Jewels on the go: exotic buprestids around the world (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)

Abstract

Buprestidae (Coleoptera: Buprestoidea) is one of the three wood-borer beetle groups of major phytosanitary interest worldwide, together with Cerambycidae and Scolytinae (Curculionidae). As in other beetle families, some buprestid species have been unintentionally or intentionally introduced around the world, in some cases causing significant environmental and economic damage in the invaded territories. Despite the phytosanitary relevance of the Buprestidae, information regarding the identity of exotic buprestids, their biogeographic areas of origin, introduction pathways, and larval host plants, have remained scattered in the literature. Our objective was to summarize much of the existing knowledge on these topics in the present paper. Our analysis resulted in a list of 115 exotic buprestids worldwide, representing introductions both within and between biogeographic realms and corresponding to less than 1% of the known buprestid species worldwide. Invasiveness does not seem to be linked to their larval host plant preferences, as introduced species utilize 158 plant genera in 70 plant families and are equally represented in all feeding guilds (monophagous, oligophagous, and polyphagous). As trade of plants or plant parts can serve as a pathway for future introductions, the information reported in this review can help in pest risk assessment.