The diversity of insect fauna reared from non-crop hosts of Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in the Okanagan Valley, Canada

On-Demand

Presenting Author(s)

Tyler Nelson

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Co-Author(s)

KC

Kristoferson Cu

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada
BR

Brigitte Rozema

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada
HT

Howard M. Thistlewood

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada
Susanna Acheampong

British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Chandra E. Moffat

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Describing local insect biodiversity is inherently challenging, due in part to the immense diversity of insect fauna in nearly every habitat, and because descriptive faunistic studies are difficult to fund and staff. However, more taxonomically focused studies, often of an applied nature, may produce residual/bycatch insects that are neglected or disposed. Preservation of such material presents opportunities to document some of this diversity, particularly if specimens are properly curated. Here, we report our efforts to curate and identify residual insects reared from the fruit of several non-crop shrub species in the Okanagan Valley. Thistlewood et al. 2019 (Can. Entomol. 151: 34–48) found these plant species were host to invasive spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), a pest of small fruit crops. Notably, their bycatch contained several parasitic hymenopterans that may attack D. suzukii, as these wasps emerged from fruit of the same plants as the invasive fly. This report contributes to our understanding of fruit-feeding insects in the southern interior of British Columbia and may have implications for biological control of pest insects associated with native and cultivated berry species. More study of our residual insects is required, but results presented here demonstrate the importance of preserving non-target insects.