Six recently recorded Australian insects associated with Eucalyptus in South Africa

Abstract

The increased movement of goods and pathways to transport these goods around the world, combined with the global homogenisation of cultivated areas has resulted in an increase in insect movement and establishment (McCullough et al. 2006; Roques et al. 2008;Aukema et al. 2010; Garnas et al. 2012). This pattern has been evident in South Africa (Giliomee 2011), including plantations of Eucalyptus where an increase in the rate of introduction of non-native insect herbivores has been reported (Wingfield et al. 2008; Garnas et al. 2012; Hurley et al. 2016). Indeed, in just three years (2012–2014), at least six insect species native to Australia and associated with Eucalyptus trees have been detected in South Africa for the first time. This short communication serves to formally report these six species, namely Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), Psyllaephagus bliteus Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Spondyliaspis cf. plicatuloides Froggatt (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), Ophelimus maskelli Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), Closterocerus chamaeleon Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Psyllaephagus blastopsyllae Tamesse, Soufo, Tchanatame, Dzokou, Gumovsky & Coninck (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae).