions on movement of fruit and plants.
[12] Regional Unit of Laconia, press releases on the appearance and current situation of Bactrocera zonata, September 2025 and January 2026. Source for the record in a citrus orchard, for the number of inspections and samplings, and for the legal basis of notification. In Greek.
[13] Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, information leaflet on Bactrocera zonata. Source for the host list in Greek crops and for the address for notification. In Greek.
[14] Region of the Ionian Islands, information on Aleurocanthus spiniferus, August 2026. Source for the record on Lefkada in traps placed for a different organism, and for the host list. In Greek.
[15] Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food, phytosanitary measures for Spodoptera frugiperda, February 2024. Source for the sampling and confirmation dates by Regional Unit and for the conditions of the plant passport. In Greek.
[16] Region of Attica, information on Spodoptera frugiperda, March 2024. Source for the host list and for the services to which notification is made. In Greek.
[17] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1201 of 14 August 2020, on measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa. Source for the radii of the infected zone and the buffer zone and for the obligation of annual surveys.
[18] EPPO Global Database, datasheets per organism. Read 22 October 2026. Source for the life cycle, generations per year, egg numbers, egg placement and overwintering stage of the insects, and for the cycle, survival, vectors and infection conditions of the pathogens and the nematode, as each datasheet states them and with the geographical attribution it does or does not give. Also the source for the host list of the Japanese beetle.
[19] EFSA, Panel on Plant Health, pest categorisation opinions and survey cards: Diaphorina citri, Aleurocanthus spiniferus, Spodoptera frugiperda, Scirtothrips dorsalis and its survey card, Synchytrium endobioticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum, Xylella fastidiosa. Source for development times by temperature, for lower development thresholds, for egg numbers where they differ from the EPPO datasheet, and for the assessments of Mediterranean climatic suitability for establishment.
[20] Phenology and degree-day models: Diaphorina citri, Agrilus planipennis, Anoplophora glabripennis and Thaumatotibia leucotreta from the Integrated Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University, Popillia japonica from the CAPS programme, and Bactrocera dorsalis from the International Potato Center. Source for lower development thresholds and for degree-day requirements by stage and by generation. The parameters are fitted to data from outside Greece and are marked as such on the cards.
[21] National service bulletins, university factsheets and publications per organism: University of Hawaii CTAHR and California Department of Food and Agriculture for Bactrocera dorsalis, Purdue University CAPS for Bactrocera zonata, University of Florida IFAS for Spodoptera frugiperda and the matching factsheet for Scirtothrips dorsalis, Forest Research and DEFRA together with a paper in Insects 10(9):274 for Aromia bungii, and Instytut Badawczy Leśnictwa for Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. For Anoplophora chinensis a 2022 paper in Environmental Entomology was used, through a secondary record. Source for the data given neither by the EPPO datasheet nor by EFSA, and for the second independent value where two exist.

Disclaimer This text is informational and does not replace the official announcements of the competent authorities. Quarantine status changes: the Union list was last amended with effect from 15 October 2026, and every item here is frozen at 21 October 2026. Before any decision, the version in force of Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 and the current announcement of the competent authority are to be checked. Identification of a quarantine pest is made exclusively by the competent authority and an official laboratory, and no description in this text constitutes a diagnosis. Informing the service on any suspicion is a legal obligation and precedes any intervention. This text recommends no product and no active substance, and the measures inside a demarcated area are determined by the competent authority alone. Plant protection product approvals are national and valid in Greece only; the Greek register is at fyto.plantprotect.gr, in Greek. The Union quarantine lists apply across the whole Union, but the notification authorities and the national measures described here are Greek; readers elsewhere should consult their own national plant protection organisation. Any intervention is undertaken at the user's responsibility, following an on-site assessment by a licensed agronomist. Pastopoulos Agronomics accepts no liability for the use of this information.

Quarantine pests: which are already in Greece and which are approaching

1. What «quarantine» means, and what it does not

Four regimes that must not be confused

The twenty priority pests

2. Those already inside Greece

Asian citrus psyllid

Leafminer Liriomyza sativae

Oriental fruit fly

Peach fruit fly

Orange spiny whitefly

Fall armyworm

Chilli thrips

Potato wart disease

Bacterial wilt of bean

Bacterial wilt Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum

3. Those in the wider region

Xylella

Red-necked longhorn beetle

Citrus longhorn beetle

Japanese beetle

Emerald ash borer

Asian longhorn beetle

Pine wood nematode

Citrus black spot

False codling moth

4. Priority pests that remain far away

5. How the ones that were found were found, and what is asked of the grower

Traps caught the insects, growers brought in the bacteria

The duty to notify

What changes inside a demarcated area

6. Sources

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