Viburnum Leaf Beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull), commonly known as the viburnum leaf beetle, is a landscape pest of Eurasian origin that is quickly spreading through the northeastern United States. Breeding populations actually became established in North America (near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) in the late 1970s, but did not reach the U.S. until 1994, when it was discovered in Maine. The pest was found in New York State in 1966, apparently the result of a separate immigration event, because the two founding locations are very widely separated. As of 2001, the beetle could be found throughout the southern half of Maine, in many of the northern and western counties of New York, as well as the northwestern tip of Pennsylvania and the northwestern corner of Vermont. Given its distribution across continental Europe, it seems likely that this pest will become commonplace throughout much of the range of Viburnum.

The only known hosts for P. viburni are in the plant genus Viburnum. Within the genus, however,...