Niche Modeling May Explain the Historical Population Failure of Phytoseiulus persimilis in Taiwan: Implications of Biocontrol Strategies

Distribution patterns of Phytoseiulus persimilis in response to climate change

BACKGROUND

The biological control agent Phytoseiulus persimilis is a commercialized specialist predator of two agricultural pest mite species Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus evansi. Biocontrol of these pest species by P. persimilis has achieved success in biological control in some areas. However, the lack of precise information about the influence of global climate change on the worldwide distribution of this biocontrol agent hampers international efforts to manage pest mites with P. persimilis. With 276 occurrence records and 19 bioclimatic variables, this study investigated the potential global distribution of P. persimilis.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model performed well, with the area under the curve being 0.956, indicating the high accuracy of this model. Two variables, the minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio_6) and precipitation of the coldest quarter (Bio_19) were the most important environmental variables that influenced the distribution of P. persimilis, contributing more than 30% to the model, respectively. The suitable area currently occupies 21.67% of the world's land area, spanning latitudes between 60°S and 60°N. Under shared socio-economic pathway (SSP) 5-8.5 (high-carbon emissions), the low suitable area would increase by 1.31% until the 2050s.

CONCLUSION

This study successfully identified that south-eastern China, parts of countries in the Mediterranean coastal regions, including Libya, Algeria, Portugal, Spain, and France, are climatically favorable regions for P. persimilis, providing valuable information about the potential areas where it can be effectively exploited as biocontrol agents in classical biological control programs to manage pest spider mites environmentally friendly. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Reassessing the presence of alien predatory mites and their prospects in the face of future climate change

BACKGROUND

Climate change poses uncertainties in the effectiveness of classical biological control (CBC), and there is a lack of information on the establishment of natural enemy populations under present and future climatic conditions. The objective is to explore current traces of two alien predators (Neoseiulus californicus and Neoseiulus fallacis; introduced for the CBC program in the 1980s) and their future expansion under climate change in Taiwan.

RESULTS

The results indicated that N. californicus was present in alpine orchards (e.g., Lishan and Meifeng) but N. fallacis was not found. Under current climate condition, most areas in Taiwan were deemed highly suitable for N. californicus, but not for N. fallacis, which may explain the outcomes of the CBC program. With intensifying climate change, the ranges of both species are projected to contract to varying extents in Taiwan but expand in some countries.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this study can provide insights for evaluating and developing future CBC programs worldwide, and can help predict the implications of climate change on biological control efforts. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Origin and Potential Expansion of the Invasive Longan Lanternfly, Pyrops candelaria (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) in Taiwan

The longan lanternfly Pyrops candelaria is a new invasive species on the main island of Taiwan. The introduction of an invasive species may negatively influence the native fauna, flora and environment. Thus, this study aimed to infer the invasion history, predict habitat suitability and potential expansion and assess the risk to crop cultivation areas in Taiwan. Genetic structures of P. candelaria from the main island of Taiwan and related regions were analyzed based on partial COI and ND2 sequences. Additionally, machine learning MaxEnt was utilized to study habitat suitability. The results suggested that the Taiwanese populations may originate from the Kinmen Islands and the plain areas of Taiwan are considered to have high habitat suitability. Furthermore, most of the cultivation areas of longan and pomelo crops showed high habitat suitability.