Details

Categorie: 
Stages
Functie: 
Student (HBO)
Student (MBO)
Student (University)
Department: 
Terrestrial Ecology
Contact: 
Jetske de Boer
Sluitingsdatum: 
maandag 31 december 2018

Biological control, the use of insect parasitoids to reduce the population of insect pests, is the most environmentally safe and cost-effective pest-management method currently available. However, hyperparasitoids (parasitoids of parasitoids) represent a major constraint for biocontrol.

Hyperparasitoids are sometimes reported to kill virtually all parasitoids of aphids in greenhouse horticulture, representing a major constraint for the sustainable management of indoor-grown vegetables worldwide.

In this project, we aim to control hyperparasitoids in sweet pepper crops in The Netherlands by developing lures (baits) that attract the hyperparasitoids away from the crop.

To be able to develop these lures, we first need to know which cues hyperparasitoids use to find their host, as only very limited information on hyperparasitoid foraging behaviour is currently available.

Skills

Students will work within a larger project, which is a collaboration between the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), WUR Entomology and Greenhouse Horticulture, Koppert Biological Systems (one of the largest biocontrol companies in the world) and Pherobank. The project is funded by the Dutch Technology Foundation STW.

The experimental work performed by the students can include laboratory experiments on hyperparasitoid behaviour, hyperparasitoid performance and chemical analyses of plant and insect volatiles (by GC-MS). Hyperparasitoid behaviour can be studied by performing multiple- and two-choice experiments in a flight tunnel or y-tube olfactometer. Hyperparasitoid performance can be studied by measuring e.g. development time, adult size and reproductive success. 

For all experiments, we will use two hyperparasitoid species that are currently reared at the NIOO, as well as different plant, aphid and parasitoid species to vary the identity of the host-plant complex.

Contact

Jetske de Boer
Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB, Wageningen
Tel: 0317-473632, J.deBoer@nioo.knaw.nl