The Establishment Risk of Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) in the United States and Globally

Abstract

Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an emerging pest of many commercially important plants in Korea, Japan, and the United States. Determining its potential distribution is important for proactive measures to protect commercially important commodities. The objective of this study was to assess the establishment risk of L. delicatula globally and in the United States using the ecological niche model MAXENT, with a focus on Washington State (WA), where large fruit industries exist. The MAXENT model predicted highly suitable areas for L. delicatula in Asia, Oceania, South America, North America, Africa, and Europe, but also predicted that tropical habitats are not suitable for its establishment, contrary to published information. Within the United States, the MAXENT model predicted that L. delicatula can establish in most of New England and the mid-Atlantic states, the central United States and the Pacific Coast states, including WA. If introduced, L. delicatula is likely to establish in fruit-growing regions of the Pacific Northwest. The most important environmental variables for predicting the potential distribution of L. delicatula were mean temperature of driest quarter, elevation, degree-days with a lower developmental threshold value of 11°C, isothermality, and precipitation of coldest quarter. Results of this study can be used by regulatory agencies to guide L. delicatula surveys and prioritize management interventions for this pest.

Paninvasion severity assessment of a U.S. grape pest to disrupt the global wine market

“…4) 35 . Our ensemble estimate was similar to other SLF SDMs, but indicated urban landscapes as likely establishment locations and showed fine spatial-scale variation in establishment potential (see our interactive map https://ieco.users.earthengine.app/view/ieco-slf-riskmap) 36,37 . For each state and country, we extracted the mean, median and max predicted suitability to estimate establishment potential (see SI).…”

Use of Molecular Gut Content Analysis to Decipher the Range of Food Plants of the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

“…Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is emerging as one of the most aggressive invasive auchenorrynchan pests in in the eastern US: it is extremely polyphagous and it can feed on over 70 host plants, such as apple, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, grape, pine, tree of heaven (preferred tree host), as well as many ornamental plants [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Nymphs and adults cause severe plant damage through the sucking of phloem sap from the vascular bundles of young stems or leaves, as well as producing honeydew and, consequently, creating conditions for sooty mold [1,6,7]. As nymphs mature, their host plant range decreases; and.…”

Ecological Niche Modeling to Calculate Ideal Sites to Introduce a Natural Enemy: The Case of Apanteles opuntiarum (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) to Control Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in North America

“…Our ecological niche modeling study with C. cactorum and A. opuntiarum estimated the geographic space that could be occupied by these two species in a new region. For the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), an Asiatic species, using this methodology made it possible to calculate the ecological niche projected for L. delicatula in several fruit growing states in the United States, serving as a tool for design sampling and control strategies [ 54 ].…”

“…The selection of an appropriate model in a robust and accurate ecological niche modeling study is essential to provide reliable data for policy-making authorities [ 54 , 71 ]. Accurate models could help in solving economic and human resource issues and shortcomings by concentrating efforts on the most appropriately selected sites.…”