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The EFSA Panel on Plant Health performed a pest categorisation of Toumeyella parvicornis (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) for the EU territory. This species is not included in EU Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/2072. T. parvicornis is a soft‐scale insect native to North America and has been introduced to the Caribbean region and the EU. It has been present in Italy since 2014 (Abruzzo, Campania, Lazio, and Apulia regions) and in France since 2021 (Provence–Alpes–Côte d'Azur region) and is under official control. It develops on Pinus spp. (Pinaceae), feeding on the needles and twigs, especially on new growth. It is sexually reproductive, has one or more generations each year (three in southern Italy), and adult females overwinter on the Pinus needles. It has a high fecundity, up to 1,014 eggs per female in Italy, with an average of 199 eggs for the summer generation and 730 for the overwintering generation. The main natural dispersal stage is the first instar, which crawls over the plant or may be dispersed further by wind and animals. The species can be transported over longer distances with plants for planting. Large populations cause yellowing, needle loss, reduction in growth and recruitment, flagging, dieback and tree mortality. It has had a significant impact to P. pinea (stone pine) in Italy and caused a catastrophic decline of P. caribbea var. bahamensis (Caribbean pine) in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Adult and immature T. parvicornis could enter the EU with Pinus plants for planting; however, the import of Pinus from third countries where the scale is found is prohibited. Host availability and climate suitability indicate that most of the EU would be suitable for establishment. Phytosanitary measures are available to inhibit further introductions and slow the spread within the EU. T. parvicornis satisfies all the criteria that are within the remit of EFSA to assess for it to be regarded as a potential Union quarantine pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the years after the invasion of Western Palaearctic tomato crops by the South American tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), several indigenous generalist parasitoids have been recorded on this new host. Among these, Bracon nigricans Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is widely distributed in the Palaearctic region, and has been frequently recovered from South American tomato leafminer. However, most of the available data on this species deal with taxonomic aspects and its recovery in faunistic surveys. The current study documents the biology of B. nigricans on South American tomato leafminer, and provides a scientific basis for its inclusion in South American tomato leafminer management programs in Afro-Eurasia. We studied several B. nigricans life-history traits relevant to juvenile development and reproduction by females. B. nigricans proved to be an idiobiont and a synovigenic ectoparasitoid of mature South American tomato leafminer larvae. Several B. nigricans reproductive traits were influenced by the age of the mothers; on average, the progeny had a slightly male-biased sex ratio (60% males) and a low rate of successful development (37%). Adult females lived 42.8 d and produced an average of 29.8 offspring. These biological parameters yielded an intrinsic rate of increase of 0.052. Females showed behavioral plasticity in host use, as initial host paralysis was followed by host-feeding, oviposition, or host rejection, with a consequent high mortality rate among hosts exposed to parasitism. Although further field studies are needed, these data, obtained in laboratory conditions, suggest that B. nigricans should be considered as a potential biological control agent of in newly invaded areas of the Palaearctic region.