Abstract
Although the Chestnut Leaf-roller Pammene fasciana is always included among the main chestnut-feeding tortrix moths in Europe (together with Cydia splendana and C. fagiglandana), its actual distribution has never been investigated in detail, since it is often considered to be a minor pest. A survey of Tortricidae feeding on chestnuts in Greece revealed not only that P. fasciana is present, but also that in some regions the leaf-roller's distribution is directly comparable to that of the other two Cydia species. This is the first time that the exact geographic distribution of P. fasciana within a country has been determined, and suggests that this leaf-roller's significance as a pest has been seriously underestimated. In order to facilitate the identification of this pest in future studies, the DNA barcode of P. fasciana has been elucidated and deposited in a data bank.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Drs Stephanos Diamandis and Charikleia Perlerou (Laboratory of Forest Pathology – FRI) for their valuable suggestions and support as well as K. Triantafyllou, I. Despotakis and D. Kandilaris for their contribution in collecting the samples. I would also like to thank Ms Paula Smith together with Dr Stephanos Diamandis for suggesting corrections that improved the linguistic quality of the manuscript. Last but not least, I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the Editor-in-Chief of IJPM for their valuable comments.