Invasive (insect) Species

The mild climate in the Pacific Northwest (i.e., warm but not hot, cool but not cold, with lots of moisture) has provided suitable conditions for many invasive species, where intense human activity in the coastal areas (e.g., Seattle, Portland) have facilitated their arrival, resulting in ever-increasing establishments of invasive species every year in this area, and great economic loss. Developing approaches to successfully detect, predict, and mitigate invasive species is a necessary step to advance effective management as early detection and rapid response practices are the most cost-effective and efficient method.

Ecological niche model habitat suitability prediction is an important component in invasive species risk assessment. These predictions not only contribute to our understanding of potential distribution and dispersal, but also are very useful in planning field surveys for earlier detection and eradication programs. Here are the potential distributions of invasive insects species in Washington State that I have modeled. They were either published or firstly displayed here, please cite my paper/website for using these habitat suitability predictions.

Small hive beetle: Aethina tumida

Yellow spotted stink bug: Erthesina fullo

Northern giant hornet: Vespa mandarinia

Japanese beetle: Popillia japonica

Apple clearwing moth: Synanthedon myopaeformis

Apple ermine moth: Yponomeuta malinellus

Apple maggot: Rhagoletis pomonella

Cherry bark tortrix: Enarmonia formosana

Cherry blossom moth: Argyresthia pruniella

Cherry ermine moth: Yponomeuta padellus

Apple brown tortrix: Pandemis heparana

European cherry fruit fly: Rhagoletis cerasi

European emerald: Hemithea aestivaria

Rose tortrix: Archips rosana

Apple tortrix: Archips fuscocupreanus

Dusky wireworm: Agriotes obscurus

Lined click beetle: Agriotes lineatus

Golden leafroller: Acleris holmiana

Lesser appleworm: Grapholita prunivora

Lesser budmoth: Recurvaria nanella

Straw-colored tortrix: Clepsis spectrana