Date Available
5-8-2020
Year of Publication
2020
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department/School/Program
Entomology
First Advisor
Dr. Lynne Rieske-Kinney
Abstract
Emerald ash borer, EAB, (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) is an invasive beetle that kills ash trees. It was accidentally introduced from China, and has rapidly expanded across North America, now occupying much of the eastern US. Four classical biocontrol parasitoids have been released to help mitigate its spread and impact: Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang, Spathius agrili Yang, S. galinae Belokobylskij and Strazanac, and Oobius agrili Zhang and Huang. These parasitoids have been deployed throughout EAB’s invaded range, but there has been limited recovery of the parasitoids from their release sites in southern states. I evaluated whether this lack of establishment might be linked to life cycle asynchrony between the parasitoids and EAB. EAB can have a 2- or 1-year life cycle, with the 2-year appearing more common in the north (~> 40°N) and 1-year more common in the south (~> 40°N) and 1-year more common in the south (~< 40°N). I evaluated EAB development across a latitudinal gradientfrom Georgia, Kentucky, and Michigan, and assessed parasitoid establishment in Kentucky.
Evidence of a 2-year life cycle was found as far south as 34°N in Georgia. There is little evidence of parasitoid establishment in Kentucky. These findings suggest that latitude may not be the sole factor influencing EAB life cycle in North America.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.159
Funding Information
USDA-APHIS, 2018-2020
Recommended Citation
Pellecchia, Sarah, "EMERALD ASH BORER DEVELOPMENT ACROSS A LATITUDINAL GRADIENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOCONTROL" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--Entomology. 55.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/entomology_etds/55
