Stephanitis takeyai is native to Japan and has spread to the USA. It has also spread to Europe and there have been many finds by PHSI on ornamental propagating material from the EU. S. takeyai appears to have been present in at least one public garden in South East England for at least 10 years (since 1996) and has been found at approximately 30 plant centres across England since 1998. It has a limited number of host plants in the UK although hosts are ornamentals that are widely grown and may be of high value. Despite efforts to eradicate and contain this organism, measures taken have not proved a success. Stephanitis takeyai could now be considered as naturalised (established) in the UK.