Biosecurity threat, not present in Australia

Hyalesthes obsoletus Signoret

Economic Status: Hyalesthes obsoletus is the vector of Bois noir (BN), also called Vergilbunkskrankheit (VK) or Legno nero, a grapevine yellows disease in Europe that can cause severe production losses. Vitis vinifera is only an occasional host of this polyphagous species, its main hosts are bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which are common weeds in European vineyards, as well as chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) a plant native to the Mediterranean region (Sharon et al. 2005). Hyalesthes obsoletus also transmits the Tomato stolbur phytoplasma which affects celery and solanaceous crops such as tomatoes, potatoes and capsicum (Landi et al. 2015). Originally, Hyalesthes obsoletus was thought to be the only vector of the Stolbur phytoplasma ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani, however, Cvrković et al. (2014) confirmed that Reptalus panzeri (Low) is able to transmit the phytoplasma to grapevine.

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