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