Integrative taxonomy of parasitoid assemblages of forestry and agricultural pests with emphasis on the chestnut gallwasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus
Abordarea integrată a taxonomiei complexelor de parazitoizi ai dăunătorilor forestieri și agricoli, îndeosebi ai viespii galigene a castanilor, Dryocosmus kuriphilus
The project is a bilateral collaboration between the Research Group on the Invertebrate Diversity and Phylogenetics from the Faculty of Biology of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi and the Sophia Agrobiotech Institute in Sophia-Antipolis. It is financed through the Brîncuşi-Hubert Curien partnership between Romania and France, grant no. 89BM/2017.
| French team | Romanian team |
|
Dr. Nicolas Ris (Principal Investigator) Dr. Nicolas Borowiec Dr. Alexandre Bout Dr. Géraldine Groussier-Bout PhD Michela Ion Scotta |
Dr. Lucian Fusu
(Principal Investigator)
|
The objectives of the project are to offer the essential tools for a rapid and exact identification of the parasitoid species that attack the invasive species Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Dk) and several other pests, improving thus significantly the chances for a successful biological control program, and to estimate the magnitude and impact of the eventual hybridisation of the introduced species T. sinensis and the native species of Torymus.
![]() Dryocosmus
kuriphilus galls
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Torymus sinensis
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For this we are:
- (1) Exploring the current biodiversity of the parasitoids associated with Dk in France and Romania (they are partly known in France but the taxonomy of several groups is still problematic). To this we will add parasitoids of gall wasps associated with oaks and egg parasitoids of several pests.
- (2) Generating DNA
barcodes for as many species as possible, especially
those that attack or potentially attack Dk, in order to
facilitate their recognition by non-taxonomists (we will
focus mainly on Eupelmus,
Ormyrus and Torymus).
Additionally we will explore the parasitoids of gall
wasps associated with oaks and the egg parasitoids of
several pests.
- (3) Producing a
detailed morphological characterisation of the
parasitoids of Dk (especially Ormyrus
and Torymus)
using modern imaging equipment and software (the
availability of high resolution images makes correct
identification by non-taxonomists easier).
- (4) Undertaking a
molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Eupelmus
in order to augment the predictive value of the
nomenclature and systematics of this genus.
- (5) Estimating the magnitude and impact of the eventual hybridisation of the introduced species T. sinensis and the native species of Torymus.
The results of this project are newly
generated data and finalising the analysis of those
accumulated during a long collaboration between the
laboratory of Invertebrate Diversity and Phylogenetics
and the Sophia Agrobiotech Institute that started in
2012. In this context we genetically analysed almost
1000 Torymus
specimens in order to estimate the genetic diversity of
the French populations of Torymus
sinensis in France and establish if it is
usable for eventual new introductions into other EU
states. We also analysed the possibility of the
hybridisation Torymus
sinensis and native species of Torymus,
concluding that this is not happening and is unlikely to
take place in the future. For the genus
Ormyrus we analysed over 100 specimens for
several nuclear and mitochondrial genes, and the results
of molecular species delimitations estimate between five
and 33 species instead of two currently recognised
species. For the genus Eupelmus
we finalised the analyses for a multilocus
phylogeny and completed the matrix with most of the
missing loci and essential species. The topology of the
recovered phylogeny is almost completely resolved, and
we have a good concordance with the current subgeneric
classification based on morphology.
The results that we
obtained do not have a direct economic value, but they
are creating a stable and predictive taxonomic framework
for the biological control. The data generated from this
collaboration will also serve for a PhD thesis on the
parasitoids of gall wasps and an undergraduate thesis on
some egg parasitoids of the true bugs.
Contact
Address:
Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Carol I B-vd., No. 20A,
Iaşi, 700505
Romania
Phone: 40(0)232201072
Fax: 40(0)232201472

