The non-pest Australasian fungivore Cis bilamellatus Wood (Coleoptera: Ciidae) in northern Europe: spread dynamics, invasion success and ecological impact

Abstract

Since its accidental introduction to southeast England during the nineteenth century, the invasive Australasian fungivore, Cis bilamellatus, has spread across England, Wales and Southern Scotland. Recently it has been recorded from Ireland, the Channel Islands and north-west France. On mainland Britain, an establishment phase spanning an estimated maximum of 45 years was followed by biphasic range expansion comprising a slow start of 1.6 km year -1 between 1910 and 1930, followed by 40 years of approximately linear spread of 13 km year -1 . Northwards expansion now appears to be limited by sub-zero winter temperatures and is no longer apparent. Comparison with historic records of native ciids shows that this range expansion is genuine, rather than an artefact of recording effort or bias. It has no doubt been facilitated by C. bilamellatus' ability to exploit a wide range of sometimes under-used fungal resources, by its favourable rate of increase, by its tolerance of both wet and dry conditions, and by a low rate of parasitoid attack. Although there is the potential for direct and indirect interaction between C. bilamellatus, native ciids and their shared parasitoids, the current ecological impact of C. bilamellatus appears to be low. It seems likely that C. bilamellatus will spread through Europe, limited primarily by resource availability and low winter temperatures.

The Cis bilamellatus species-group (Coleoptera, Ciidae) in southern Africa: Cis mooihoekite sp. n. and new distributional records

“…The occurrence of C. onyosi in Europe, recently described from Spain and reported from France (Rose 2017, Viñolas andMuñoz-Batet 2015), may well be a case of biological invasion. In such case, C. onyosi would be the second invasive species of the bilamellatus-group to reach the Northern Hemisphere, after C. bilamellatus (Orledge et al 2010).…”

“…There are several undescribed species from the Neotropical and Oriental regions that could be placed in this group (Araujo et al 2015, Lawrence 2016. Cis bilamellatus was introduced into southeast England during the nineteenth century and has subsequently expanded its distribution to Wales, southern Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands and north-west France (Orledge et al 2010). Recently, it has also been recorded from Chile (Lopes-Andrade and Lüer 2014), making it one of the most widespread and successful invasive ciid species in temperate and subtropical areas.…”

Traits related to biological invasion: A note on the applicability of risk assessment tools across taxa

“…Short generation times increase colonization success (Yan et al 2005) A, E Intrinsic rate of increase Invasive insects have higher intrinsic rate of increase than natives (Crawley 1987, Duyck et al 2007, Delatte et al 2009, Orledge et al 2010 A, C, E, O Intrinsic death rate Invasive insects have lower intrinsic death rate than natives (Duyck et al 2007, Foucaud et al 2013 A, E, O…”

“…Natural enemies present Presence of predators Presence of predators decreases invasive insect abundance and increases native insect development rate (Juliano et al 2010); Dispersal increases as presence of parasitoids in native range increases (Paynter and Bellgard 2011); Absence of predators/parasitoids increases the likelihood of establishment (Lawton et al 1986, Tsusui and Suarez 2003, Yan et al 2005, Snyder and Evans 2006, Suarez et al 2008, Ugelvig and Cremer 2012 A, C, E Rate of parasitism Invasive insects parasitized less often than natives (Cervo et al 2000, Gamboa et al 2002, Gamboa et al 2004, Allen et al 2007, Cremer et al 2008, Gray et al 2008, Orledge et al 2010, Comont et al 2014 Certain mutualistic interactions will enhance invasion success (Wilder et al 2011); Presence of suitable host species increases invasion success (Brooks et al 2012…”

Two Invaders Instead of One: The True Identity of Species under the Name Ceracis cucullatus (Coleoptera: Ciidae)

“…The records of populations in areas beyond its native range are old and have accumulated over the years, attracting the attention of coleopterists. Populations have been found in Italy, France and Britain [3], [4], [5], although they appear not to be free-living in these countries (note that another invasive species cited for Britain [5] is Cis bilamellatus Wood, a very distinct species with almost the same specific epithet of Ennearthron bilamellatum ). Various records of populations in islands are also known, such as in Galapagos, in the Pacific Ocean, and Reunion, Mauritius, Seychelles and Aldabra, in the western Indian Ocean [2], [6], [7].…”