Traits of insect communities in human-altered environments

Parasitoid wasp communities have different traits in different habitats. Adult sugar feeding rates, longevity and additional traits show that parasitoids in disturbed environments, such as agricultural plots, tend toward a 'Reproduce Early, Die Fast' strategy.

In an ongoing project, I am looking at the effects of habitat and insecticide application on the thermal tolerance of a parasitoid community.

Check out our new publication about longevity in alfalfa plots, their margins and prairies: Kishinevsky, M., Ives, A.R. (2024). Longevity of hymenopteran parasitoids in natural vs. agricultural habitats and implications for biological control. Ecological Applications 34(6) e3009. 

Enemy release for parasitoids introduced to control aphids

As part of efforts to control aphid pests, natural enemies are introduced from other countries. Parasitoid wasps where introduced to North America for over 100 years to control pests, including aphids. 

In a paper currently under review, I worked with Mar Ferrer-Suay and Anthony Ives to explore whether parasitoids which are released to control aphids experience enemy release from their own enemies, hyperparasitoids.  

Preprint

The effect of climate change on hyperparasitoids

An exciting collaboration with Prof. Michal Segoli from BGU, Israel, and Prof. Jeff Harvey from VU, Netherlands. Focusing on hyperparasitoids, which are parasitoids that use other parasitoids as their host (fourth trophic level), we explored the potential effects of climate change, concluding that the knowledge gaps in the literature are extensive, but just like primary parasitoids, climate change is expected to have major effects on hyperparasitoid species, and thereby on their effect on biological control.

We continue to collaborate and are now working on a second project related to hyperparasitoid life-history traits.

Check out our new publication: Segoli, M., Kishinevsky, M., Harvey, J.A. (2024). Climate change, temperature extremes, and impacts on hyperparasitoids. Current Opinion in Insect Science 64, 101229.