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Sci. Bull. Uzhhorod Univ. (Ser. Biol.), 2019, Vol. 46-47 37 Наук. Вісник Ужгород. ун–ту. (Сер. Біол.), 2019, Вип. 46-47
Науковий вісник Ужгородського університету
Серія Біологія, Випуск 46-47 (2019): 37–41
© Шпарик В.Ю., Заморока А.М. 2019
DOI:
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CYDALIMA PERSPECTALIS (Walker, 1859) (LEPIDOPTERA:
CRAMBIDAE) DISTRIBUTION IN UKRAINE: EVIDENCE FROM PROFESSIONAL
AND CITIZEN SCIENCE
V.Yu. Shparyk, A.M. Zamoroka
Короткий огляд поширення Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) в Україні:
свідчення професійної та громадянської науки. – Шпарик В.Ю., Заморока А.М. – Самшитова вогнівка –
Cydalima perspectalis була завезена в Європу понад 10 років тому, а вже через кілька років вид був знайдений у
16 країнах континенту. Даний інвазійний шкідник завдає серйозної шкоди кущам різних видів самшиту (Buxus
sp.), які активно використовуються в озелененні, у першу чергу для створення живоплотів. Наразі, інформація
щодо інвазії цього виду на території України має фрагментарний характер. Поточне дослідження підсумовує
відомості про поширення C. perspectalis в Україні, ґрунтуючись на даних наших оригінальних досліджень,
опублікованих наукових праць та громадянської науки (онлайн баз біорізноманіття та спеціалізованих
спільнот в соціальних мережах). Окрім того, ми вперше виявили імаґо самшитової вогнівки у місті Івано-
Франківськ та пошкоджені живоплоти самшиту. Ми розглядаємо два сценарії появи самшитової вогнівки в
Україні. Перший сценарій – це проникнення шкідника із посадковими рослинами з Європейського Союзу та/або
Китаю. Цей сценарій в основному стосується великих міст України. Другий сценарій – це вторинне природне
розширення ареалу й інвазія C. perspectalis з Угорщини на територію Закарпаття та з Росії в Крим. Після
виникнення стабільних локальних популяцій, вид швидко розпочав експансію, захоплюючи нові території. На
нашу думку, C. perspectalis очевидно уже поширився на усю Україну. Проте дані, які б підтверджували це
наразі відсутні. Наш аналіз показав, що самшитова вогнівка присутня в Чернівецькій, Дніпропетровській,
Харківській, Херсонській, Київській, Львівській, Одеській, Полтавській, Закарпатській областях, АР Крим, ми
також вперше виявили вид на території Івано-Франківської області, та суміжних регіонах Румунії (Сучава).
Наші результати демонструють високу ефективність громадянської науки, як релевантного джерела
відомостей для виявлення шкідників та інвазійних видив тварин.
Ключові слова: Cydalima perspectalis, інвазійні види, Україна, дані громадської думки.
Адреса: Прикарпатський національний університет ім. Василя Стефаника, вул. Т. Шевченка, 57, Івано-
Франківськ, Україна; e-mail: viktorshparyk@gmail.com, andrew.zamoroka@pnu.edu.ua
A brief overview of Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) distribution in Ukraine:
evidence from professional and citizen science. – Shparyk V.Yu., Zamoroka A.M. – The box tree moth Cydalima
perspectalis was introduced in Europe more than 10 years ago. Several years later, the species was found in 16
countries of Europe, expanding its areal northward and eastward. In 2014 C. perspectalis was recorded in Ukraine at
the first time. However, the data on its invasion in Ukraine are incomplete. The current study summarizes distribution
of C. perspectalis in Ukraine, obtaining the available data from our original studies, published scientific papers and
citizen science. We found the presence of the box tree moth in 11 regions of Ukraine and show the effectiveness of
citizen science in the pest detection.
Key words: Cydalima perspectalis, invasive species, Ukraine, citizen science data
Address: Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, T. Shevchenko str., 57, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine;
e-mail: viktorshparyk@gmail.com, andrew.zamoroka@pnu.edu.ua
Introduction
The box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis (Walker
1859) is an East Asian species introduced in
Europe over decade ago. This alien moth causes
severe damage to box trees (Buxus sp.) which is
planted as ornamentals and typically used for
hedges, and topiaries. The box tree moth infests the
plants and distorts them by the defoliation and by
the webbing spun by the larvae. Larvae feed on the
leaves and the bark of the box trees. Plants become
dies soon after the bark was damaged by the pest
(Baur et al. 2019).
To date, C. perspectalis is widely spread
within Europe (except Norway and Finland), the
Caucasus and spotted in Asia Minor, North Africa
and North America (Baur et al. 2019). It is
suggested the box tree moth was introduced in
Europe with the shipment of plant material from
East Asia. The most recent genetic phylogeography
studies evident multiple introduction of the box tree
Sci. Bull. Uzhhorod Univ. (Ser. Biol.), 2019, Vol. 46-47 38 Наук. Вісник Ужгород. ун–ту. (Сер. Біол.), 2019, Вип. 46-47
moth within Europe mainly from eastern China
(Bras et al. 2019).
Currently, the box tree moth invaded natural
Buxus populations in Mediterranean and the
Caucasus regions. Dry broadleaved forest with box
trees understorey widely spread in Sothern Europe,
North Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and North
Iran. Expansion of the box tree moth from urban
landscapes into the wild is threatened natural Buxus
forests. It is predicted the large forest areas of wild
box trees will be lost and ecosystems changing will
be occurred (Baur et al. 2019).
The first certain record of C. perspectalis in
Ukraine is dated by 2014. It was found
simultaneously in the several localities of
Zakarpattya Region and Crimean Autonomous
Republic (Turys 2015; Budashkin 2016). Nagy et
al. (2017) suggesting that their record of
C. perspectalis from Zakarpattya in 2016 was the
first in Ukraine. However, it does not accord with
the reality. In the following years the box tree moth
was spotted in Kyiv and Kyiv Region (Budashkin
2016), and Odesa and its surroundings (Uzhevska,
Korytnianska 2018). Since, there are no native
boxwoods in Ukraine, the invasion of box tree
moth impacts mainly the urban landscaping.
The current study summarizes the
distribution of C. perspectalis in Ukraine, obtaining
the available data from our original studies,
published scientific papers and citizen science. We
found the presence of the box tree moth in 11
regions of Ukraine and show the effectiveness of
citizen science in the pest detection.
Materials and methods
We studied spread of C. perspectalis in Ukraine,
using our own records, and published scientific
papers, and citizen science data. Our own data
based on collected adult specimens and observation
of damaged boxwoods on the east edge of
Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine and Romania.
We analysed all available records of C. perspectalis
in Ukraine reported by citizen scientists on
specialized sites and in socials networks till to
September 2019. We used data set accumulated on
the website of Ukrainian Biodiversity Information
Network (http://ukrbin.com/) which includes 20
records of the box tree moth within Ukraine.
UkrBIN provides a facility for users to report
occurrences of C. perspectalis with photographic
supplements (UkrBIN 2019). We also used data set
from the worldwide project iNaturalist which is a
joint initiative of the California Academy of
Sciences and the National Geographic Society
(https://www.inaturalist.org/). We realized the web
survey of the records on the box tree moth on the
public available specialized groups in social
networks (mainly Facebook) including a public
group of Ukrainian Entomological Society
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukrentov/), and
group of Ukrainian Biodiversity Information
Network
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukrbin.info/),
and group of Animal World of Ukraine
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/tvarynnyy.svit.
ukrayiny/?ref=group_header).We proved the
correctness of the specimens identification
provided by citizen scientists before including them
to our study.
All incoming data were unified and
transferred to electron table manager MS Excel
from Office 2016 package. Arranged data were
imported to the QGIS 2.18 for analysis and map
preparation.
Results and discussion
To date C. perspectalis was known only from four
regions of Ukraine, according to published
scientific data (Turys 2015; Budashkin 2016;
Uzhevska, Korytnianska 2018; Lugina 2019).
These include Crimea Region, Kyiv Region and
Kyiv City, Odesa Region, Zakarpattya Region.
Zakarpatya Region was the first Ukrainian territory
where the box tree moth has been recorded in 2014
(Turys 2015). Almost at the same time it was found
in Crimea (Budashkin 2016). However, the
presence of this species in other regions of Ukraine
is still unconfirmed.
Currently (01.09.2019) we found 3
specimens of the box tree moth (48.930533,
24.742082) and damaged boxwood hedges
(48.918118, 24.719118) in city of Ivano-Frankivsk
(Fig. 1). These records are the first for Ivano-
Frankivsk Region in general. Additionally, on
February 27, 2019 we occurred several damaged
boxwoods by C. perspectalis in the Campus of
Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava (47.640975,
26.244174), Romania.
Clarifying the current distribution of the box
tree moth in Ukraine, we used data of citizen
scientists, who uploaded their own photos and
descriptions of the target species to the publicly
available web resources (see methods). Collated the
data set accumulated on the website of UkrBIN and
from social networks with our own data and
published scientific papers we confirmed the
presence of C. perspectalis in 11 of 25 Regions of
Ukraine. These include, besides the five regions
mentioned above, Chernivtsi Region,
Dnipropetrovsk Region, Kharkiv Region, Kherson
Region, L’viv Region and Poltava Region (Fig. 2).
Sci. Bull. Uzhhorod Univ. (Ser. Biol.), 2019, Vol. 46-47 39 Наук. Вісник Ужгород. ун–ту. (Сер. Біол.), 2019, Вип. 46-47
Fig. 1. Specimens of the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) from Ivano-Frankivsk
Рис. 1. Екземпляри вогнівки самшитової (Cydalima perspectalis) зібрані в м. Івано-Франківськ
These findings display the high effectiveness
of citizen science in the pest occurrence.
List of the citizen records of C. perspectalis
is presented below:
UkrBIN: 1 spc. 15.08.2017, Nevska str.,
Kyiv City (50.46112, 30.399553), Michael
Smirnof; 1 spc. 07.08.2016, Korolevo, Zakarpattya
Reg. (48.151833, 23.137822), Vasyl Gleba; 1 spc.
05.08.2018, 2 spc. 06.08.2018, Vynohradiv,
Zakarpattya Reg. (48.15063245924809,
23.0295276589859), Vasyl Gleba; 1 spc.
31.08.2019, Kherson City (46.682979, 32.600774);
Ruslan Mishustin; 1 spc. 28.06.2019, Obukhivka,
Dnipropetrovsk Reg. (48.533609, 34.877899), Vika
Roy; 1 spc. 01.09.2015, 2 spc. 05.09.2015,
Knyazhychi, Kyiv Reg. (50.471091, 30.759047),
Alexander Zykov; 1 spc. 18.08.2019, Kharkiv City
(50.047819, 36.199053), Andriy Khomenko; 1 spc.
31.08.2019, Trusha str., L’viv City (49.824838,
23.991277), Volodymyr Kramarets; 1 spc.
31.08.2019, L’viv City (49.834191, 24.03831),
Genyk Golovko; 2 spc. 12.09.2017, Kyiv City
(50.443826, 30.505714), Yuri Bengus; 1 spc.
01.08.2019, Pidryasne, L’viv Reg. (49.875095,
23.902589), Vitaliy Volyanyk; 1 spc. 10.08.2019,
Solonka, L’viv Reg. (49.750509, 23.99928), Vitaliy
Volyanyk; 1 spc. 05.08.2019, L’viv City
(49.833653, 24.026022), Vitaliy Volyanyk; 1 spc.
12.08.2019 L’viv City (49.826886, 23.967864),
Vitaliy Volyanyk; 1 spc. 08.08.2019, Ryasne-
Ruske, L’viv Reg. (49.873314, 23.908405), Vitaliy
Volyanyk.
The Facebook group of Ukrainian
Entomological Society: 1 spc. 12.08.19, Chernivtsi
City, (48.298200, 25.922236), Tetiana Makovey; 1
spc. 17.08.2019, Kharkiv City (49.986526,
36.236365), Ol'ga Pavlichenko; 1 spc. 05.09.2018,
Rozhny, Kyiv Reg. (50.663848, 30.733383)
Maryna Kameneva; 1 spc. 05.09.2018, Odesa City
(46.467962, 30.735301), Valery D.; 1 spc.
18.04.2019, Pyrouy, Poltava Reg. (49.347510,
33.178325), Oksana Kalendar.
The Facebook group of Animal World of
Ukraine: 1 spc. 20.03.2019, Hlevakha, Kyiv Reg.
(50.257867, 30.301086), Tamara Trofimyshyna; 1
spc. 13.06.2017, Vystavkovyi Tsenter, Kyiv City
(50.378917, 30.478735), Andrew Simon; 1 spc.
29.07.2018, Kyiv City (50.449157, 30.523248),
Andrew Simon; 1 spc. 16.08.2017, Vasylkivska
str., Kyiv City (50.383178, 30.479373), Elena
Nisiniuk.
The Facebook group of Ukrainian
Biodiversity Information Network: 1 spc. in May
Sci. Bull. Uzhhorod Univ. (Ser. Biol.), 2019, Vol. 46-47 40 Наук. Вісник Ужгород. ун–ту. (Сер. Біол.), 2019, Вип. 46-47
2019, Pechenizka str., Kyiv City (50.467652,
30.488468), Olexander Piddubnyi.
iNaturalist: 1 spc. 21.06.2019 Kirov str., 82,
Simferopol (44.957638, 34.108161), Ann Dani-
lenko; 1 spc. 31.08.2019, Nemishayeve, Kyiv Reg.
(50.563666, 30.097296), Prokopenko U.; 1 spc.
01.08.2019, Obolon, Kyiv City (50.500252,
30.506708), dima_r; 1 spc. 31.07.2018,
Dniprovskyi, Kyiv City (50.471058, 30.582688),
Rostyslav Gordon; 1 spc. 01.08.2019, Ushynskoho
str., Kyiv City (50.436935, 30.451452), Kate
Stonem.
Fig. 2. Distribution map of the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) in Ukraine
Рис. 2. Мапа поширення вогнівки самшитової (Cydalima perspectalis) в Україні
Analysis of gathered data shows that the box
tree moth independently and simultaneously
appeared in Ukraine around the 2014-2015 years at
least in the three regions. These include Zakar-
pattya, Kyiv and Crimea. According to published
scientific papers, C. perspectalis was recorded first
in Zakarpattya in 2014 (Turys 2015) and then in
Crimea in 2015 (Budashkin 2016). The first data on
the box tree moth from citizen scientists appeared
in 2015 for Kyiv Region. In all cases, the pest was
abundant already and severe damaging of boxwood
plants were observed (Turys 2015; Budashkin
2016). Thus we suggest that the pest was intro-
duced/invaded several years early. The most
plausibly it has taken the place between 2011-2013.
We are considering two scenarios of the box
tree moth appearance in Ukraine. The first scenario
is introducing the pest with the shipment of plant
material from the European Union or China. This
scenario is mostly true for Kyiv and other large
cities of Ukraine. The second scenario is an
invasion of C. perspectalis from Hungary to Zakar-
pattya and from Russia to Crimea. After the stabile
local populations have established the species
rapidly extended invading new territories. On our
suggesting, C. perspectalis occupies all territory of
Ukraine already.
Conclusions
In summary, we confirmed the presence of the box
tree moth in 11 of 25 regions of Ukraine including
Chernivtsi Region, Crimea Region, Dnipropetrovsk
Region, Ivano-Frankivsk Region, Kharkiv Region,
Kherson Region, Kyiv Region and Kyiv City, L’viv
Region, Odesa Region, Poltava Region, and
Zakarpattya Region. We displayed the high
effectiveness of citizen science as a relevant source
of data for the detection of the pest.
________________________________
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