The article is devoted to the description of the history of the distribution of some synanthropic Dermestidae species in of Russia and its dependence on ecoclimatic and other factors. The purpose of our study was to conduct an inventory at the regional level on the territory of Russia of the faunistic composition of successful invasions of synanthropic Dermestidae species by analyzing literary sources over the past 150 years. There have been detected 19 species: Anthrenus picturatus pictura­ tus Solsky, 1876, Attagenus gobicola Frivaldszky, 1892, Attagenus smirnovi Zhantiev, 1973, Attagenus unicolor si­ mulans Solsky, 1876, Attagenus unicolor unicolor (Brahm, 1791), Dermestes ater DeGeer, 1774, Dermestes frischii Kugelann, 1792, Dermestes haemorrhoidalis Küster, 1852, Dermestes maculatus DeGeer, 1774, Megatoma tianschani­ ca Sokolov, 1972, Reesa vespulae (Milliron, 1939), Тhylo­ drias contractus Motschulsky, 1839, Trogoderma angus­ tum (Solier in Gay, 1849), Trogoderma glabrum (Herbst, 1783), Trogoderma quinquefasciatum Jacquelin du Val, 1859, Trogoderma teukton Beal, 1956, Trogoderma varia­ bile Ballion, 1878, Trogoderma versicolor (Creutzer, 1799) Trogoderma inclusum LeConte, 1854, as well as 4 cases of elimination of alien species in certain regions.

The number of alien synanthropic Dermestidae species increased from five species in 1870 to 19 species in 2020. At the same time, among pests of plant origin, the number of species increased from two to seven, and keratophages – from three to 12. A slight acceleration in the dynamics of the introduction of alien species was noted at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and a noticeable acceleration occurred after the 1960s. Changes in the dynamics of the introduction of alien species are closely related to the increase in the proportion of the urban population and changes in the eco-climatic conditions in the premises. The essential importance of “biotic rain” at the initial stage of population formation and for maintaining the stable existence of synanthropic populations is discussed. There are described 4 cases of elimination of synanthropic populations of the species Trogoderma versicolor, Trogoderma quinquefasciatum, Attagenus augustatus, Dermestes ater.

Oak lace bug Corythucha arcuata (Say) was introduced from North America into Europe more than 20 years ago and subsequently spread widely across the continent, as well as Asia (Turkey). In 2015, the pest was first detected in the Russian Federation (Krasnodar Krai). To date, the bug has inhabited all the oak forests of the North Caucasus.

C. arcuata will be of particular danger in case of its introduction into oak forests in the area of floodplains of the Volga and Don rivers. Due to the fact that the bug has no local entomophages, this pest is considered a dangerous invader that can cause significant damage to Russian forestry. Effective measures against the oak lace bug have not yet been developed. The article analyzes information on ecology, trophic preferences and the distribution of the bug in the world and on the territory of the Russian Federation, and analyzes modern control measures used in other countries. The results of using pesticides against oak lace bug in Russia are given. A large-scale experiment conducted by the authors of the article in the outbreak of C. arcuata in the Republic of Adygea showed that the chemical pesticides “Locustin, KS” and “Espero, KS” have a pronounced knockdown effect, which leads to the death of about 89–95% of pest individuals in the second day after the treatment. However, these drugs do not have an ovicidal effect, and after the treatment of oak forests, the number of bugs is quickly restored. Most effectively, the feeding larvae of the bug are killed by “Bitoxibacillin, P”. The issue of reliable protection of oak forests can be resolved by introducing into Russia a specialized egg parasite Erythmelus klopomor Triap., which lives in the natural range of the pest in the United States. Studies on the use of parasitoids in Europe have not yet given positive results. Tests of some entomopathogenic fungi in Turkey, Croatia and Slovakia have shown the high effectiveness of some fungi against the bug. Thus, Beauveria pseudobassiana caused high mortality of nymphs and adults (mortality of 80 and 90%, respectively) within 14 days.

Among over 90 nematode species of the genus Ditylen­ chus, Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kühn, 1857) Filipjev, 1936 and Ditylenchus destructor Thorne, 1945 are of great economic importance for agricultural crops. These nematodes are migratory endoparasites and polyphages. The species D. destructor is most common and harmful for potato culture in Russia, which has a quarantine status for some countries importing Russian products. Therefore, its rapid and accurate diagnosis is of great importance for phytosanitary practice. International and regional diagnostic protocols focus on D. dipsaci, and for the identification of D. destructor, quite sophisticated tests for laboratories are presented. In order to optimize the diagnosis of D. destructor, the classical polymerase chain reaction method was chosen, proposed by Polish scientists – Arnika Jeszke with co-authors (Jeszke et al., 2013), with universal  and  species-specific DITuniF/DITdesR primers designed for the region of internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and 5.8S rDNA. The test was verified with Russian commercial kits for DNA extraction and amplification, and the composition of the working mixture was also optimized to obtain the best result when working with these kits. In the verification process, Russian potato populations of D. de­ structor of various geographic origins were tested, and their belonging to the E haplotype was established. The applicability of the test was assessed successfully. It is recommended for research in Russian diagnostic laboratories for phytosanitary and plant quarantine.

Fabаceae weeds often contaminate grain products, reducing its quality. Seed species identification of this weed group in test laboratories is carried out by a complex of visual morphological macrocharacters by light microscopy. However, in many cases it is difficult to identify the species of Fabаceae seeds due to considerable morphological similarity of diasporas. In modern research, micromorphology peculiarities of seed surface are used successfully to identify other taxa of various ranks. Nevertheless,  using  microcharacters of seeds in phytosanitary diagnosis is usually handicapped by a long sample preparation and lack of necessary equipment of high dimension. These difficulties are easily coped with by a modern scanning electronic microscope Hitachi TM4000Plus, which allows to study dry samples in a low vacuum mode without an additional sample preparation. Using the method of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), there has been studied the micromorphology and ultrasculpture of seed surface of Fabаceae weed species – Se­ curigera varia (L.) Lassen and Coronilla scorpioides (L.) W.D.J. Koch – to estimate the diagnostic value of macrocharacters while their identification. The objects of the study were seed samples of academic herbarium collections (МНА, LE, VOR), as well as personal carpologic and herbarium materials collected by the authors in different regions of European Russia during the expeditions in 2021–2022. During the research, there have been identified main differences in the second ultrasculpture of lateral seed surface, in primary, secondary and tertiary ultrasculpture near the hilum, as well as the micropyle shape and hilum size. These differences can serve as new trustworthy diagnostic microcharacters while identifying the studied species. Applicability of these microcharacters in phytosanitary diagnosis is discussed in this paper.

Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. – is a North American annual wind-pollinated short-day plant, which managed to get introduced into different regions of Russia and continues its expansion. The species is included in the Common List of Quarantine Pests of the Eurasian Economic Union. The article provides systematized and updated information from various sources  on the presence of the species in Penza Oblast. The data on the monitoring of A. artemisiifolia in the region for 2019–2022 are presented. As a result of a survey of 78 crops of agricultural crops (wheat, flax, soybeans, sugar beets) with a total area of more than 11.4 thousand hectares, Ambrosia artemisiifolia was not detected. Floristic observations along the main highways of the region, carried out in 2022, confirmed the discovery by A.N. Afonin and Yu.S. Li (personal communication) in 2021 of the A. artemisiifolia cenopopulation on the side of the M-5 highway in the Kuznetsk district of Penza Oblast. The cenopopulation of the species occupied an area of at least 0.6 ha and was abundantly represented by low-growing plants at the stage of budding and the beginning of dusting. The article shows data on the alleged distribution routes of the species across the territory of Penza Oblast and possible pathways for new achenes. The question of the shift of the general border of the distribution of the species to the north and the possibility of naturalization of the species in new conditions due to the selection of the most stable genotypes and further global climate change are discussed. In this regard, it seems relevant to continue systematic monitoring of the territory of the region for the timely detection of A. artemisiifolia outbreaks and to prevent their further expansion.

The article provides the data on the biology of Pityogenes chalcographus Linnaeus, 1761 in Karelia. It outlines the data on the occurrence of P. chalcographus in areas of coniferous plantations with different climatic zones (mid-taiga zone and the Far North). The imagoes were collected with pheromone traps of FGBU “VNIIKR”. The traps were set in several biocenoses – on windfall areas and in coniferous forests (green moss spruce and pine forests) – for 1 growing season. The P. chal­ cographus density is compared in biocenoses of natural protected areas (Kivach Reserve and Paanajarvi National Park) and forestries. Most P. chalcographus in coniferous biocenoses were noted in the middle taiga zone (Prionezhsky and Pryazhinsky districts), where an average of about 1 thousand individuals get into a trap per season; in the northern regions, the number of captured individuals decreases by 2 times. In the studied forest areas, a low number of P. chalcographus in collections was established, which confirms the control of forest services over the state of forest plantations. On the contrary, windfall areas of natural protected areas are local reserves for the pest. The article indicates the terms of P. chalcographus flight in the territory of the studied region, and provides information on the wintering phases of the pest. The number of captured males and females in traps is approximately equal, which confirms the high sensitivity of the dispenser based on the chalcogran aggregation pheromone for both sexes. This also suggests the possibility of using this pheromone to remove the pest from the population with an integrated control method.