University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts
Winter moth, Operophtera brumata L., is an invasive defoliating caterpillar that established in the northeast United States in the late 1990s from its native range in Europe. It is also a well-known model species for understanding population dynamics and, from prior work conducted in Canada, as an example of successful classical biological control. In Massachusetts, winter moth started causing widespread defoliation in 2003. In 2005, Dr. Joe Elkinton and his lab initiated a classical biological control effort using the specialist tachinid parasitoid Cyzenis albicans. That same year, Dr. Elkinton initiated an evaluation of the role of pupal predators in the control of winter moth populations. This was only one of many simultaneous studies to evaluate the overall ecology of this invasive species including, but not limited to, studies of larval dispersal, synchrony with budburst, egg development, and genetic evaluations. Due to this biological control effort launched by Joe, C. albicans is now successfully established at 41 of 44 release sites extending from coastal Maine to southeastern Connecticut, and winter moth populations have been held at low densities since 2017. From evaluations of the role of pupal predators, we have determined that pupal predators have a regulatory effect on winter moth populations, but only after populations have been reduced, presumably by the introduction of the host-specific parasitoid C. albicans. This talk will showcase this successful biocontrol effort led by Dr. Joe Elkinton and will highlight some of the other impactful ecological studies around winter moth that were completed under his guidance.
