What is an exotic pest?

Answer 1

: 'Exotic' by definition implies non-native status. Therefore, an exotic pest would be one that migrates or is imported to a new location in which there are no natural predators or other controls on its proliferation. : The result of the introduction of a species into an ecosystem that evolved without them, exotic pests have no natural predators in their new environments. Native species may not have the defenses necessary to ward off a novel predator, and introduced species can out-compete native species and drive them to extinction or change an ecosystem by altering relationships within it. : Gypsy moths (imported into the US in an effort to produce domestic silk), the Mediterranean fruit fly (imported on foreign produce), and the zebra mussel (transported to the Great Lakes on the hull of a European tanker) are all examples of exotic pests capable of causing significant disruption in their adopted environments.