Habit Preferences and Fidelity in the Cotesia Flavipes Complex (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Current Preferences and the Potential for Change Through Learning and Selection
Rutledge, Claire Elise
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/86479
Description
Title
Habit Preferences and Fidelity in the Cotesia Flavipes Complex (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Current Preferences and the Potential for Change Through Learning and Selection
Author(s)
Rutledge, Claire Elise
Issue Date
1998
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Robert N. Wiedenmann
Department of Study
Entomology
Discipline
Entomology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biology, Ecology
Language
eng
Abstract
Knowing the host range of a biological control agent is crucial to increasing the probability of controlling a target pest, and to decreasing the possibility of injuring non-target hosts. Here I suggest that testing habitat preference can help predict host ranges of insect parasitoids, and I present the results from tests of three congeneric braconid parasitoids in the Cotesia flavipes complex. These wasps parasitize stemboring larvae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae & Noctuidae) in grasses and have been used as biological control agents in sugar cane and maize. I show that each of the parasitoids has distinct responses to different grass types and that some grasses are preferred to others. Furthermore, I show that, for these three parasitoids, non-target hosts in non-grass habitats are unlikely to be affected by these parasitoids, but that non-target hosts in grasslands of concern might be at risk. I then examine two potential routes for change in the plant preferences of these parasitoids; learning and evolutionary change. I show that the hostplant of their larval host is unlikely to change the plant preferences of the adult wasp. Moreover, through an artificial selection regimen, I show that these wasps are unlikely to shift plant preferences through natural selection. Given my results, I argue that laboratory testing can yield a useful, and accurate picture of parasitoid behavior prior to release, and that this picture is unlikely to change after the parasitoid is released.
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