I was curious as to what the evidence for deliberate pest introduction was, so I skimmed the pertinent section of the article, and came away with this: -- the

I was curious as to what the evidence for deliberate pest introduction was, so I skimmed the pertinent section of the article, and came away with this: -- the infestation "jumped" from one part of CA to another -- rumors of an individual bragging about having moved the borer -- borers initially detected in S. CA (ports/airports would make N. CA more likely) -- introductions of borers occurred in bunches with multi-year lulls -- native ranges of borer species all include the same east coast AU state -- the 2 invasive eucalyptus species are particularly suceptible to these borers -- pests have appeared in CA first before spreading; 7 are found only in AU and CA -- nursery trade does not import eucalyptus -- 14/17 of AU pests introduced in CA since 1980 are eucalyptus-specific -- only 2/16 eucalyptus pests arrived with their predators -- no South America / Asia pests have invaded CA, only AU pests Arguments against this theory: -- borer is the only pest so far found that is fatal to the eucalyptus -- pests could survive the 14-15 hour direct flight in a plane's cargo hold