Deliberately introduced dung beetles in Australia: 12 years of occurrence and abundance records from 2001 to 2022.

Since 1968, the Australian Dung Beetle Project has carried out field releases of 43 deliberately introduced dung beetle species for the biological control of livestock dung and dung-breeding pests. Of these, 23 species are known to have become established. For most of these species, sufficient time has elapsed for population expansion to fill the extent of their potential geographic range through both natural and human-assisted dispersal. Consequently, over the last 20 years, extensive efforts have been made to quantify the current distribution of these introduced dung beetles, as well as the seasonal and spatial variation in their activity levels. Much of these data and their associated metadata have remained unpublished, and they have not previously been synthesized into a cohesive dataset. Here, we collate and report data from the three largest dung beetle monitoring projects from 2001 to 2022. Together, these projects encompass data collected from across Australia, and include records for all 23 species of established dung beetles introduced for biocontrol purposes. In total, these data include 22,718 presence records and 213,538 absence records collected during 10,272 sampling events at 546 locations. Most presence records (97%) include abundance data. In total, 1,752,807 dung beetles were identified as part of these data. The distributional occurrence and abundance data can be used to explore questions such as factors influencing dung beetle species distributions, dung beetle biocontrol, and insect-mediated ecosystem services. These data are provided under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license and users are encouraged to cite this data paper when using the data.

Evaluation of the Likelihood of Establishing False Codling Moth (Thaumatotibia leucotreta) in Australia via the International Cut Flower Market.

Kenya and some other African countries are threatened by a serious pest Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), the false codling moth. The detection of T. leucotreta is quite difficult due to the cryptic nature of the larvae during transportation and is therefore a concern for Australia. This insect is a known pest of agriculturally important crops. Here, Maxent was used to assess the biosecurity threat of T. leucotreta to Australia. Habitat suitability and risk assessment of T. leucotreta in Australia were identified based on threatened areas under suitable climatic conditions and the presence of hosts in a given habitat. Modeling indicated that Australia is vulnerable to invasion and establishment by T. leucotreta in some states and territories, particularly areas of western and southern Australia. Within these locations, the risk is associated with specific cropping areas. As such, invasion and establishment by T. leucotreta may have serious implications for Australia's agricultural and horticultural industries e.g., the fruit and vegetable industries. This study will be used to inform the government and industry of the threat posed by T. leucotreta imported via the cut flower industry. Targeted preventative measures and trade policy could be introduced to protect Australia from invasion by this pest.

Dosage consistency is the key factor in avoiding evolution of resistance to phosphine and population increase in stored-grain pests.

BACKGROUND: Control of pests in stored grain and the evolution of resistance to pesticides are serious problems worldwide. A stochastic individual-based two-locus model was used to investigate the impact of two important issues, the consistency of pesticide dosage through the storage facility and the immigration rate of the adult pest, on overall population control and avoidance of evolution of resistance to the fumigant phosphine in an important pest of stored grain, the lesser grain borer. RESULTS: A very consistent dosage maintained good control for all immigration rates, while an inconsistent dosage failed to maintain control in all cases. At intermediate dosage consistency, immigration rate became a critical factor in whether control was maintained or resistance emerged. CONCLUSION: Achieving a consistent fumigant dosage is a key factor in avoiding evolution of resistance to phosphine and maintaining control of populations of stored-grain pests; when the dosage achieved is very inconsistent, there is likely to be a problem regardless of immigration rate.

Strong resistance to phosphine in the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Coleoptera: Laemophloeidae): its characterisation, a rapid assay for diagnosis and its distribution in Australia.

BACKGROUND: The recent development of very high resistance to phosphine in rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), seriously threatens stored-grain biosecurity. The aim was to characterise this resistance, to develop a rapid bioassay for its diagnosis to support pest management and to document the distribution of resistance in Australia in 2007-2011. RESULTS: Bioassays of purified laboratory reference strains and field-collected samples revealed three phenotypes: susceptible, weakly resistant and strongly resistant. With resistance factors of > 1000 × , resistance to phosphine expressed by the strong resistance phenotype was higher than reported for any stored-product insect species. The new time-to-knockdown assay rapidly and accurately diagnosed each resistance phenotype within 6 h. Although less frequent in western Australia, weak resistance was detected throughout all grain production regions. Strong resistance occurred predominantly in central storages in eastern Australia. CONCLUSION: Resistance to phosphine in the rusty grain beetle is expressed through two identifiable phenotypes: weak and strong. Strong resistance requires urgent changes to current fumigation dosages. The development of a rapid assay for diagnosis of resistance enables the provision of same-day advice to expedite resistance management decisions.