Plagues of the eucalyptus that affect the apple tree

A study by SERIDA gathers the presence of two plagues of the eucalyptus that affect the apple tree.

THE CIDER.- The diseases of the eucalyptus, an allochthonous specie that grows all along the country due to the forestal policies of the “Principality”, with which the autochthonous Asturian forest is substituted and contributes the wild fires because of their pyrolectic features, also affect the apple tree.

A study by SERIDA carried out by Marcos Miñarro, Aitor Somoano and Rocío Rosa García, detected the presence in Asturian apple trees  of two exotics insects until now known only in eucalyptus plantations and yet not detected in any of the studies about the wildlife of the apple orchards in Europe. This is explained because Asturies in the only European country in which the cultivation of the apple tree and the eucalyptus coexist with such intensity.

The biggest risk of these plagues for the apple orchards would depend on if:

• They can complete their vital cycle in an apple tree and reach high density of population.
• If these insects could extend phytoplasmosis.