Invasive Insect Pests of Forests and Urban Trees in Russia: Origin, Pathways, Damage and Management

Abstract

Invasive alien insects cause serious ecological and economical losses around the world. Here, we review the bionomics, modern ranges (and their dynamics), distribution pathways, mon-itoring, and control measures of 14 insect species known to be important invasive and emerging tree pests in forest and urban ecosystems of Russia: Leptoglossus occidentalis (Hemiptera: Heterop-tera: Coreidae), Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Corythucha arcuata (He-miptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae), Agrilus fleischeri, A. mali, A. planipennis, Lamprodila (Palmar) festiva (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Ips amitinus, Polygraphus proximus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolyt-inae), Cydalima perspectalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), Acrocercops brongniardella, Cameraria ohridella, Phyllonorycter issikii, and P. populifoliella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). We identified three major sce-narios of tree pest invasions in the country and beyond: (1) a naturally conditioned range expansion, which results in the arrival of a pest to a new territory and its further naturalization in a recipient region; (2) a human-mediated, long-distance transfer of a pest to a new territory and its further naturalization; and (3) a widening of the pest’s trophic niche and shift to new host plant(s) (com-monly human-introduced) within the native pest’s range frequently followed by invasion to new regions.