Diversity and Introduction History of Glycaspis brimblecombei Reflects a History of Bridgeheads and Distinct Invasions

Glycaspis brimblecombei is an invasive insect pest of Eucalyptus that has spread rapidly around the world since its first report in California in 1998. The pest now occurs on at least four continents where Eucalyptus is grown as a non-native plantation species. To characterize global routes of invasion for this insect, we characterized the sequences of a portion of the Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (COI) gene from 105 individuals from the invasive and native range, including from Australia, Brazil, Chile, La Réunion, Mauritius, South Africa and the United States. In addition, we developed 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers, of which we used 11 to characterize the diversity in the same 105 specimens. Our results suggest that there have been two independent introduction events from Australia, which is assumed to be the origin, to distinct parts of the adventive range. The first introduction was into the United States, from where it appears to have spread to South America and eventually to South Africa. This finding highlights the threat of bridgehead populations to accelerate pest invasions in Eucalyptus, even if those populations are on widespread non-commercial populations of Eucalyptus (as in California). A second introduction appears to have occurred on the islands of Mauritius and La Réunion and provides another example of the establishment of independent lineages of invasive global insect pests. This complex invasion pattern mirrors that found in other Eucalyptus pests.

Glycaspis brimblecombei. [Distribution map].

A new distribution map is provided for Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore. Hemiptera: Aphalaridae. Hosts: Eucalyptus spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa (Algeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Reunion, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), Asia (Israel, Syria, Turkey), Europe (Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Corsica, Gibraltar, Greece, Crete, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Spain, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands), North America (Mexico, United States, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Bahia, Espirito Santo, Distrito Federal, Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela).

Entomofauna aérea em Eucalyptus spp. no Sudeste do Pará, Brasil

Plantios florestais homogêneos são comumente atacados por agentes bióticos devido à menor diversidade biológica. Este tipo de plantio, especialmente de eucalipto, se intensificou no sudeste do estado do Pará, Brasil, a partir dos anos 1990. Desta forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi prospectar a diversidade da entomofauna aérea, avaliar suas respostas à sazonalidade e detectar a ocorrência de possíveis insetos praga importantes para monocultivos de Eucalyptus spp. Foram utilizadas armadilhas amarelas adesivas para a amostragem em plantios de E. urophylla e do híbrido E. grandis x E. urophylla. No total, foram realizadas 12 coletas, com 27 armadilhas cada, divididas em estação seca e chuvosa, durante dois anos em três municípios do Sudeste do Pará. Foram calculados os índices de diversidade de Shannon-Wiener e Pielou. As famílias foram classificadas quanto à diversidade faunística, através dos índices de dominância, frequência, abundância e constância. O teste de análise Fatorial 2 x 2 foi realizado para comparar o efeito da sazonalidade entre os eucaliptos. Foram coletados 10.280 indivíduos, distribuídos em oito ordens e 68 famílias. As ordens mais abundantes foram Hemiptera, Coleoptera e Diptera, onde Hemiptera foi a mais abundante na estação seca, e Diptera na estação chuvosa. As famílias Aphalaridae e Thaumastocoridae foram as mais importantes. Também foi registrada a ocorrência das espécies praga Blastopsylla occidentalis, Glycaspis brimblecombei e Thaumastocoris peregrinus.

First DNA barcoding of a new alien species Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, 1964 (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) in Croatia with a distribution note

A new alien psyllid Glycaspis brimblecombei, native in Australia, was first discovered in Croatia in 2020. Its presence was also confirmed in the Botanical Garden of the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research (University of Dubrovnik) on the island of Lokrum, using DNA barcoding. Distribution and spreading of this alien species were noted as across the other continents so in Europe. The pest is considered as a threat to forestry, paper industry and could affect ornamental values of the eucalyptus species. It is important to continue with following research on this species because of the potential spreading and ascendant estimation.

First record of invasive Australian psyllid species Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, 1964 (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Aphalaridae) in Croatia

The Australian red gum lerp psyllid Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, 1964 is recorded for the first time in Croatia. In the paper, a brief overview of the new pest with the locality of its first occurrence is provided.

Re-Visiting the Incidence of Environmental Factors on a Pre-Imaginal Population of the Red Gum Lerp Psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore

The red gum lerp psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), is an invasive pest of Eucalyptus trees worldwide, responsible for serious damage, including the death of plants. Knowledge about the incidence of climatic factors on the insect development are essential to define useful strategies for controlling this pest. To this aim, G. brimblecombei has been sampled by two different methods from April 2012 to February 2013 in eastern Sicily on Eucalyptus camaldulensis in nine different sites, where the main climatic data (air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation) have been also registered. The Glycaspis brimblecombei population showed a similar trend in all nine sites, positively correlated only with air temperature, but a negative correlation has emerged with precipitation and relative humidity. The results show the need for a deeper understanding of the role played by other abiotic (such as different concentrations of CO2) and biotic (e.g., the antagonistic action of natural enemies, competition with other pests, etc.) factors. The greater sensitivity, even at low densities of psyllid, of sampling methods based on the random collection of a fixed number of leaves compared to methods based on the collection of infested leaves in a fixed time interval has been also outlined.