BioResources FSB Project - BLOG
AUGUST UPDATE 2014
20 August 2014
Preparing for the coming season
We have been building up the Anaststus culture ready for releases in September. We have been using silkworm eggs that have been frozen but kept in sealed foil bags and this has improved the storage life and quality...
Ordering Anastatus
A call for advance orders has already been sent to those who have already released some Anastatus. We aim to have good stocks available but the quota is filling fast, so contact me ASAP if you would like to start releases.
Download: Anastatus Info for Growers.pdf.
Anastatus biology
One of our employees, Peter Osborne, who is also doing a Masters at UQ has been doing a experiment on the fecundity and longevity of our Anaststus under laboratory conditions. One wasp lived for 89 days. The trials is going but it looks like the average longevity is around 48 days and fecundity per female close to 200 eggs.
Their life span is likely to be shorter in the field as they use a lot more energy moving around searching for bug eggs. If a wasp was able to find that many bug eggs it would be doing extremely well.
Many wasps species are able re-absorb their own eggs if suitable hosts are scarce giving them more energy and longevity and so a greater chance of finding more host eggs. We don’t know if our Anastatus is capable of doing this. Known as Oösorption. Maybe another experiment for Peter...
Send comments and bug observations to:
Richard Llewellyn
richard@bioresources.com.au
Top left and above: In China, Anastatus have long been used in lychees for lychee stink bug. They are now being trialed in citrus, in this case pomelo, for a range of bug pests. We found an Anastatus checking out a group of bug eggs.
China Visit
I had a great trip to China - lots of ideas and discussion with my Chinese collaborators.
We spent a few days at the insectary in Guangzhou then ventured up into the mountains about 4 hours drive north where the main crop is rice.
We visited a citrus farm, where releases of Anastatus are being made to target a number of bug pests. We found an Anastatus checking out a group of bug eggs.
Trichogramma japonicus are being mass reared and released for rice stem borer.
Like us, the Chinese scientists have similar issues in assessing biocontrol agents. The rice work will run for several years in order to assess its effectiveness as its not realistic to obtain direct evidence of wasp parasitism in the crop as the rice moth eggs are minute and very difficult to find. So, they can only assess the wasp release program based on damage to the crop. This means observing changes over a number of seasons.
This is a similar approach that we have taken with assessing Anastatus.
Pics: Terraced rice paddies. Sampling for rice borer damage.
