Tortoiseshell scale insect: the pandemic affecting Italian pine trees. They continue to die despite the alarm.

Eighty percent of Rome's pine nut-bearing trees are infected, while those in Naples and the coastal areas have already been nearly halved due to this parasite, which attacks the trunks and breaks them, causing long-term collapse and threatening biodiversity.

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pine pest alert

There's another pandemic in Italy, one that's almost never talked about, save for a few sporadic cries of alarm from technicians and experts in the field, because its victims are our country's magnificent pine trees, a poorly protected yet iconic arboreal heritage, so much so that it even inspired a famous 1924 symphonic poem by composer Ottorino Respighi, "The Pines of Rome," played by philharmonic orchestras around the world.

ALSO READ: Saving "the forest that sounds": fundraising to restore the spruces of the Stradivari Forest, destroyed by storms.

PINE PARASITE ALERT

The pine trees of Rome, like those of Naples and of the coasts of our beaches, especially in the south of the country, are under attack by this microorganism that gardening enthusiasts will know by the name of cochineal and which also has a funny name. In fact, it is commonly called “pine tortoiseshell scale insect”, but this little insect has an absolutely unpronounceable scientific name: Toumeyella parvicornis. Despite its small size, the damage it causes to the pine trees on the coast and in urban areas is incalculable: since 2015, the year in which it spread to our country from North America, it seems to have infested almost all of the pines from pine nuts of the Capital, and is significantly contributing to the mortality of Italian pines. In the Caribbean, where it has spread like wildfire like a true epidemic, in the last decade it has decimated the Caicos pine in the forests of the homonymous archipelago, causing the death of 95% of the plants and radically changing the local ecosystem.

The tortoiseshell scale insect is extremely difficult to eradicate: it can't be seen with the naked eye, it doesn't fly, it's carried by the wind, and its larvae behave just like parasites. They attach themselves to the trunk and begin sucking its sap, causing a progressive weakening of the plant, also subject to attack by the processionaryThe tree's death is slow, even taking years, and the scale insect is not directly responsible for tree collapses or damage to property and people. Neglect, however, is responsible, as an infected tree changes its shape, its trunk dries out to the point of breaking, and therefore must be cut down before the final stages of infection.

pine pest alert

TO KNOW MORE:Forests, 10 million hectares are lost every year with a significant loss of biodiversity

PINE TORTOISESHELL COCHINEAL

No risk to humans, therefore, but to biodiversity. The cure? There is, but it's expensive, although it's possible to work on a scale with palliatives that protect Italian pines. Data from monitoring the pine population in the city of Rome speaks of approximately80 percent of trees infected. The first expert to raise the alarm in the Capital, in 2018, was theagronomist Leonardo Perronace, former consultant to the Botanical Garden, who began his observations from the pine trees along the coast, starting from Via Cristoforo Colombo, which is lined with them. In a video interview with the Il Faro portal, he had already reported the infection spreading from Tor Marancia and Laurentina toward the city center.  «The young pine trees of Euroma2 were affected, as well as many trees along the Colombo, Laurentina, Malafede and also in Mostacciano –he said "And infected pine trees are quite recognizable, as they are covered in a kind of dark soot and have a shiny appearance, especially on the bark. Later, due to mold, the needles also turn a deep black color, coating the ground beneath the affected trees with black sooty mold. I've identified the infestation in practically all the pine trees lining Cristoforo Colombo Street."

ALSO READ: Cochineal Infestation: Natural Remedies to Stop It

A disaster waiting to happen, which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be on the to-do list. While our pine trees continue to die and the biodiversity of our cities is in danger. Also due to another parasite, another scale insect, the Matsucoccus feytaudi, arrived from the same geographical areas, which is eating other pine species, the maritime pines, throughout the Mediterranean area.

(Image accompanying the text courtesy of Fabrizio Carbone)

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