Die Verbreitung der Roßkastanien-Miniermotte Cameraria ohridellaDesch. & Dimic (Lepid., Gracillariidae) in der Region Südtirol-Trentino

Abstract: A survey on the present distribution of the horse chestnut leafmining moth, Cameraria ohridella Desch. & Dimic 1986, in Europe and in Italy is given: In Europe, within a period of 15 years, the leafminer – recently introduced into Central Europe – has settled in an area that spreads over 13 latitudinal and about 20 longitudinal degrees; in Northern Italy, an area of approximately 50,000 km² has been afflicted in the 5 years since the leafminer’s introduction in South Tyrol and Julian Venetia in 1993.

The development of the distribution in the region of South Tyrol and Trentino is shown: In the province of Bozen-South Tyrol, between 1995 and 1999 the moth has spread in all the three principal valleys (Eisacktal, Pustertal, Etschtal); in the Trentino province, first local attacks began only in 1998, near Trento and Riva, but spread over the entire Etschtal/Adige Valley in 1999. While in South Tyrol C. ohridella was introduced from the North (North Tyrol), the introduction into the Trentino occured from the South (Verona).

At present the attacks in Trentino province are preponderantly low (resulting heavy only in the city of Trento and in Riva del Garda) and limited to altitudes ranging from 70 to 700 in. In South Tyrol, attacks are mainly heavy in altitudes ranging from 250 to 900/950 m, while they are low in the increasingly affected higher altitudes of 1,000 to 1,230 m. Numeric attack parameters are given to show attack intensities.

The number of generations per year depends on the respective climatic conditions: in lower-altitudes, usually three generations develop in a year, but in higher altitudes (800 to 1,100 m) only two generations; in the climatically favoured area around the Lake Garda a (partial) fourth generation appears possible.

The question of host plants (Aesculus sp., Acer sp.) and the larval parasitism of C. ohridella is discussed. The parasitism of the larvae, principally by Eulophidae (Hym., Chalcidoidea), was ascertained already in the first years of attack: In South Tyrol, 16 species of parasitoids appeared, and 8 in the Trentino province, but only two species were dominant: Minotetrastichus sp. and Pnigalio sp. The level of parasitism reached was low, comparable to other Central European countries.