Le cocciniglie esotiche delle ornamentali recentemente introdotte in Italia e in Europa.

Ornamental plants perform different roles beyond the purely aesthetic, providing shade, privacy and making pleasant places inhabited by men. They often come from tropical and subtropical countries carrying out several insects, and among these mainly scale insects. Scale insects have small size and morphological and biological features that allow them to hide and camouflage between all parts of the plants, eluding any control. In Italy, the introduction of alien insects was studied since the end of the Second World War, when commerce and transports increased giving to insects more opportunities of diffusion. The Authors analyze this phenomenon with particular regard to scale insects on ornamentals introduced in Italy since 1945. Until now, 49 are the recorded species that have been reported with a more and more increasing rate. In the last decade the rate of introduction was almost reduplicated due to easier and faster transports, to increased efficiency of controls and to the intensification of research. More than 50% of alien scale insects species are acclimated in the new areas, finding favorable conditions for their establishment in relation to the changed climatic conditions probably linked to global warming. The authors report, in addition, the alien species of scale insects recently introduced or intercepted on ornamental plants in Europe.