Abstract Pochazia is a genus of sap-sucking insect distributed mainly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Two closely related species are spreading with warming climate and human trade: Pochazia shantungensis (Chou & Lu, 1977) and P. chinensis Lee, Lee, Li & Lee, 2024. In the sentinel gardens in South Korea, P. chinensis has damaged the transplanted North American trees and is among the most common sap-sucking species observed in the experimental gardens. Pochazia species have been detected outside East Asia, including Europe and, more recently, in Georgia, United States, although establishment in Georgia remains unconfirmed. Their host range includes North American tree species, which are impacted by rapid reproduction and the production of copious honeydew supporting sooty mold. These species may pose a challenging detection and management problem if they become established. This article serves as an alert about their spread and potential impact in invaded regions, and as an authoritative summary of information about the pests for surveys, identification, and responses to eventual invasion. Information from published research is amended with new records from sentinel gardens on American trees in South Korea. Because P. shantungensis and P. chinensis are externally very similar and can be confused based on morphology alone, we summarize key diagnostic characters and recommend molecular corroboration where possible, especially when using public cytochrome oxidase I DNA records.
Dong et al. (2026) studied this question.