University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation
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BEHAVIORAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND OUTREACH APPROACHES TO THE MANAGEMENT OF Microtheca ochroloma STÅL (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) By ANGIE ALEJANDRA NIÑO BELTRAN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2016 © 2016 Angie Alejandra Niño Beltrán To my beloved husband, my family, and friends, without their support and love, none of this would have happened ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To begin with, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Ronald Cave who has been a great mentor and whose patience, motivation, support, and immense knowledge have provided me the guidance and encouragement needed during the research and writing stages of my dissertation. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my committee, Dr. Heather McAuslane, Dr. Oscar Liburd, and Dr. Xin Zhao, for their insightful suggestions, comments, and expertise which made substantial improvements to this study. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Pasco Avery who provided me access to his laboratory. His experience and receptivity provided me with ideas to improve my research. I thank the students, interns, and personnel at the Biological Control Research and Containment Laboratory and the Indian River Research and Education Center for all their help when doing my research and all the fun we had at the BBQs during these last 4 years. Also, I am grateful to my classmates and friends in the Entomology and Nematology Department. I want to thank the Departamento de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of Colombia and Fulbright for sponsoring my doctorate studies at the University of Florida. Similarly, thanks are due to the USDA Organic Agricultural Research and Extension Initiative and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for supporting my research. I must thank Diane Cordeau for her cooperation during the execution of my experiments. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, sisters, and brother, my husband, and my in-laws for supporting me spiritually throughout my studies and life in general. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 16 Distribution of Microtheca ochroloma Stål ............................................................... 16 Host Plants and Insect Damage ............................................................................. 16 Description and Life Cycle ...................................................................................... 17 Seasonality ............................................................................................................. 19 Management Strategies .......................................................................................... 24 3 EFFECT OF THREE ENTOMOPATHOGENIC FUNGI ON THE FECUNDITY AND FERTILITY OF MICROTHECA OCHROLOMA STÅL (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE)................................................................................................ 35 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 37 Plant material ................................................................................................... 37 Insect colony .................................................................................................... 37 Fungal formulations .......................................................................................... 38 Experiment 1. Insects dipped in fungal solutions .............................................. 39 Experiment 2. Insects fed leaves applied with fungal solutions ........................ 41 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................ 42 Results .................................................................................................................... 42 Experiment 1. Insects dipped in fungal solutions .............................................. 43 Experiment 2. Insects fed leaves applied with fungal solutions ........................ 45 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 46 4 EFFECT OF NON-CRUCIFER EXTRACTS ON HERVIBORY BY ADULTS OF MICROTHECA OCHROLOMA STÅL (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) ......... 55 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 57 Plants and insects ............................................................................................ 57 Non-crucifer essential oils ................................................................................ 57 Experiment 1. No-choice test ........................................................................... 58 Experiment 2. Paired choice test ...................................................................... 59 5 Experiment 3. Whole plant paired choice test .................................................. 59 Experiment 4. Starvation time .......................................................................... 60 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................ 60 Results .................................................................................................................... 61 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 63 5 EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AND LONG-DAY PHOTOPERIOD ON THE REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF ADULTS OF MICROTHECA OCHROLOMA STÅL (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) .................................. 71 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 73 Plants and insects ............................................................................................ 73 Experimental design ......................................................................................... 73 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................ 74 Results .................................................................................................................... 74 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 75 6 OUTREACH TO CRUCIFEROUS CROP GROWERS ........................................... 82 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 83 Online Survey ................................................................................................... 83 Extension Training ............................................................................................ 84 EDIS publication ............................................................................................... 84 Results .................................................................................................................... 85 Online Survey ................................................................................................... 85 Extension Training ............................................................................................ 86 EDIS publication ............................................................................................... 87 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 87 7 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 93 APPENDIX A ON-LINE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................... 95 B EXTENSION TRAINING SURVEY FORMAT SPANISH VERSION ..................... 102 C EXTENSION TRAINING SURVEY FORMAT ENGLISH VERSION ..................... 104 D POSTER USED IN THE EXTENSION TRAINING ................................................ 106 E EDIS PUBLICATION ENGLISH VERSION ........................................................... 107 F EDIS PUBLICATION SPANISH VERSION ........................................................... 130 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 155 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 165 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1. Microtheca ochroloma fecundity and fertility after dipping females in three entomopathogenic fungal formulations. .............................................................. 52 3-2. Net reproductive rate per treatment after dipping the insects or spraying leaves with fungal solutions. .........................................................................................