Alientoma, a Dynamic Database for Alien Insects in Greece and Its Use by Citizen Scientists in Mapping Alien Species

Incursion Preparedness, Citizen Science and Early Detection of Invasive Insects: The Case of Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) in France

We describe the process by which the quarantine whitefly, Aleurocanthus spiniferus (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae), was detected in France. The initial observation was made by a volunteer who reported a picture of an adult in the Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel (INPN Espèces), a citizen science resource developed by l'Office Français de la Biodiversité and the French Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. The specimen was suspected to be A. spiniferus from this picture by one of the expert entomologists in charge of the Hemiptera group validation. Once the species was identified, it was mounted on a slide and the information was officially passed on to the ministry in charge of agriculture via a communication channel set up in advance for this type of situation. The ministry then triggered the regulatory actions planned in the event of the suspected detection of quarantine organisms. Sampling was quickly carried out and the specimens collected on this occasion were formally identified as belonging to the species A. spiniferus. This led to the formalization of an outbreak in France. This sequence of decisions took just two months from the first observation to the implementation of a management plan. This case presents how incursion preparedness contributes to a rapid response. Furthermore, this case exemplifies how citizen science can contribute to the early detection of invasive species and highlights the importance of informing both the general public and professionals about major environmental issues.

Citizen Science Meet South American Tachinids: New Records of Feather-Legged Fly Trichopoda (Galactomyia) pictipennis Bigot (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Chile

The species of Gymnosomatini (Diptera: Tachinidae) are specialized to attack stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Some of these flies, such as those in the genus Trichopoda Berthold, are conspicuous and represent target species to study with citizen science. Here we report for the first time the distribution range of T. (Galactomyia) pictipennis Bigot, a newly introduced biological control species of tachinid for use against stink bugs in Chile using data obtained through the citizen science method. Additionally, we update the distribution of T. arcuata (Bigot), a native biological control species of tachinid, and assess the grade of overlap between the flies and their main stink bug hosts. We obtained data regarding the occurrence of flies and stink bugs from the citizen science program "Moscas Florícolas de Chile," from Facebook groups, and from iNaturalist. We standardized our data to avoid temporal, spatial, and geographic biases. We report the extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) for each fly and stink bug species. The EOOs for T. pictipennis and T. arcuata are 85,474 km² and 20,647 km² through central Chile ecosystems, respectively. The EOO of T. arcuata is overlapped by 53% with the introduced species. Trichopoda pictipennis has a high percentage of overlap with the EOO of Nezara viridula Linnaeus (61%), whereas T. arcuata has low percentages of overlap with different native Acledra species and with N. viridula. We discuss the potential of citizen science to detect (1) areas with higher diversity or gaps of occurrences, (2) new biological control agents, (3) prey records, (4) negative impacts on non-target species, (5) changes in composition at long-term, and (6) areas to promote conservation biological control in agricultural landscapes.

Special Issue: Selected Papers from the 1st International Electronic Conference on Entomology

The 1st International Electronic Conference on Entomology (1IECE) was held between 1 and 15 July 2021 on the MDPI Sciforum platform organized and funded by the international journal Insects [...].