First record of the introduced ladybird beetle, Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758), on South Georgia (sub‐Antarctic)

Tichit, Pierre; Roy, Helen E.; Convey, Peter; Brickle, Paul; Newton, Rosemary J.; Dawson, Wayne

doi:10.1002/ece3.10513

First record of the introduced ladybird beetle, Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758), on South Georgia (sub‐Antarctic)

Tichit, Pierre; Roy, Helen E.; Convey, Peter; Brickle, Paul; Newton, Rosemary J.; Dawson, Wayne

Authors

Dr Pierre Tichit pierre.tichit@durham.ac.uk
Post Doctoral Research Associate

Helen E. Roy

Peter Convey

Paul Brickle

Rosemary J. Newton

Dr Wayne Dawson wayne.dawson@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Biological invasions represent a growing threat to islands and their biodiversity across the world. The isolated sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean is a highly protected area that relies on effective biosecurity including prevention, surveillance and eradication to limit the risk of biological invasions. Based on an opportunistic field discovery, we provide the first report of an introduced ladybird beetle on South Georgia. All specimens discovered belong to the Eurasian species Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Tens of individuals of both sexes were discovered at a single location, indicating that the species may already be established on South Georgia. Transport connectivity with this site suggests that the species most likely arrived recently from the Falkland Islands as a stowaway on a ship. We discuss the implications of our discovery for the continued development of South Atlantic biosecurity.

Citation

Tichit, P., Roy, H. E., Convey, P., Brickle, P., Newton, R. J., & Dawson, W. (2023). First record of the introduced ladybird beetle, Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758), on South Georgia (sub‐Antarctic). Ecology and Evolution, 13(9), https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10513

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Aug 25, 2023
Online Publication Date	Sep 10, 2023
Publication Date	2023-09
Deposit Date	Sep 19, 2023
Publicly Available Date	Sep 19, 2023
Journal	Ecology and Evolution
Electronic ISSN	2045-7758
Publisher	Wiley Open Access
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	13
Issue	9
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10513
Keywords	Nature and Landscape Conservation; Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1742745

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Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.