Original paper
Global analysis of the geographic distribution and establishment risk of stored Coleoptera species using a self-organizing map
Qin, Yujia; Stejskal, Vaclav; Vendl, Tomas; Zhang, Yuan; Li, Tong; Ullah, Farman; Zhao, Zihua; Aulicky, Radek; Kadlec, Jakub; Li, Zhihong
Entomologia Generalis Volume 43 Number 2 (2023), p. 337 - 347
published: May 25, 2023
published online: Feb 9, 2023
manuscript accepted: Dec 16, 2022
final revised version received: Dec 4, 2022
manuscript revision requested: Oct 23, 2022
manuscript received: Jul 11, 2022
DOI: 10.1127/entomologia/2023/1740
Open Access (paper may be downloaded free of charge)
Abstract
Storage Coleoptera species, many of which spread through intensive international trade in commodities, are important pests that threaten food safety and security. However, a global analysis of the distribution of storage pest species and an assessment of the risk of their establishment in new geographical areas has not been carried out. Thus, the aim of this work was to use a self-organizing map (SOM) to predict the risk of new occurrence and distribution of storage beetles from current occurrence data. First, we summarized the species composition of storage beetles in various countries and continents. Then, a global presence/absence dataset, including 263 stored beetles from 33 families in 171 countries, was analyzed with SOM to categorize countries based on their similarities in species assemblages. We found similar pest assemblages in geographically distant countries such as the US and China, India and South Africa, where commodity trade is high. We also identified similar pest assemblages in geographically close countries indicating a greater threat to each other (e.g., some regions of Europe or Southeast Asia were clustered together). Analysis showed that Asia, Africa, and Oceania had the highest number of unique assemblages of species. Using impact levels and the SOM approach, we ranked the risk of establishment for stored beetles to identify species that may pose new biosecurity risks for each country. The risk of new establishments was separately analyzed for Trogoderma granarium, since it is a key quarantine and invasive storage species. We suggest that further research could be conducted on the common characteristics of beetle species that co-occur in the stored commodity assemblages we have identified.
Keywords
stored-product beetles •
geographical distribution •
Coleoptera •
self-organizing map •
establishment risk •
Trogoderma granarium