Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Noctuidae (Lepidoptera) Hosts in North America
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HOST RANGE AND MULTITROPHIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE PARASITOID COTESIA VANESSAE (HYMENOPTERA: BRACONIDAE) AND NOCTUIDAE (LEPIDOPTERA) HOSTS IN NORTH AMERICA VINCENT ALAIN DANIEL HERVET Diplôme Universitaire et Technologique Génie Biologique, Spécialité Agronomie, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France, 2007 Diplôme d’Ingénieur Agriculture, Spécialité Production Végétale, Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais, Beauvais, France, 2010 A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (BIOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY) (Evolutionary Biology) Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Vincent Alain Daniel Hervet, 2017 HOST RANGE AND MULTITROPHIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE PARASITOID COTESIA VANESSAE (HYMENOPTERA: BRACONIDAE) AND NOCTUIDAE (LEPIDOPTERA) HOSTS IN NORTH AMERICA VINCENT ALAIN DANIEL HERVET Date of Defense: November 22, 2016 Dr. Robert Laird Associate Professor Ph.D. Co-supervisor Dr. Kevin Floate Research Scientist Ph.D. Co-supervisor Dr. Theresa Burg Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. Matthew Letts Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Associate Dean of Arts and Science Dr. Rob Bourchier Research Scientist Ph.D. Internal Examiner Adjunct Professor Dr. Jeff Harvey Research Scientist Ph.D. External Examiner Netherlands Institute of Ecology Wageningen, Netherlands Dr. Brent Selinger Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee ii To my parents and my wife, for having always supported my passion for entomology iii ABSTRACT Caterpillars in the family Noctuidae are important crop pests. After discovering the parasitoid Cotesia vanessae in the Nearctic region, which was previously only known from the Palearctic and Afrotropic regions, I investigated its fundamental host range on North American Lepidoptera and found that it could parasitize a large number of species of Noctuidae. Its fitness varied among host species, and Plusiinae species appeared to be the best hosts. Nearly all hosts in this experiment were reared on McMorran diet, which appeared to have varying suitability among Lepidoptera species. Through a second experiment, I showed that the fitness of the parasitoid and that of its host varied according to host food quality. Thus, parasitoid fitness on different hosts is partly conditioned by diet quality. This study shows that C. vanessae can parasitize a large number of Noctuidae and can be easily mass-reared, which could make it an ideal biological control agent. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisors Rob Laird and Kevin Floate for their outstanding support and advice during this research. I also thank Paul Coghlin, Bob Byers, and Héctor Cárcamo and his lab for various technical assistance; John Dedes and the staff at IPS for providing custom orders of McMorran diet; José Fernández-Triana and Mark Shaw for help in identifying parasitoids, collaboration, and advice; Kayla Johnson, Jayden Dyck, Briana Smith, Braidon Schaufert, Marko Mićović, and Abbey Brusky for technical support and their great enthusiasm; Henry Murillo, Michaela Schmitke, Shelley Barkley, Melissa Fry, and Jessica Kwon for providing insect species; and Stephanie Harris for providing pictures of parasitoids. This research was supported by the Canola Council of Canada (Canola Agronomic Research Program Project 2012–1, to K.D.F.), Alberta Conservation Association (Grants in Biodiversity, to V.A.D.H.), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant, to R.A.L.). v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... v Table of contents ........................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. ix List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: General introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Context ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Goals of the study ............................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Identification and biology of Cotesia vanessae. First report of this species in North America ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2.1. Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.2. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 18 2.3. Collections ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.1. From Ontario .......................................................................................................... 20 2.3.2. From Alberta ........................................................................................................... 21 2.4. Current known range ..................................................................................................... 22 2.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3: Evaluation of the host range and fitness of the parasitoid Cotesia vanessae on North American Lepidoptera, particularly pestiferous Noctuidae ........................................... 29 3.1. Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 29 3.2. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 30 3.3. Materials and Methods ................................................................................................. 33 3.3.1. Insect collection ...................................................................................................... 33 3.3.2. Insect identification ................................................................................................ 34 3.3.3. Colony rearing ........................................................................................................ 34 3.3.4. Host-range and host-fitness testing ....................................................................... 36 3.3.5. Phylogeny of lepidopteran species ......................................................................... 40 3.3.6. Investigating parasitized caterpillars that did not produce parasitoids ................. 40 3.3.7. Data analyses .......................................................................................................... 42 3.4. Results ........................................................................................................................... 44 3.4.1. Fitness of C. vanessae in relation to host species .................................................. 44 3.4.2. Oviposition testing .................................................................................................. 48 3.4.3. Testing if C. vanessae causes premature death of Lepidoptera larvae .................. 49 3.5. Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 4: A review of the McMorran diet for rearing Lepidoptera species with addition of a further 39 species ..................................................................................................................... 77 4.1. Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 77 4.2. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 77 4.3. Materials and Methods ................................................................................................. 79 4.4. Results and Discussion ................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 5: Multi-trophic effects of protein-restricted diet on the development and fitness of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and its parasitoid Cotesia vanessae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) ..................................................................................... 96 5.1. Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 96 vi 5.2. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 97 5.3. Materials and methods