In Bulgarian with English abstract.

Bulgaria is a traditional agricultural country, where various types of vegetables (field and greenhouse production), corn, rice and potatoes, hosts of Spodoptera litura, are produced on relatively large areas. Cotton is also grown on more limited areas. In addition, S. litura is a serious pest of greenhouse crops such as eggplant, pepper and tomato.

litura is a widespread pest in South and East Asia and Oceania in climate types ranging from tropical to temperate regions. At this moment, there is no evidence that S. litura is present in the EU and in the analyzed threatened area.

The main pathway for entry of S. litura into the EU are through the commercial exchange and movement of fruit, vegetables and cut flowers or branches from the host plants, as well as planting plants originating from countries with established infestation.

Bulgaria, in general, falls into an area with unsuitable eco-climatic conditions for establishment, i.e. in case of possible penetration into the country, the risk of establishment of S. litura is low, because at sub-zero temperatures all stages of its development die. Only in the climatic zones B1 - Southern Bulgarian climatic sub-region and B2 - Black Sea climatic sub-region are on the border of the absolute minimum temperatures for the development of S. litura.

If the pest does enter and spread, it could develop 1-2 transient summer populations.

These populations could negatively impact vegetable crops and economically important field crops such as cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans, tobacco, and sugar beets. In Bulgaria, S. litura would have the greatest importance in the establishment and in greenhouses.

Since S. litura is currently not present in the EU territory, data on economic losses caused by the attacks of this pest are currently not available.

In case of possible entry and establishment of S. litura in Bulgaria, the species may have a negative impact, both on the production and consumption of the native produce, and on the financial situation of the farmers.