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  4. Biological Control of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid: Implications of Adult Emergence Patterns of Two Leucopis spp. and Laricobius nigrinus Larval Drop

Biological Control of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid: Implications of Adult Emergence Patterns of Two Leucopis spp. and Laricobius nigrinus Larval Drop

File(s)
Dietschler_cornell_0058O_11103.pdf (1.03 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://doi.org/10.7298/d97b-4f24
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/103464
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Dietschler, Nicholas Joseph
Abstract

The hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae Adelges tsugae Annand) poses a serious threat to hemlocks in eastern North America, and ongoing research is focused on the identification and development of biological controls to protect and manage hemlock resources. Three predators native to the Pacific Northwest of North America that have been the focus of much research are Leucopis argenticollis (Zetterstedt), Leucopis piniperda (Malloch) (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae), and Laricobius nigrinus (Fender) (Coleoptera: Derodontidae). This study addresses the knowledge gap of adult Leucopis spp. emergence patterns, with comparisons to the timing of larval La. nigrinus drop for pupation. Adult Leucopis spp. emergence was observed in the lab from field-collected, adelgid-infested foliage from Washington state in 2019 and 2020. Adult Leucopis spp. were collected daily as they emerged from foliage collections and identified to species using morphological features; a subset was validated using DNA barcoding. Accumulated heating degree days were calculated to compare a standardized emergence timing across collections made at different locations and temperature regimes. The abundance of the two Leucopis spp. and of the combined Leucopis spp. and La. nigrinus varied among sites and years, and no species was consistently more abundant than the other. Evaluations of seasonal emergence trends of the three species determine the predator complex behaves in a temporally stratified and predictable way. Emergence of adult Le. argenticollis was observed first, followed by La. nigrinus larval drop, with Le piniperda emerging at the end of larval drop, and finally a second emergence of Le. argenticollis.

Description
43 pages
Date Issued
2020-12
Keywords
Adelges tsugae
•
biological control
•
community ecology
•
Laricobius
•
Leucopis
Committee Chair
Fahey, Timothy James
Committee Member
O'Grady, Patrick Michael
Degree Discipline
Natural Resources
Degree Name
M.S., Natural Resources
Degree Level
Master of Science
Type
dissertation or thesis
Link(s) to Catalog Record
https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/13312196

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