Taxonomic information	Current valid scientific name: Lopholeucaspis japonica Cockerell Synonyms: Leucaspis japonica (Fernald, 1903), Leucaspis japonica var. darwinensis (Green, 1916), Leucodiaspis hydrangeae (Takahashi, 1934), Leucodiaspis japonica (Takahashi, 1934), Leucodiaspis japonica darwiniensis (Takahashi, 1934), Leucaspis hydrangeae (Takahashi, 1934), Lopholeucaspis japonica (Balachowsky, 1953), Lopholeucaspis japonica darwiniensis (Balachowsky, 1953), Lopholeucaspis menoni (Borchsenius, 1964); Lopholeucaspis darwinienis (Borchsenius, 1966), Leucaspis menoni (Takagi, 1969) Name used in the EU legislation: Lopholeucaspis japonica Cockerell [LOPLJA] Order: Hemiptera Family: Diaspididae Common name: Japanese long scale, Japanese maple scale, Japanese pear white scale Name used in the Dossier: Lopholeucaspis japonica
Group	Insects
EPPO code	LOPLJA
Regulated status	The pest is listed in Annex II of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 as Lopholeucaspis japonica Cockerell [LOPLJA] The pest is included in the EPPO A2 list (EPPO, online_a). Lopholeucaspis japonica is quarantine in Belarus, Israel, Mexico, Morocco and Tunisia (EPPO, online_b).
Pest status in Turkey	Lopholeucaspis japonica is present in Turkey. It was recorded on Citrus spp. Up to date there is no record on apple in Turkey. It was detected in the Black Sea region (Artvin, Giresun, Ordu, Samsun, Trabzon, Rize provinces) (Kaydan et. al., 2013).
Pest status in the EU	Lopholeucaspis japonica is absent in the EU. It was intercepted in Croatia, Greece, Italy and Slovak Republic, but never found again (EFSA PLH Panel, 2018; EPPO, online_c).
Host status on Malus domestica	M. domestica is reported as a host of Lopholeucaspis japonica (EPPO, online_d).
PRA information	Pest Risk Assessments available: – Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of Lopholeucaspis japonica (EFSA PLH Panel, 2018). – Final import risk analysis report for fresh apple fruit from the People’s Republic of China (Biosecurity Australia, 2010), – Final import risk analysis report for fresh unshu mandarin fruit from Shizuoka prefecture in Japan (Biosecurity Australia, 2009), – Import Risk Analysis: Pears (Pyrus bretschneideri, Pyrus pyrifolia, and Pyrus sp. nr. communis) fresh fruit from China (Biosecurity New Zealand, 2009).
Other relevant information for the assessment
Biology	Lopholeucaspis japonica is oyster shell‐shaped armored scale, originating from Far East and it spread to tropical and semitropical areas (CABI, online).
	Females and males have different life cycle. The life stages of female are egg, two larval instars and adult, while male has additional two stages called pre‐pupa and pupa (CABI, online). Males are small and have wings (Bienkowski, 1993), while females are sessile enclosed in chitinous ‘puparium’ (Tabatadze and Yasnosh, 1999). The colour of females, eggs and crawlers is lavender. The wax which is covering the body of scales is white (Fulcher et al., 2011). Each female lay on average 25 eggs, which are laid underneath the female bodies (Addesso et al., 2016; Fulcher et al., 2011). Crawlers can be dispersed by wind or other insects (ants, flies and ladybirds), occasionally also by human transport (Magsig‐Castillo et al., 2010). Lopholeucaspis japonica has one or two overlapping generations per year (Addesso et al., 2016). It was reported that occasionally there can be a third generation in Georgia (Tabatadze and Yasnosh, 1999). In India, first generation crawlers were observed from late Mach until the end of April. Females and male pupae were present from June till the end of August. Second generation crawlers occurred in September and matured females in October (Harsur et al., 2018). Lopholeucaspis japonica overwinters as an immature stage on trunks and branches in Tennessee (Fulcher et al., 2011) and second instar males and females in Maryland (Gill et al., 2012). In addition, it has been reported to overwinter as fertilised females in Japan (Murakami, 1970) and in Pennsylvania (Stimmel, 1995). They can endure temperatures of −20 to −25°C (EPPO, 1997).
Symptoms	Main type of symptoms	Lopholeucaspis japonica is usually on bark of branches and trunk but can be found also on leaves (Gill et al., 2012) and sometimes on fruits (EPPO, 1997). The scale feeds on plant storage cells, which causes them to collapse (Fulcher et al., 2011). When the population is high, the main symptoms on plants are premature leaf drop, dieback of branches and death of plants (Fulcher et al., 2011; Gill et al., 2012). Symptoms observed on pomegranate in India were yellowing of leaves, poor fruit set and stunted plant growth (Harsur et al., 2018).
	Presence of asymptomatic plants	No information.
	Confusion with other pests	Lopholeucaspis japonica can be confused with other armored scales. Lopholeucaspis japonica is similar to L. cockerelli but can be differentiated by the number of macroducts (García Morales et al., online). Other very similar scale is Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Fulcher et al., 2011).
Host plant range	Lopholeucaspis japonica is polyphagous armoured scale and feeds on plants belonging to 38 families (García Morales et al., online). Some of the many hosts of Lopholeucaspis japonica are Acer palmatum, Acer pictum, Acer ukurunduense, Citrus junos, Citrus unshiu, Diospyros kaki, Distylium racemosum, Elaeagnus umbellata, Euonymus alatus, Euonymus japonicus, Gleditsia japonica, Ilex crenata, Magnolia denudata, Magnolia kobus, Malus pumila, Malus domestica, Paeonia lactiflora, Poncirus trifoliata, Prunus × yedoensis, Pyrus pyrifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosa chinensis, Rosa multiflora, Salix sp., Staphylea bumalda, Syringa oblata and Ziziphus jujuba (Suh, 2020). Lopholeucaspis japonica is a pest of tea in China (Li et al., 1997). It is a serious pest of many crops (citrus, fruit trees, tea, tung) and ornamental plants in the area around the Black Sea (Tabbatadze and Yasnosh, 1999). In the US, it is known to damage Acer and Pyracantha (Davidson and Miller, 1990).
Reported evidence of impact	Not relevant, listed as EU Quarantine pest (Annex II, part A).
Pathways and evidence that the commodity is a pathway	Possible pathways of entry for Lopholeucaspis japonica are plants for planting (excluding seeds), bonsai, cut flowers and cut branches (EFSA PLH Panel, 2018).
Surveillance information	No surveillance information is currently available from the Turkish NPPO.