Location: Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit
Project Number: 8010-30400-001-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Oct 1, 2025
End Date: Sep 30, 2030
Objective:
Objective 1: Discover, evaluate, and introduce host-specific parasitoids for insect pests such as Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, and spotted wing drosophila.
Subobjective 1a: Exploration for the discovery of new biological control agents.
Subobjective 1b: Evaluation and introduction of candidate natural enemies.
Subjective 1c. Quarantine services and natural enemy rearing.
Objective 2: Determine the biological, physiological, behavioral, ecological, and genetic bases of the host specificity of candidate biological control agents, including parasitoids, for introduction and control of invasive pest insects, such as brown marmorated stink bug, Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, spotted lanternfly, and spotted wing drosophila, and their parasitoids.
Objective 2a – Elucidate behavioral, ecological and physiological mechanisms underlying host selection and specificity.
Objective 2b - Determining genetic architectures of host specificity.
Objective 3: Evaluate impacts of indigenous and introduced parasitoids on populations of invasive insect pests and native non-target insects, such as emerald ash borer and spotted wing drosophila.
Objective 4: Make mathematical models to predict the evolution of host specificity and the responses to climate change for developing methods to manage pests such as such as aphids, emerald ash borer, and spotted wing drosophila.
Approach:
Invasive insect pests cause severe damage to agricultural crops and forests in the United States. Effective and sustainable reductions of invasive pest abundances and impacts have been achieved by natural enemies (primarily parasitoids) introduced from geographic regions of pest origin. The proposed research seeks to develop knowledge bases of the behavior, ecology, physiology, and genetics of targeted pests and their natural enemies for development of effective biological control strategies and associated technologies against high-impact invasive insect pests such as spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (order Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae), brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Using these knowledge bases, this project seeks to sustainably manage populations of these invasive pests with minimum adverse effects on the environment. In addition, this project will provide quarantine services, host range data and mass-rearing technologies for natural enemies of high priority plant pests to state and federal agencies.