Author: Dr. Christian Ries

Second detection of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

CDC-Gathany-Aedes-albopictus-2The Ministry of Health informs that eggs of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus have been detected near Capellen (Municipality of Mamer) in the week of 17-23 July 2023.

In the next few days, the Luxembourg authorities, with the support of an expert, will assess the situation and take all necessary actions.

Communicated on 2023-07-31 by the Ministry of Health: Détection de la présence du moustique tigre au Luxembourg

The invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus has first been detected in 2022: First detection of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in Luxembourg

More information:

 Page content last updated on 2024-06-26.

Publication of the Atlas of Mosquitoes of Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

The atlas contains an updated map of the invasive East Asian bush or rock pool mosquito Aedes japonicus.

Schaffner F., A. Weigand & C. Ries, 2023. – Atlas and catalogue of the mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) of Luxembourg. Ferrantia 87, Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg, 117 p. [PDF 5.2 MB]

The Atlas of the Mosquitoes of Luxembourg has just been published in the Ferrantia series of the National Museum of Natural History and describes 28 species (31 taxa) of culicides found in the Grand Duchy.

Mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya, dengue, Usutu or West Nile, have come back to the forefront in both human and animal health. To prevent outbreaks, it is necessary to acquire a solid knowledge of the mosquito fauna in the considered area. Therefore, and since the mosquito fauna of Luxembourg was only partially known, we suggested the construction of the first comprehensive mosquito diversity and distribution database for the Grand Duchy as a base for an atlas. This atlas of the mosquitoes of Luxembourg assembles a taxonomic list and species distribution maps.

The Atlas was developed in the framework of the MosquitoLUX (2019-2022) project implemented under the auspices of the Fondation faune-flore at the Scientific Research Centre of the National Museum of Natural History in Luxembourg. The Fondation faune-flore was the host institution and administrative manager of the project.

Funding consortium :
• 50%: National Museum of Natural History, Departments of Ecology and Zoology
• 25%: Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development
• 25%: Directorate of Health

 Page content last updated on 2023-03-27. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2023-03-27.

New EU publication: An introduction to the invasive alien species of Union concern

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

The Directorate General for Environment of the EU has published an introduction to the 88 invasive alien species of Union concern. This brochure presents, at a glance, the currently listed invasive alien species of Union concern, offering brief, non-technical and informal summaries of each of the 88 species. This includes dedicated descriptions of their main biological and ecological features, along with information on their origin, present distribution in the EU, pathways of introduction into the EU, how they threaten European native biodiversity, and which management measures are currently available to mitigate their impacts.

This publication has been produced under the supervision of IUCN within the framework of contract No. 09.0201/2021/856079/SER/ENV.D.2 “Technical and Scientific support in relation to the Implementation of Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species”.

Brundu, Giuseppe, Katie E Costello, Gwen Maggs, Chiara Montagnani, Ana L Nunes, Jan Pergl, Jodey Peyton, Peter Robertson, Helen Roy, Riccardo Scalera, Kevin Smith, Wojciech Solarz, Elena Tricarico & Johan van Valkenburg, 2022. An introduction to the invasive alien species of Union concern. Version 2022. 187 p. Euopean Commission, Environment.

→ Download in PDF format (366 MB)

 Page content last updated on 2023-01-23.

Spergularia marina (L.) Besser

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

English Salt sandspurry Status LU: established. 1st record: LU & ITW 2019.
Lëtzebuergesch Mieres-Spierkelchen Status Eur.: native.
Français n/a RA: ISEIA: C2. Harmonia+: n/a
Deutsch Salz-Schuppenmiere Wikipedia: Wikipedia - English Wikipedia - Français | Wikispecies: Wikispecies - Atriplex micrantha | CABI
Nederlands Zilte schijnspurrie Back to the list of neophytes

Brief description

Spergularia marina, also called Spergularia salina, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is known as salt sandspurry or lesser sea-spurrey. S. marina is a sprawling annual or sometimes perennial with stems up to 35 cm long. Like other sea-spurrey species, its flowers have white to pink petals, with sepals usually longer than the petals, at 2.5–4 mm. Plants are salt-tolerant, being found by the sea and in saline areas inland as well as in areas along roadsides affected by de-icing salts (Wikipedia contributors 2022)..

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

Records of Spergularia marina (L.) Besser in Luxembourg. Data source: Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2025-06-16.

Spergularia marina (L.) Besser was first documented in Luxembourg in 2019, near Garnich (Krippel et al. 2020), Findel and Hoscheid (MNHNL 2000-). Selective investigations have shown that S. marina is well represented in Luxembourg. Even if the lesser sea-spurrey was not recorded by Ehl et al. (2019) during the survey of salt-tolerant vascular plant species along roads in Luxembourg – although known near Arlon in Belgium (Remacle 2015) –, this probably overlooked species must have been present in Luxembourg long before 2019. The sub-cosmopolite S. marina – usually found by the sea and in saline inland areas –, with a salinity index of 9 after Ellenberg (2001), is in expansion in the territory of the ‘Nouvelle Flore’ (Lambinon & Verloove 2015) and adjacent regions in Germany (Hand et al. 2016). In 2021 and 2022 many new locations were found in Luxembourg and Spergularia marina thus can be considered as naturalised in the Grand Duchy, mostly on surfaces affected by de-icing salts along roadsides, where it often grows together with Puccinellia distans, another halophyte. 32 observations of the species have been documented in the Recorder-Lux database between 2019 and 2022.

Risk assessment

ISEIA protocol

C2 (3+1+1+1). First assessed 16 February 2017 by Yves Krippel and Christian Ries.

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

  • CABI, 2022. Spergularia marina. In: Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. URL: <https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/117280> [accessed 2022-11-14].
  • Ehl, S., K. Mildenberger, T. Frankenberg & C. Ries, 2019. Halophytes in roadside habitats: a survey of salt-tolerant vascular plant species along roads in Luxembourg. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 121: 37-51.
  • Ellenberg, H., H. E. Weber, R. Düll, V. Wirth & W. Werner, 2001. Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa. Scripta Geobotanica XVIII. Goltze-Verlag, Göttingen, 262 pp.
  • Hand, R., H. Reichert, W. Bujnoch, U. Kottke, & S. Caspari, 2016. Flora der Region Trier. Band 1 & 2, Verlag Michael Weyand, Trier, 1.634 pp.
  • Krippel, Y., T. Helminger & G. Colling, 2020. Notes floristiques. Observations faites au Luxembourg (2018-2019). Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 122: 29-55.
  • Lambinon, J. & F. Verloove (collab. L. Delvosalle, B. Toussaint, D. Geerinck, I. Hoste, F. van Rossum, B. Cornier, R. Schumacker, A. Vanderpoorten & H. Vannerom), 2015. Nouvelle Flore de la Belgique, du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, du Nord de la France et des Régions voisines. (Ptéridophytes et Spermatophytes), 6e éd., 2e tirage, avec corrections. Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Meise, CXXXIX + 1195 pp.
  • MNHNL, 2000-. Portail de données du Musée national d’histoire naturelle. Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg. URL: https://data.mnhn.lu [accédé le 01.04.2022].
  • Remacle, A., 2015. L’intérêt botanique des espaces verts autoroutiers: le cas de l’autoroute E411 près d’Arlon (province de Luxembourg, Belgique). Dumortiera 107: 3-21.
  • Wikipedia contributors, 2022. ‘Spergularia marina‘, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 April 2021, 21:41 UTC, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spergularia_marina> [accessed 2022-09-15]

 

 Page content last updated on 2023-01-20. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-13.

First detection of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

CDC-Gathany-Aedes-albopictus-2The Ministry of Health informs that a population of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus has been detected at two locations in the territory of the Commune of Roeser. This first appearance of the tiger mosquito in the Grand Duchy has been confirmed by an international expert in the field. According to current information, this is a limited phenomenon. The tiger mosquito does not move very far and usually does not travel more than a hundred metres from its birthplace.

In the next few days, the Luxembourg authorities, with the support of an expert, will assess the situation, as well as set up a prevention plan and a surveillance and eradication system. The use of insecticides is currently under consideration. However, eradication would be mainly through the elimination of potential habitats.

Communicated on 2022-09-03 by the Ministry of Health: Première apparition du moustique tigre “Aedes albopictus” au Luxembourg

More information:

 Page content last updated on 2022-09-06. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2022-09-06.

Alert system for iNaturalist neobiota observations in place in Luxembourg

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries


Since 2021-07-14, an alert system concerning iNaturalist neobiota observations from Luxembourg has been operational. Paul Braun, digital curator at the Luxembourg National Museum of Natural History, has implemented a Python code executed every day at 12:00 CET (= 13:00 local time) which sends an email alert message to key persons in charge of neobiota early detection and surveillance in Luxembourg. Independently from their quality grade, all observations since the day before 00:00 CET until the current day 12:00 CET are compiled and sent to , and thereafter dispatched to a selection of key persons. We chose 12:00 CET to enable a rapid response in case of observations of important species occur on the current morning. Unfortunately, the iNaturalist API does not give the option to choose precise periods for data extraction, which results in an overlap of the periods covered by the alert messages.

If interested, other member states of the European Union are welcome to obtain the code in order to set up a similar alert system for their country. The contact email address is .

Recommendations to iNaturalist: it would be useful to implement the following in future versions of the API:

  • enable the selection of a specific set of fields needed for a query (currently only complete data sets can be selected, which causes transfer of high data volumes and has a negative impact on climate and environment);
  • enable precise periods for observation queries.

Example of an iNaturalist alert message

iNaturalist Neobiota Luxembourg update 2021-07-26

9 neobiota species occurrence records have been updated or added in the Neobiota Luxembourg project on iNaturalist.LU since: 2021-07-25

Species observed on created on observed by quality grade iNaturalist.LU link
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-23 2021-07-23 jamija research 88294335
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-22 2021-07-22 liial needs_id 88117244
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-20 2021-07-20 carla1964 research 87840451
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-19 2021-07-19 xylocopa research 87701163
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-15 2021-07-15 nulu1 needs_id 87128863
Harmonia axyridis 2021-07-15 2021-07-15 nulu1 needs_id 87128655
Lepomis gibbosus 2021-07-11 2021-07-25 alexanderkristiansen needs_id 88610643
Pacifastacus leniusculus 2021-04-21 2021-07-25 alexanderkristiansen needs_id 88611675
Harmonia axyridis 2020-06-09 2021-07-22 mia328 research 88089824

Please help validate neobiota species observations on iNaturalist.LU here.
The Neobiota Luxembourg project on iNaturalist.LU can be found here.
The data in this mail was obtained at 13h00 2021-07-26 using the following iNaturalist API link:
https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations?project_id=17708&updated_since=2021-07-25&per_page=100&order=desc&order_by=observed_on

An alert system for neobiota observations recorded in the national database on natural heritage Recorder-Lux has been operational since 2019. It triggers an alarm message as soon as an observation is entered in data.mnhn.lu or uploaded to the Recorder-Lux database. It was implemented by Armand Turpel.

Example of a Recorder-Lux alert message

Here are your latest messages from MNHN Indicia Warehouse

Survey Date Taxon Spatial Ref. Recorded by Email Record Status Verified By
General Recording 03/07/2021 Procyon lotor 61817, 92092 Roland Proess Pending verification

Thus, most neobiota observations from Luxembourg will trigger an alarm in a timely manner. However, a small gap remains: the observations of invasive alien bird species via the database of the Centrale Ornithologique du Luxembourg (COL) do not yet trigger an alarm in a timely manner. This currently concerns the following 4 bird species: Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Canada goose (Branta canadensis) and Rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri).

Posted by C. Ries.

 Page content last updated on 2021-08-16. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2021-08-16.

First sighting of Vespa velutina nigrithorax in 2021

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

On Sunday 13 June 2021, a citizen of Rumelange discovered an initial nest of an Asian black hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) and reported it to the Natural History Museum. The initial nests of the native Eurasian hornet (Vespa crabro) look very similar.

Note: This occurrence/detection of an Invasive Alien Species of Union concern named Vespa velutina nigrithorax has been notified on 16 June 2021 by Luxembourg, pursuant to Article 16(2) of R.1143/2014. The EASIN Notification System automatically warns (all the other) European Member States whenever the occurrence/detection of an IAS of Union concern is notified.

 Page content last updated on 2021-06-18.

Phytolacca americana L.

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

English
American pokeweed
 Status LU: established. 1st record: LU <1946, ITW 1980.
Lëtzebuergesch Amerikanesch Kermesbier Status Eur.: established. 1st record: Med. ~1650.1
Français Raisin d’Amérique, Teinturier RA: ISEIA: B1, Watch List. Harmonia+: n/a.
Deutsch Amerikanische Kermesbeere Wikipedia: Wikipedia - English - American pokeweed Wikipedia - Français - Raisin d'Amérique, Teinturier Wikipedia - Deutsch - Amerikanische Kermesbeere Wikispecies: Wikispecies - Phytolacca americana | CABI
Nederlands n/a Back to the list of neophytes

Brief description

Phytolacca americana sl25

Mature Pokeweed in a xerothermic wood in Lower Austria

Phytolacca americana L. is widely naturalised in ruderal sites and in nature-like habitats in southern Europe, extending northwards to central France. Semi-natural habitats colonised include heaths, open woodlands, clearcut areas and forest edges. In Belgium, it is commonly used as an ornamental; it is planted in gardens and public green areas but doesn’t reproduce in the wild so far. Under suitable environmental conditions, the American pokeweed forms dense populations that can outcompete native vegetation and prevent regeneration of forest species. The plant produces toxic saponins (Branquart et al. 2010).

IAS of Union concern

In 2020, Phytolacca americana L. was proposed as a candidate species to join the list of invasive alien species of Union concern.

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

Records of Phytolacca americana L. in Luxembourg. Data source: Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2025-06-16.

The oldest herbarium specimen at the Museum dates back to the 19th century: it is a specimen from Siebenbürgen from the A. Georges herbarium in Gotha found in the Koltz herbarium, probably an exchange specimen (Specimen № 15712, MNHNL 2000-).

The oldest reference to Phytolacca in Luxembourg is found in the Bulletin of the Luxembourg Naturalist Society, when Eugène Beck circulates a sample of Phytolacca […], known from some of Luxembourg City’s ornamental gardens (Anonyme 1946). We assume it to be Phytolacca americana L., as Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. has not yet been observed in Luxembourg. It was first recorded in Belgium in 1960 (Verloove 2021).

The first documentation of the American pokeweed in the wild was recorded in 1980 by Pierre Becker in a fir plantation downstream of Soup in the municipality of Heffingen (Reichling 1985: 136; Obs. key: DSS00465000000CI in MNHNL 2000-).

Grown for ornamental purposes in gardens. Very rare subspontaneous or adventitious; naturalised towards the SW limit of the Flora’s territory: roadsides, waste ground, … The fruits of this species are poisonous, unlike those of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb., which is also grown in gardens for ornamental purposes, but especially for its fruits used as a colouring agent (Lambinon & Verloove 2012: 122).

Risk assessment

ISEIA protocol

B1 (2+2+3+2) = Watch List. First assessed 2021-02-16 by C. Ries & Y. Krippel.

Harmonia+ protocol

Not assessed.

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

  • Anonyme, 1946. Comptes-rendus des séances de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois. Séances hebdomadaires du mois d’octobre 1946. Lundi, 24 octobre. Bulletin de la Société des Naturalistes Luxembourgeois 51 (2): 54.
  • Balogh L. & M. Juhász, 2008. American and Chinese pokeweed (Phytolacca americana L., Ph. esculenta van Houtte). – In: Botta-Dukát Z. & Balogh L. (eds): The most important invasive plants in Hungary. HAS IEB, Vácrátót, pp. 37–42.
  • Branquart, E., S. Vanderhoeven, W. Van Landuyt, F. Van Rossum & F. Verloove, 2010. Harmonia database: Phytolacca americana L. Harmonia version 1.2, Belgian Forum on Invasive Species. URL: http://ias.biodiversity.be [accessed on 2021-02-15]
  • CABI, 2019. Phytolacca americana L. In: Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. URL: www.cabi.org/isc [accessed 2021-02-15]
  • Lambinon J. & F. Verloove, 2012. Nouvelle flore de la Belgique, du grand-duché de Luxembourg, du Nord de la France et des régions voisines. Sixième édition. Avec la collaboration de L. Delvosalle, B. Toussaint, D. Geerinck, I. Hoste, F. Van Rossum, B. Cornier, R. Schumacker, A. Vanderpoorten et H. Vannerom. Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Meise. CXXXIX + 1195 pp. ISBN : 9789072619884.
  • MNHNL, 2000-. Phytolacca americana L. in Recorder-Lux, database on the natural heritage of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2021-02-15]
  • Reichling, L. 1985. Travaux de la Société. Séance du 8 mars 1982. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 85: 135-136.
  • Ries, C. & Y. Krippel, 2021. First records of 56 invasive alien vascular plants in Luxembourg. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 123: 115-127. [PDF 241 KB]
  • Ries, C. & Y. Krippel, 2021. First records of 56 invasive alien vascular plants in Luxembourg. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 123: 115-127. [PDF 241 KB]
  • Verloove, F., 2021. Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. On: Manual of the Alien Plants of Belgium. Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium. At: alienplantsbelgium.be, accessed 2021-02-16.
    http://alienplantsbelgium.be/taxonomy/term/4773/descriptions

 Page content last updated on 2021-12-03. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2021-03-03.

  1. The species was introduced around 1650 into the Mediterranean area to be used as a dye-plant (Balogh & Juhász 2008).[↩]

Hyalomma marginatum C. L. Koch, 1844

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

English n/a Status LU: casual. 1st record: 2018.
Lëtzebuergesch Gerändert Glasaenzeck Status Eur.: established.
Français n/a RA: ISEIA: n/a. Harmonia+: n/a.
Deutsch n/a Wikipedia: Wikipedia - English - Hyalomma marginatum Wikipedia - Français - Hyalomma marginatum Wikipedia - Deutsch - Hyalomma marginatum Wikipedia - Dutch - Hyalomma marginatum | Wikispecies: Wikispecies - Hyalomma marginatum
Nederlands n/a Back to the list of invertebrates

Brief description

Hyalomma marginatumHyalomma marginatum C. L. Koch, 1844 is a species of tick within the Ixodidae family, with a distribution in subtropical regions of the Old World. The sexual animals (imagines) suck blood from a variety of mammalian species, preferably hoofed animals, but occasionally also from humans. Immature forms occur on a variety of vertebrates, including migratory birds. The species has medical importance as a vector of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and typhus (Wikipedia Bearbeiter, 2020).

This tick has been implicated in the transmission of Bahig virus, a pathogenic arbovirus previously thought to be transmitted only by mosquitoes (Wikipedia contributors 2020).

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

Records of Hyalomma marginatum C. L. Koch, 1844 in Luxembourg. Data source: Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2025-06-16.

A male Hyalomma marginatum sensu stricto C. L. Koch, 1844 was collected on 2018-08-31 in the city of Dudelange, representing the first record of this species in the country. Subsequent to this finding and its media attention, two further Hyalomma sp. sightings were reported. On 2020-06-14, a male H. marginatum sensu stricto was collected in Beaufort while infesting a horse. After release, the tick very quickly tried to escape and turned towards another horse nearby. On 2020-07-06, a female Hyalomma sp. was found crawling on a horse in Aspelt, which was outside for a maximum of five minutes (Fig. 2b). Both latter ticks were collected from the uppermost interior site of the rear legs of the horse, between the thigh and the belly. It was not possible to identify the female tick further since only images were available (Weigand et al. 2020).

Two observations have been reported in the Recorder-Lux database so far (MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF 2022).

Risk assessment

No risk assessments have been done to date.

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

  • Direction de la Santé, 2016. Attention aux tiques! Comment se protéger? Dépliant. Luxembourg. URL: https://sante.public.lu/fr/prevention/tiques/
  • GBIF, 2020. Hyalomma marginatum in GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://www.gbif.org/species/4548126 [accessed 2020-11-02]
  • MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2020. MNHNL-mdata, online portal combining species observation from Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist and GBIF. National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [accessed 2022-04-27]
  • Weigand, A., J. Teixeira & S. Christian, 2020. First record of Hyalomma marginatum sensu stricto C.L. Koch, 1844 and distribution of Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794) (Acari, Ixodidae) in Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. nat. luxemb. 122 : 253-263. [PDF 1.79 MB]
  • Wikipedia Bearbeiter, 2020. Hyalomma marginatum. In Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie.  URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyalomma_marginatum [accessed 2020-11-02]
  • Wikipedia contributors, 2020. Hyalomma marginatum. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyalomma_marginatum [accessed 2020-11-02]

 Page content last updated on 2022-05-03. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2020-11-11.