Native Defoliators of Australian Mediterranean Forest Trees

Abstract

Eucalypts ( Eucalyptus , Corymbia and Angophora ), as native stands and as plantations, dominate the two Mediterranean forest regions of Australia. These two geographically separated regions -south-western Australia, and areas of South Australia, including the Green Triangle region around the southern South Australian/ Victorian border -have likewise largely separate native insect species, in spite of a common, albeit non-endemic, resource ( E. globulus plantations). Almost half a million hectares of E. globulus and around 300,000 ha of softwoods is planted in Mediterranean Australia. Native defoliators have been largely unproblematic in pine plantations, but many have achieved signifi cant pest status in hardwood plantations. Defoliators in native forest are less well-known, but there are several examples of species that have been studied in detail. Eucalypts typically receive (and tolerate) relatively high levels of defoliation, and have a diverse array of phytophagous insect fauna from several Orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera and Orthoptera) feeding on their foliage, despite it being sclerophyllous and high in plant secondary compounds. Here, we provide an overview of the endemic folivores of Mediterranean forests in Australia.

Expansion of the geographic range of the eucalypt pest Paropsisterna cloelia (Stål) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) through synonymy and invasion

“…2010). Also within Australia, species such as Paropsisterna bimaculata (Olivier), Paropsisterna agricola (Chapuis) and P. atomaria are significant endemic pests of commercial eucalypt plantations (Nahrung and Swain 2015; Steinbauer and Nahrung 2016). NZ has accumulated five invasive paropsine species from Australia in its exotic eucalypt plantations: P. charybdis (1916), T. sloanei (1976), Trachymela catenata (Chapuis) (1991) (Withers 2001), Paropsisterna beata (Newman) (2012) (Anonymous 2016; Yamoah et al .…”

Where Did You Come From? Where Did You Go? Investigating the Origin of Invasive Leptocybe Species Using Distribution Modelling

“…-James Baldwin Eucalypts are cultivated worldwide for their fast growth and suitability for a range of uses. The high diversity of Eucalyptus species within Australia is associated with an immense diversity of insect herbivores, some of which can be very damaging when their abundance is unusually high [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Some of these insects have become invasive pests of eucalypts where they are grown as exotic species, and are of particular concern to hardwood plantations globally [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Herbarium specimens provide historical evidence of Cardiaspina jerramungae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea, Aphalaridae) outbreaks on Eucalyptus occidentalis in the Lower Great Southern of Western Australia

“…Psyllids of the genus Cardiaspina are well known to reach outbreak levels in eastern Australia on their host tree species (Clark ; Taylor ; White ; Clark & Dallwitz ; Morgan ; Campbell ; Collett ; Hollis ; Hall et al . ; Steinbauer & Nahrung ). However, in Western Australia, no populations of Cardiaspina were known to achieve outbreak levels until the early 1980s when flat‐topped yate trees (FTY, Eucalyptus occidentalis Endl.)…”

“…1987; J Farr personal observation 1993). However, with the exception of E. wandoo , its development on these species has not been observed, and its presence may be a result of spillover from the original preferred host trees during periods with high population when the preferred host plant's foliage is depleted (Steinbauer & Nahrung ). The use of herbarium specimens to examine spatio‐temporal trends in herbivory which have consequences for ecosystem structure and function is being used increasingly as online metadata resources become more available (Beaulieu et al .…”