As international trade increases so does the prominence of urban areas as gateways for exotic forest insects (EFI). Delimiting hot spots for invasions (i.e., areas where establishment is likely) within urban areas would facilitate monitoring efforts. We used a propagule-pressure framework to delimit establishment hot spots of a hypothetical generalist EFI in six U.S. urban areas: Chicago, Detro...

The successful establishment of non-native species in new areas can be affected by many factors including the initial size of the founder population. Populations comprised of fewer individuals tend to be subject to stochastic forces and Allee effects (positive-density dependence), which can challenge the ability of small founder populations to establish in a new area. Although the conceptual re...

As global trade increases so too does the probability of introduction of alien species to new locations. Estimating the probability of an alien species introduction and establishment following introduction is a necessary step in risk estimation (probability of an event times the consequences, in the currency of choice, of the event should it occur); risk estimation is a valuable tool for reduci...

Traps baited with disparlure, the synthetic form of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), sex pheromone are used to detect newly founded populations and estimate population density across the United States. The lures used in trapping devices are exposed to field conditions with varying climates, which can affect the rate of disparlure release. We evaluated the relea...

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), is an introduced defoliator that preferentially feeds on oaks, Quercus spp. (Fagaceae) in the north-eastern USA. As the gypsy moth expands its geographic range, the extensive oak component in forests and urban environments of the USA assure its successful establishment. Given their economic and ecological importance, and the gyp...

The behaviour of predators can be an important factor in the transmission success of an insect pathogen. We studied how Calosoma sycophanta influences the interaction between its prey [Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae)] and two microsporidian pathogens [Nosema lymantriae (Microsporidia, Nosematidae) and Vairimorpha disparis (Microsporidia, Burellenidae)] infecting the prey.Using...

Species delimitation directly impacts on global biosecurity. It is a critical element in the decisions made by national governments in regard to the flow of trade and to the biosecurity measures imposed to protect countries from the threat of invasive species. Here we outline a novel approach to species delimitation, "tip to root", for two highly invasive insect pests, Bemisia tabaci (sweetpota...

Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) has been formulated and applied to control outbreaks of the gypsy moth, L. dispar. To classify and determine the degree of genetic variation among isolates of L. dispar NPVs from different parts of the range of the gypsy moth, partial sequences of the lef-8, lef-9, and polh genes were determined for Lymantria spp. virus samples from host p...

We report here the complete genomic sequence of Polish alphabaculovirus isolated from dead gypsy moth caterpillars. Its genome structure and G+C content indicate that it is a Lymantria dispar multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) strain which possesses the shortest sequence among eight other (similar to reference sequence AF081810) LdMNPV sequences available in GenBank; it is 159,729 bp long.

This article documents the public availability of (i) transcriptome sequence data, assembled and annotated contigs and unigenes, and BLAST hits from the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni; (ii) 75 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) from 454 sequencing of reduced representation libraries for Phalangiidae harvestmen, Megabunus armatus, Megabunus vignai, Megabunus lesserti, and Rilaena triangu...