Environmental Entomology (2020) 49, 823-828

Alex N. Neidermeier, Darrell W. Ross, Nathan P. Havill and Kimberly F. Wallin (2020)
Temporal asynchrony of adult emergence between Leucopis argenticollis and Leucopis piniperda (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae), predators of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), with implications for biological control
Environmental Entomology 49 (4), 823-828
Abstract: Two species of silver fly, Leucopis argenticollis (Zetterstedt) and Leucopis piniperda (Malloch) (Diptera: Chamaemyiidae), from the Pacific Northwest region of North America have been identified as potential biological control agents of hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae: Adelges tsugae Annand) in eastern North America. The two predators are collectively synchronized with A. tsugae development. To determine whether adult emergence of the two species of silver fly are also synchronized with one another, we collected adult Leucopis which emerged from A. tsugae-infested western hemlock [Pinaceae: Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.] from four sites in the Pacific Northwest over a 29-d period. Specimens were collected twice daily in the laboratory and identified to species using DNA barcoding. The study found that more adult Leucopis were collected in the evening than the morning. Additionally, the daily emergences of adults over the 29-d sampling period exhibited sinusoidal-like fluctuations of peak abundance of each species, lending evidence to a pattern of temporal partitioning. This pattern could have logistical implications for their use as biological control agents in eastern North America, namely the need to release both species for maximum efficacy in decreasing A. tsugae populations.
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Database assignments for author(s): Darrell W. Ross, Nathan P. Havill

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Adelges tsugae	Hemlock (Tsuga)	U.S.A. (NW)
Leucopis argenticollis (predator)	Adelges tsugae	Hemlock (Tsuga)	U.S.A. (NW)
Leucopis piniperda (predator)	Adelges tsugae	Hemlock (Tsuga)	U.S.A. (NW)