This study investigates the pheromone preference of a bark beetle predator Thanasimus dubius between latent and intermediate phases of southern pine beetle. Two trap treatments were set up in each SPB phase. Standard Lindgren funnel traps were baited with either SPB lures or Ips lures. The number of T. dubius caught in each trap was recorded and data was analyzed using both the Mann Whitney U test and a two-way factorial ANOVA. Thanasimus dubius showed no variation in SPB pheromone preference but did show a slight increase in preference for Ips pheromones in intermediate phase areas. A protocol was developed to identify prey DNA within gut contents of T. dubius to understand prey preference in relation to pheromone preference. Primers were developed to amplify CO1 gene sequences from five different bark beetles. All primers were specific to their own DNA and able to detect at least 0.2 picograms of DNA.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-4628 |
| Date | 09 December 2011 |
| Creators | Campbell, Ryann Skiles |
| Publisher | Scholars Junction |
| Source Sets | Mississippi State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
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