Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

Oviposition scars from a female spotted wing drosophila,  Drosophila suzukii  (Matsumura), on a cherry fruit. Photograph by Martin Hauser, California Department of Food and Agriculture Farmers won't sell these cherries in the market. The fruit flies that caused this laid their eggs inside the ripening cherries and their larvae caused this visible damage by feed on the fruit inside. The larger larvae cut breathing holes through the skin of the cherry. Pretty soon these cherries collapse around the larvae's feeding site and the cherry rots from mold that got inside through these holes. We never had this type of damage before. Why is it happening now?  In August 2008 this damage was first seen in the U.S. and it was found out to be caused by a new (non-native invasive) fruit fly from Japan, Drosophila Suzuki (Matsamura). It infests un-ripened cherries, and it spread from California to Michigan in 2010.  Adult female spotted wing drosophila,  Dr...

            My favorite trip this class has gone on so far was to Dead Man’s Bog.   We went on a Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too chilly. There were hardly any mosquitos bothering us, which was lucky. Apparently last year was unbearable. The bog was not a long drive from campus but it was kind of hidden and definitely not well known to the public. We took back roads to get there.               Upon arrival, we noticed a fairly large grassy meadow area where we dispersed to begin our search for insects. We didn’t spend much time in the meadow, but we did find some neat insects, as well as a small green snake that either Dr. Hoekman or Geoff pointed out. While it wasn’t an insect, it was so neat to watch how quickly the snake slithered away through the grass, especially since I don’t really see snakes, living in the city....

We all have those scents that have the power to send us back in time to specific place, person, or memory. Our sense of smell is very powerful, and has been scientifically linked to our ability to remember; yet even though our connection with our noses is an incredible feat, it pales in comparison to the ability of insects to communicate through smells. Insects rely heavily on chemicals for communication due to their small size. Trying to send a signal a long distance or across certain geographical barriers via other methods would be extremely difficult. The study of animals’ chemical communication is called chemical ecology, and encompasses a vast array of topics; in this blog I will focus on the difference between two of the types of chemicals insects utilize: pheromones and allelochemicals. Honey Bee Hive http://www.pnas.org/content/104/7/2460/F1.large.jpg Pheromones are chemical substances that are excreted by an individual in order to communicate with its own speci...