Isolation and Colonization of Parasitoids from Crop Collected Noctuid Pest

Mentor: Rob Meagher

Project:  Korin assisted with the isolation and colonization of field collected parasitoids.  This required her to rear the host (both on artificial diet and the crops they infest), parasitize with Cotesia, Euplectrus, and Meteorus spp. in order to establish parasitoid colonies for future study.   This required that she be able to sex the host pupae and adult parasitoids.   Then there was the unglamorous support tasks that goes with rearing insects such as dishes, diet, staging, etc.

Korin harvesting Bermuda grass to be used for the tropical sod webworms colony which is reared on cultivated plants.

Colony maintenance of parasitoids which attack the crop pest Spodoptera frugiperda.

Isolating the crop pest (Spodoptera frugiperda) relative to their sex during their pupal stage.