Monitoring of hitchhiker insect pests collected on foreign vessels entering Korea using by DNA barcodes

Abstract

We monitored hitchhiker insect pests on vessels arriving to Korea from foreign countries. A survey of 416 foreign vessels was conducted from June 1, 2018 to October 29, 2019. A total of 1,141 hitchhiker insects were collected by interception or by hand. Individuals were identified to the species level whenever possible using DNA barcoding and morphological re-examination. Of the 1,141 hitchhikers, a total of 439 species from 81 families and 12 orders, including 54 species (93 individuals) not-distributed in Korea, were identified. Among the 93 individuals from the 54 species not distributed in Korea, 78 individuals were collected alive. In particular, three regulated species in Korea, Erthesina fullo (Pentatomidae, Hemiptera) (hitchhiking route: China > Yeosu, Korea), Tessaratoma papillosa (Tessaratomidae, Hemiptera) (China > Yeosu, Korea), Noctua pronuba (Noctuidae, Lepidoptera) (Singapore > Pohang, Korea) were detected, nine species, Dicranocephalus wallichii (Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera), Palpita quadristigmalis (Crambidae, Lepidoptera), Lymantria xylina (Erebidae, Lepidoptera), Odontopera aurata, Semiothisa cinerearia (Geometridae, Lepidoptera), Mythimna pallidicosta (Noctuidae, Lepidoptera), Euhampsonia serratifera (Notodontidae, Lepidoptera), Arippara disticha (Pyralidae, Lepidoptera), and Psilogramma lukhtanovi (Sphingidae, Lepidoptera) were discovered as multiple detection over years or months, and three species, Lemyra rhodophilodes (Erebidae, Lepidoptera), Malacosoma dentata (Lasiocampidae, Lepidoptera), and Chondracris rosea (Acrididae, Orthoptera) were multiple detected from single vessel. Therefore, we suggest that hitchhiker monitoring on vessels travelling along navigated routes should be conducted in addition to performing a risk assessment of hitchhiker insect pest species not distributed in Korea that includes regulated species.