Potential Geographic Distribution of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Invasion (Halyomorpha halys)

Abstract

BackgroundThe Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), native to Asia, is becoming an invasive species with a rapidly expanding range in North America and Europe. In the US, it is a household pest and also caused unprecedented damage to agriculture crops. Exploring its climatic limits and estimating its potential geographic distribution can provide critical information for management strategies.Methodology/PrincipalsWe used direct climate comparisons to explore the climatic niche occupied by native and invasive populations of BMSB. Ecological niche modelings based on the native range were used to anticipate the potential distribution of BMSB worldwide. Conversely, niche models based on the introduced range were used to locate the original invasive propagates in Asia. Areas with high invasion potential were identified by two niche modeling algorithms (i.e., Maxent and GARP).Conclusions/SignificanceReduced dimensionality of environmental space improves native model transferability in the invade area. Projecting models from invasive population back to native distributional areas offers valuable information on the potential source regions of the invasive populations. Our models anticipated successfully the current disjunct distribution of BMSB in the US. The original propagates are hypothesized to have come from northern Japan or western Korea. High climate suitable areas at risk of invasion include latitudes between 30°–50° including northern Europe, northeastern North America, southern Australia and the North Island of New Zealand. Angola in Africa and Uruguay in South America also showed high climate suitability.

First record of Halyomorpha halys and mass occurrence of Nezara viridula in Slovakia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

“…Although the capture of a larva indicates that the species probably reproduces in Slovakia, further records in southern Slovakia are still needed to verify the presence of an established population. Nevertheless, considering the potential distribution of H. halys in Europe as predicted by ecological niche modelling (Zhu et al 2012;Haye et al 2015), its establishment and further spreading throughout Slovakia can be expected.…”

“…Ecological niche modelling even suggests that its expansion has just begun because the models have predicted large areas suitable for H. halys in all of Europe approximately between 40 and 50°N, i.e. from the Mediterranean coast to Scotland and the southern coasts of Norway and Finland (Zhu et al 2012;Haye et al 2015).…”

Using correlative, mechanistic and hybrid niche models to predict the productivity and impact of global climate change on maize crop in Brazil

“…Ureta et al 2012) and impact of pests in agriculture (e.g. Zhu et al 2012). In general, studies that investigate the impact of climate change on cultivated species found a reduction in area of cultivation in future scenarios (Lane & Jarvis 2007;Jarvis et al 2008;Beck 2012;Ramirez-Villegas et al in press).…”

Coupling Traditional Monitoring and Citizen Science to Disentangle the Invasion of Halyomorpha halys

“…All data were resampled at 100 m resolution to increase the speed of calculation in MaxEnt using the jackknife test for determining variables that reduce the model reliability when omitted. Previous models assessing the potential distribution of BMSB worldwide also utilized MaxEnt, using a resolution of 4.5 Km at the equator and strictly employing bioclimatic variables [37].…”

“…The global model produced by Zhu et al [37] is helpful in understanding the suitable areas for BMSB establishment. They indicated that the whole Italian peninsula is suitable for setting up breeding populations, whereas our regional fine-scale model accounts for the extreme altitudinal variation and land morphology in Trentino, while offering monitoring and management support for affected areas.…”