Exotic pine plantations and indigenous Lepidoptera in Australia

Alien Species and Insect Conservation

“…Some native European insects thrive on, and cause major damage to, tree species introduced from North America, whilst other trees from the same areas suffer little if any signifi cant damage. Some conifers, such as Pinus radiata in New Zealand and Australia, regions with no native Pinaceae, are one example, but host-switching by native insect herbivore species with no previous association with such alien hosts can occur, to the extent that some become signifi cant economic pests of commercially important softwood plantations (Britton and New 2004 ). However, Bertheau et al ( 2010 ) emphasised that 'fi tness' (indicating ability to produce numerous viable and fertile offspring) may be a better indicator of probable host shifts than relationships alone.…”