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Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Section Symposium

Biocontrol of Drosophila suzukii: Status Updates on Natural Enemies and Ecological Considerations

What we know, and don't know, about the ecology of larval parasitoids of spotted-wing drosophila in their adventive North American range

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

2:14 PM – 2:26 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 204

Presenting Author(s)

Paul K. Abram

Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agassiz, Québec, Canada

Co-author(s)

Michelle T. Franklin

Entomologist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada
Tracy K. Hueppelsheuser

Entomologist
British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Chandra E. Moffat

Research Scientist - Entomology
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Co-Author(s)

JC

Juli Carrillo

Assistant Professor
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Before their release and establishment, most of what we know about the biology of candidate classical biological control agents comes from laboratory studies. The unexpected detection of the Asian larval parasitoids Leptopilina japonica and Ganaspis brasiliensis in the Pacific Northwest of North America in 2019 presented an opportunity to learn a great deal about their ecology while releases were still in their early stages elsewhere. We will summarize the effort that has been undertaken by our team, in collaboration with researchers in the USA, to understand “the basics” of the ecology of these parasitoids, and what questions remain about their potential to reduce populations of D. suzukii enough to have a meaningful impact on IPM efforts against this pest.