Our biological control agent, Tetrastichus setifer, is emerging in the lab from cocoons sent to us from Switzerland. The females will happily parasitize larvae in Petri dishes and small cages. They don't seem to mind having to lay an egg through all that poop. In fact, they appear to have trouble finding their host if the fecal shield has been removed!
We are letting the wasps do their work in the lab, instead of releasing them into the field. Larvae naturally occurring in our experimental garden will be collected every week to see if they are parasitized by wasps that have successfully overwintered. That way, we will know if our population from our 2010 release is still going strong. Some of the larvae parasitized in the lab, like the one in the picture, will be released into the garden when they are ready to form their cocoons, to bolster the population. Others will be overwintered in the lab. Our goal is to have a big enough population in a couple of years to support releases at other sites.
We are letting the wasps do their work in the lab, instead of releasing them into the field. Larvae naturally occurring in our experimental garden will be collected every week to see if they are parasitized by wasps that have successfully overwintered. That way, we will know if our population from our 2010 release is still going strong. Some of the larvae parasitized in the lab, like the one in the picture, will be released into the garden when they are ready to form their cocoons, to bolster the population. Others will be overwintered in the lab. Our goal is to have a big enough population in a couple of years to support releases at other sites.
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