Location: Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit
Project Number: 8010-22000-031-073-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Jun 15, 2023
End Date: Oct 27, 2024
Objective:
The primary purpose of this agreement is to develop biological control agents for application against spotted lanternfly (SLF) Lycorma delicatula, an exotic invasive planthopper.
Objective 1. Collection of SLF populations and parasitoids in China: this includes (1) hand-carrying discovered parasitoids by collaborators to the APHIS FPML and/or ARS BIIRU quarantine facilities for rearing and evaluations, and (2) working with our collaborators in China to support their research evaluating potential non-target hosts that could be attacked by A. orientalis or D. sinicus.
Objective 2. Quarantine evaluations of SLF parasitoids collected in China: this includes (1) rearing and establishing colonies of newly collected D. sinicus from China, and potentially A. orientalis if new, promising haplotypes are detected; (2) conducting quarantine assays to evaluate some aspects of the biology, efficiency, and climatic adaptability of D. sinicus (e.g., host searching behavior, temperature range, functional response and reproductive biology) that complement collaborators agenda; (3) supporting /assisting UD cooperators to complete behavioral bioassays of A. orientalis’s responses towards host kairomones of SLF and P. fuliginosa; and (4) supporting lab-rearing of North American non-target species for host specificity testing (field collections of nymphs and adults of selected non-target species will be conducted primarily by UD cooperators, while other non-targets are already in culture at ARS-BIIRU).
Objective 3. Evaluations of resident egg parasitoids: this includes (1) participating in monitoring local SLF populations in DE and adjacent regions for occurrence of extant natural enemies. Eggs and nymphs from local populations will be collected during the 2023 field season and held for rearing in the laboratory to record any parasitism; (2) supporting UD cooperators to conduct behavioral bioassays; and (3) establishing A. reduvii for evaluations (e.g., host searching behavior of A. reduvii on SLF and other alternative hosts).
Objective 4. Visit RCS collaborators in China and Taiwan: PI will visit RCS collaborators in China and Taiwan to discuss recent research progress and future directions with the aim of coordinating to finish collating and summarizing the results of the surveys to prepare those findings for distribution and publication and maintaining close collaborations.
Approach:
Objective 1, ARS PIs will join Chinese cooperators to perform part of these surveys in July 2023 and June-July 2024. Wherever SLF populations are found, eggs and nymphs will be collected, returned to the CAF laboratory, and held for any parasitoid emergence and identification. Collected live parasitoids and parasitized host materials will be hand-carried back under APHIS permit to the APHIS FPML and/or the ARS BIIRU labs for rearing and evaluations.
Objective 2, ARS will establish a SLF colony on plotted plants of tree of heaven and obtain/establish/maintain quarantine colonies of A. orientalis and D. sinicus. A colony of D. sinicus will be intitled from materials collected in China this July or obtained from APHIS co-PIs at APHIS FPML. All studies on D. sinicus will depend upon success in rearing of this parasitoid; if successful, we will conduct experiments to examine the parasitoid’s functional response to different host densities, some aspects of the parasitoid’s reproductive biology (e.g., egg maturation dynamics), host searching behavior on SLF and P. fuliginosa, and temperature-development relationship. These studies will be conducted here to complement the systematic evaluations of this parasitoid by APHIS and Chinese collaborators. A behavioural catalogue (e.g., antennate, fly, groom, sting, walk, predation etc.) will be developed through preliminary observations of the parasitoid’s searching behaviour. Host searching behaviours will be observed continuously and recorded by an event-recording computer with the Observer. The temporal patterns of behaviour will be examined by constructing behavioural flow diagrams to define the effective behavioral attributes used by the parasitoid to exploit host resources efficiently.
ARS will participate in monitoring local SLF populations in DE and adjacent regions for occurrence of extant natural enemies. Eggs and nymphs from local populations will be collected during the 2023 field season and held for rearing in the laboratory to record any parasitism; (2) support UD cooperators to conduct behavioral bioassays; and (3) establish A. reduvii for evaluations (e.g., host searching behavior of A. reduvii on SLF and other alternative hosts).
ARS PI will visit RCS collaborators in China and Taiwan to discuss recent research progress and future directions with the aim of coordinating to finish collating and summarizing the results of the surveys to prepare those findings for distribution and publication and maintaining close collaborations.
