Presence of the Eucalyptus snout beetle in Ecuador and potential invasion risk in South America

Abstract

Eucalyptus snout beetles are a complex of at least eight cryptic species (Curculionidae: Gonipterus scutellatus complex), native to mainland Australia and Tasmania, that defoliate Eucalyptus trees and are considered important pests. Since the 19th century, three species of the complex have been introduced to other continents. Here, we document the presence of Eucalyptus snout beetles in Ecuador. We used DNA data for species identification and unambiguously demonstrated that the Ecuadorian specimens belong to the species Gonipterus platensis, which has low genetic diversity compared with other species in the complex. We analyzed G. platensis' potential distribution in South America with ecological niche models and found several areas of high to intermediate climatic suitability, even in countries where the pest has not been registered, like Peru and Bolivia. Accurate identification of species in the G. scutellatus complex and understanding of their potential distribution are essential tools for improved management and prevention tactics.

Global climate change‐driven impacts on the Asian distribution of Limassolla leafhoppers, with implications for biological and environmental conservation

“…Despite the limitations, the models still have broad applicability in current fields such as ecology, biogeography, and biodiversity conservation (Werkowska et al, 2017). The research subjects can be terrestrial plants and animals (Crespo-Pérez et al, 2023;Higgins et al, 2020), marine organisms (Thorson & Barnett, 2017;Zhang et al 2022c), microorganisms (Mod et al, 2020;Pajunen et al, 2016), parasitic diseases (Hu et al, 2020;Mod et al, 2020;Pajunen et al, 2016), among others. In the future, interdisciplinary cooperation can be strengthened to incorporate knowledge from multiple fields such as social sciences into the models.…”