Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Nicolas, Vincent, Carapezza, Attilio, Rider, David A. & Kment, Petr, 2024, New records, diagnostics and preliminary checklist of the superfamily Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the Comoro Islands, Zootaxa 5481 (1), pp. 1-29 : 13

Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material examined. MAYOTTE: Mroni BÉ, 15.x.2021, 1♀, V. Nicolas lgt. & det. ( VNBF) .

Biology. Phytophagous, widely polyphagous, known to develop on nearly 200 host plant species. It shows a preference for plants from the family Fabaceae , being the most important heteropteran pest of legumes (especially soybeans). It can also cause damage to other crops (vegetables, corn, tobacco, fruit, various types of nuts) and ornamental plants (e.g., Todd 1989, Panizzi 1997, Panizzi et al. 2000, Esquivel et al. 2018).

Distribution. This species is probably native to East Africa and/or the Mediterranean region ( Hokkanen 1986), but is now widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate areas of all continents (between ca. 45°N and 45°S) (see e.g. Freeman 1940, Todd 1989, Panizzi et al. 2000, Ferrari et al. 2010, Esquivel et al. 2018), with recent tendency to spread further north (e.g. in central Europe—see Kment & Vlk 2019, Kment et al. 2021b, and included references).

Distribution in the western Indian Ocean islands: Comoros: Mayotte (new record); Madagascar ( Freeman 1940, Cachan 1952, Orian 1956), Mauritius ( Freeman 1940, Orian 1956, Mamet 1957), Réunion ( Freeman 1940, Vayssières et al. 2001), Rodriguez ( China 1924), Cargados Carajos Islands ( Distant 1909), Seychelles ( Distant 1909, 1913; Freeman 1940; Gerlach et al. 2005; Gerlach & Madl 2013).