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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 30, 2026

Isolation and Selection of Entomopathogenic Fungi from Soil Samples and Evaluation of Fungal Virulence against Insect Pests

Isolation and Selection of Entomopathogenic Fungi from Soil Samples and Evaluation of Fungal Virulence against Insect Pests

Published on: September 28, 2021

Introduced species and their missing parasites.

Mark E Torchin¹, Kevin D Lafferty, Andrew P Dobson

¹Marine Science Institute and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. torchin@lifesci.ucsb.edu

|February 7, 2003

Summary

Introduced species often become pests because they escape natural enemies like parasites. This study found invasive species have fewer parasite species and lower infection rates compared to native populations.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Invasive Species Biology
Parasitology

Background:

Introduced species can cause significant ecological damage due to high population densities and large body sizes.
Escape from natural enemies, particularly parasites, is a key hypothesis explaining the success of invasive species.
Parasites can regulate host populations by reducing density and body size.

Purpose of the Study:

To test the hypothesis that introduced species are less parasitized than native species.
To compare parasite richness and infection intensity between native and introduced populations of various host species.

Main Methods:

Compared parasite communities of 26 exotic host species in their native and introduced ranges.
Included diverse host taxa: molluscs, crustaceans, fishes, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.

Main Results:

Introduced populations harbored half the number of parasite species found in native populations.
Introduced populations exhibited lower infection intensity (percentage of infected individuals) compared to native populations.

Conclusions:

Invasive species experience reduced parasitization, supporting the enemy release hypothesis.
Factors contributing to reduced parasitization include failed parasite introductions, absence of intermediate hosts, and host-specific limitations of native parasites.