The Effects of Increasing Crop Diversity on Populations Of
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THE EFFECTS OF INCREASING CROP DIVERSITY ON POPULATIONS OF WHEAT STEM SAWFLY (CEPHUS CINCTUS) AND ASSOCIATED BRACONID PARASITOIDS by Benjamin Vernon Fischer A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Entomology MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana April 2019 ©COPYRIGHT by Benjamin Vernon Fischer 2019 All Rights Reserved ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................................71 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 71 The Wheat Stem Sawfly .................................................................................................. 4 Biology .................................................................................................................... 4 Crop Damage .......................................................................................................... 6 Control .................................................................................................................... 9 Tillage ......................................................................................................... 9 Trap Crops ................................................................................................ 10 Plant Resistance ........................................................................................ 12 Chemical Control ...................................................................................... 16 Biology Control ........................................................................................ 17 Bracon cephi (Gahan) and Bracon lissogaster Muesebeck .......................................... 20 Impact of Body Size on Parasitoid Fitness ........................................................... 23 Importance of Biodiversity to Biological Control......................................................... 25 Benefits of Floral Resources to Adult Parasitoids ........................................................ 30 Habitat Fragmentation and Complexity ........................................................................ 32 Using Pheromone Traps to Estimate Larval Density .................................................... 34 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................... 34 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................................38 Sites ............................................................................................................................... 38 Emergence Barrels ........................................................................................................ 44 Postharvest samples....................................................................................................... 46 Field Trapping ............................................................................................................... 47 2016....................................................................................................................... 47 2017....................................................................................................................... 48 Land-use Data ............................................................................................................... 49 Statistical Analysis ........................................................................................................ 50 3. RESULTS ......................................................................................................................52 Emergence Barrel Results ............................................................................................. 52 Field Trapping Results .................................................................................................. 57 Postharvest Stem Samples ............................................................................................. 64 4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................76 Study Objectives: .......................................................................................................... 76 Effects of Landscape Composition: .............................................................................. 87 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED Conclusions: .................................................................................................................. 93 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................95 APPENDIX A: SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL ...........................................................117 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1: Annual damage to wheat caused by WSS across Montana. ........................................... 2 2: Site descriptions for wheat fields next to fallow. .......................................................... 38 3: Site description information for wheat fields next to pulse or cover crops. ................. 40 4: Emergence barrel counts 2016 ...................................................................................... 54 5: Emergence barrel counts 2017. ..................................................................................... 55 6: Emergence barrel Bracon cephi tibia length................................................................. 56 7: Emergence barrel Bracon cephi weight. ....................................................................... 57 8: Trap capture 2016 ......................................................................................................... 60 9: Analysis of 2016 trap capture ....................................................................................... 60 10: Trap capture 2017 ....................................................................................................... 61 11: Analysis of 2017 trap capture ..................................................................................... 61 12: Postharvest data 2016 ................................................................................................. 65 13: Postharvest data 2017 ................................................................................................. 66 14: Analysis of postharvest wheat stem sawfly numbers 2016 ........................................ 67 15: Analysis of postharvest parasitoid numbers 2016 ...................................................... 68 16: Analysis of postharvest wheat stem sawfly numbers 2017. ....................................... 69 17: Analysis of postharvest parasitoid numbers 2017. ..................................................... 70 18: Stem cutting data 2016. .............................................................................................. 73 19: Stem cutting data 2017. .............................................................................................. 74 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: Kilohectares of a) total agricultural production, b) cereals, c) pulses, d) fallow, e) strip cropping, and f) cereal and fallow synchronicity in Montana from 2001-2012 ...................................................................27 2: Site locations. The marker for Site 7 is behind Site 6....................................................44 3: Sampling schematic for crop residue collected for use in wheat stem sawfly and parasitoid emergence barrels and postharvest stem samples .............45 4: Example of a trap in the field.........................................................................................62 5: Average wheat stem sawfly trap capture per trap and postharvest sampling regression for 2016.....................................................................62 6: Average wheat stem sawfly trap capture per trap and postharvest sampling regression for 2017.....................................................................62 7: Average parasitoid trap capture per trap and postharvest sampling regression for 2016 ........................................................................................63 8: Average parasitoid trap capture per trap and postharvest sampling regression for 2017 .......................................................................................................63 9: The square root of WSS abundance in postharvest crop residue from each wheat field regressed on the percentage of land within 2 km which is fallow .............75 10: Field maps for the Conrad 3 site in 2016. Light blue represents areas of prairie grasses and dark blue represent areas of riparian grasses ..................80 11: Parasitoid aggregation on sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in the cover crop field at the Conrad 4 site in 2017 ........................................................84 vi ABSTRACT Wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus (Norton) (WSS) is the most damaging pest of wheat in the Northern Great Plains. Insecticides are not widely used to control this insect, and cultural control methods provide inconsistent management of this pest. However, biological control by the parasitoids Bracon cephi (Gahan) and Bracon lissogaster Muesebeck has been shown to reduce damage caused by WSS. In addition, increased agroecosystem diversity has benefitted biological control agents in many other systems. Therefore, this study assessed the effect on populations of WSS and associated