Are there limiting factors to pest establishment?
The absence of suitable host plants at a susceptible stage for infestation in the vicinity of likely points of introduction is a potential barrier to establishment. Is there a history of establishment of the pest in new environments overseas? The currently accepted hypothesis is that CPB originated in Mexico where it fed exclusively on buffalo burr, Solanum rostratum Ramur. The expansion of white civilisation in Central America and the United States resulted in development of cattle ranches and trade. This trade resulted in a spread of buffalo burr into the southern and central USA, and Leptinotarsa decemlineata followed the expansion of its host. CPB was first detected in 1811 in the Rocky Mountains. About 60 years after first discovery, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) was reported to have caused serious damage to potatoes in the Great Plains area. In its original range and ecosystem, the beetle either didn’t have any contact with the cultivated potato, or the potato in its primitive
