The longer two populations interact together, the more chance there is for coevolution between those two populations. E. maimaiga has been in the U.S. for ~14 years and has had the potential to co-evolve with the U.S. strain of gypsy moth, which is different from the asian sub-species Lymantria dispar japonica. The mysterious appearance of the fungus in 1989 and its unexpected success have led some to speculate that the isolates we have now may be from a previous introduction that cycled at low levels until it evolved into a form capable of utilizing the North American strain of gypsy moth. By comparing the effectiveness of each isolate on the two populations of gypsy moths, we will have a better representation of the effectiveness of these fungal pathogens in the field. American and Japanese isolates were used in bioassays on American and Japanese gypsy moths. In addition to the virulence, we also measured fungal fecundity by measuring the number of resting spores that is produced per cadaver. The combination of effectiveness in killing the two larval populations and the fungus’ ability to utilize the caterpillar for replication should give us some indication of the co-evolution between Japanese and American gypsy moths and Japanese and American fungal isolates.
Species 1: Zygomycetes Entomophthorales Entomophaga maimaiga
Keywords: virulence, entomopathogenic fungi
Back to Display Presentations, Section Ce. Insect Pathology and Microbial Control
Back to Posters
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition