Invading the North: Dispersal of Nearctic treehopper Stictocephala bisonia (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Membracidae) in European Russia

Abstract

In recent years, the problem of distribution and expansion of new territories by invasive species has become global. The publication analyses the current distribution of Nearctic treehopper Stictocephala bisonia in the European part of Russia. It is a North American species which was introduced into Europe over 100 years ago, but only in the last 20-30 years has it been actively spreading in the continent. In the European part of Russia, the Nearctic treehopper has been known since 1992 from the Rostov region and since 1996 from the Krasnodar Krai. At present the species is reliably registered in 26 regions. The major part of observations (185, 82.2%) is made in the period from 2020 to 2022. Currently, the northern border of distribution is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. In the northeast, the range of the species reaches the Republic of Tatarstan, to the east of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Bashkortostan, the hopper has not yet been observed. Imagoes are observed in the southern regions beginning in the third decade of June. The maximum number of observations falls on the second and third decade of July and August.