Abstract
Global climate change is resulting in a wide range of biotic responses, including changes in diel activity and seasonal phenology patterns, range shifts polewards in each hemisphere and/or to higher elevations, and altered intensity and frequency of interactions between species in ecosystems. Oak (Thaumetopoea processionea) and pine (T. pityocampa) processionary moths (hereafter OPM and PPM, respectively) are thermophilic species that are native to central and southern Europe. The larvae of both species are gregarious and produce large silken ‘nests’ that they use to congregate when not feeding. During outbreaks, processionary caterpillars are capable of stripping foliage from their food plants (oak and pine trees), generating considerable economic damage. Moreover, the third to last instar caterpillars of both species produce copious hairs as a means of defence against natural enemies, including both vertebrate and invertebrate predators, and parasitoids. These hairs contain the toxin thaumetopoein that causes strong allergic reactions when it comes into contact with human skin or other membranes. In response to a warming climate, PPM is expanding its range northwards, while OPM outbreaks are increasing in frequency and intensity, particularly in northern Germany, the Netherlands, and southern U.K., where it was either absent or rare previously. Here, we discuss how warming and escape from co-evolved natural enemies has benefitted both species, and suggest possible strategies for biological control.
Highlights
The field of invasion ecology is an important component of global change biology [1]
We evaluate potential strategies for the biological control of processionary moths and studied than any other Thaumetopoea species, and much can be learned from studies on its population conclude with a research agenda
Host trees are present beyond the edges of the current ranges of both species and do not appear to limit range expansion, local differences in tree defence chemistry may influence their suitability for processionary moths, and influence the speed of range expansion
Summary
The field of invasion ecology is an important component of global change biology [1]. A small subset of invasive species become serious pests in their new habitats, disrupting ecosystems and altering the structure of food webs and communities, and in the process driving local declines (or even extinctions) in native species. The ERH predicts that invasive species escape from their co-evolved natural enemies from their original range, often because they possess novel traits such as defence (NWH), and as a result can re-allocate limited metabolic energy away from defence towards growth or reproduction (EICA). Numerous studies have shown that plants and animals that successfully establish in new habitats possess novel traits, such as secondary metabolites in plants, or high reproductive potential in animals, that enable them to out-compete native species [2,11,12,13]
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