Potential use of the parasitoid, Praon unicum, in a mass rearing program; assessing the use of an alternative host by Erfan Kevin Vafaie B.Sc. (Hons.), University of Western Ontario, 2009 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Pest Management in the Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science © Erfan Kevin Vafaie 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Erfan Kevin Vafaie Degree: Master of Pest Management Title of Thesis: Potential use of the parasitoid, Praon unicum, in a mass rearing program; assessing the use of an alternative host. Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Zamir Punja, Professor Dr. Jenny Cory Senior Supervisor Professor Dr. Bernard Roitberg Supervisor Professor Dr. Sheila Fitzpatrick Supervisor Research Scientist Dr. Rob McGregor External Examiner Executive Director, Institute of Urban Ecology Douglas College Date Defended/Approved: January 23, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence Abstract Praon unicum Smith (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a naturally occurring parasitoid of a common highbush blueberry aphid in British Columbia (BC), Ericaphis fimbriata Richards (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The possibility of managing E. fimbriata using P. unicum in a mass rearing and release program has been previously suggested, however, rearing large numbers of P. unicum on E. fimbriata is not economic or practical. I investigated the consequences of using an alternative host, Myzus persicae Sulzer (Hemiptera: Aphididae), grown on pepper plants, to rear P. unicum. I found that rearing on an alternative host for many generations (~20) had a negative influence on P. unicum’s ability to oviposit in E. fimbriata; however, the alternative host did not influence the total number of offspring that emerged, male:female offspring ratio, offspring development time, or offspring size for P. unicum on E. fimbriata. The implications of using an alternative host for mass rearing P. unicum as a management strategy are discussed. Keywords: Mass rear and release; natal host; augmentation; biological control. iii Dedication To my parents, who have always been supportive, loving, and have made innumerable sacrifices to give me a happy life. I always love you and can only hope to be parents as good as you are some day. And to, Baha’u’llah and other sources of Light in the world that have served as inspiration and direction for my path of service in life. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr.Jenny Cory for being an exquisite supervisor - her level of encouragement, time commitment, effort and care made this thesis possible. Although I wish she didn’t spend so many nights and weekends assisting me with my work, I am very grateful. Dr.Cory never closed any doors but rather enabled me to learn and grow into my potential during my studies. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr.Sheila Fitzpatrick and Dr.Bernard Roitberg. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities Dr.Fitzpatrick provided me to learn more about my model system, how to rear my colonies and conduct experiments. Without that opportunity, my Masters would have taken significantly longer (P<0.001). I was also very fortunate to have the help of Dr.Roitberg, who shared his great experience with population dynamics models and parasitoid-host work. I would like to thank Dr.Sneh Mathur for all of her assistance and providing the insect colonies. Dr.Dave Gillespie and Peggie Clarke shared their advice, resources, and technical assistance with dissections. Thank you to Dr.Michelle Franklin for her statistical advice. Brad Alexander, Moein Ferdosian and Rafel Sulaiman for their assistance with experiments, thank you. My brother, Faran Vafaie, and a dear friend, Azura Cook, for taking the time to read and edit my thesis, thank you. I would also like to thank Dr.Brent Sinclair for providing my first opportunity to work with insects in a lab. You helped me appreciate the world of insects. Dr.Jeremy McNeil, who taught me about the practical component of studying insect-plant interactions and provided me with many opportunities to continue research in the field of biological control. Dr.McNeil was vital to my passion in biological control, and I would not have discovered Dr.Cory or the MPM program without his direction and advice. And finally, I would like to thank our sponsors: NSERC Discovery grant to Jenny S. Cory, Simon Fraser University President’s Research Start-up grant to Jenny S. Cory, Thelma Finlayson entrance scholarship to Erfan K. Vafaie, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, and Simon Fraser University. v Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................. ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ v Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... ix The Little Things ............................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Highbush Blueberries in British Columbia ......................................................................... 1 Aphid Pests of Blueberry .................................................................................................. 2 Parasitoids ........................................................................................................................ 3 Mass rearing and release ................................................................................................. 4 Alternative host ................................................................................................................. 5 My Questions .................................................................................................................... 6 References ........................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2: Influence of natal host on oviposition success of the parasitoid Praon unicum on the aphid Ericaphis fimbriata ................................. 10 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 10 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 11 Methods .......................................................................................................................... 13 Results ............................................................................................................................ 18 Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 20 References ...................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3: The influence of natal host on the lifetime fertility, development time, average generation time, and intrinsic rate of increase of the parasitoid Praon unicum in the aphid Ericaphis fimbriata ................................................................................................. 35 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 35 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 36 Methods .......................................................................................................................... 40 Results ............................................................................................................................ 45 Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 47 References ...................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 4: Conclusion .................................................................................................. 64 References ...................................................................................................................... 67 Appendices… ................................................................................................................ 69 Appendix A. Hyperparasitoids