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Insect pests of eucalypt plantations in Australia: the next wave?
Conference presentation   Peer reviewed

Insect pests of eucalypt plantations in Australia: the next wave?

Simon A Lawson, Helen F Nahrung and F R Wylie
International Forestry Review, Vol.12(5), p.359
IUFRO World Congress: Forests for the Future: Sustaining Society and the Environment, 23rd (Seoul, Republic of Korea, 23-Aug-2010–28-Aug-2010)
Commonwealth Forestry Association
2010
url
http://www.iufro.org/download/file/6115/4110/iwc10-abstracts_pdf/View
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Abstract

Forestry Sciences Policy and Administration
Over the past century, several endemic Australian eucalypt insects have established around the world as serious pests. Some, such as the cerambycid beetle Phoracantha semipunctata, have invaded almost all eucalypt-growing regions of the world (with the notable exception of Asia), while others such as the gum leaf skeletoniser, Uraba lugens, have been one-off introductions restricted to a particular country or region. Nearly all these insects were not signifi cant pests in Australian natural forest or plantations prior to their establishment overseas. Moreover, the most serious recent overseas introductions have been insects that were previously unrecorded in Australia or were poorly known, rare, and of limited distribution (Leptocybe invasa and Thaumastocoris peregrinus). However, none of the most common and damaging pests of eucalypt plantations in Australia, such as the chrysomelid leaf beetles Paropsisterna bimaculata, P. agricola, and Paropsis atomaria; the autumn gum moth, Mnesampela privata; or stem borers such as Endoxyla cinerea, Phoracantha solida, and P. acanthocera have established overseas. We examine reasons why these more serious pests have not yet become pests on eucalypts overseas, and examine whether historical trends of establishment and pathway analysis can be used to predict future movements of eucalypt-invasive insects worldwide.

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