Biosecurity from non-native insects in Belt and Road countries: the role of donor–receiver patterns and human activity

Abstract The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as a green development initiative, highlights the importance of regional cooperation among participating countries to address the possibility of non-native organisms. We created a database of 8655 non-native insect records from 3059 non-native insect species of 312 families to better understand invasion vulnerability. Results showed that Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera dominated, comprising 72.54% of all recorded non-native insects. Hotspots of non-native insects were primarily developed BRI corridor nations, such as New Zealand, Czechia, Austria and South Africa. These insects largely originated from Asia, Europe, and North America, with Oceania contributing the fewest. Model averaging and PLS path modeling showed that the merchandise imports and international tourism were positively correlated with non-native insect occurrences. 49.63% of the countries, including China, South Korea, Russia and Poland, were identified as medium- to high-vulnerable regions for non-native insect introduction. Finally, we recommend intergovernmental collaboration to promote proactive prevention and control measures for regional biosecurity.