Natural and Anthropogenic Factors Affecting the Life Cycle of Exotic and Native Insect Species

My PhD thesis concerns natural and human factors that affect the life cycle of exotic and native insects. I compared, in laboratory, the longevity and the reproduction capacity of two coccinellid species, the exotic Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) and the native Adalia bipunctata (L.) after the exposure to the indigenous parasitoid Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) (Hymenoptera Braconidae). The aim was the evaluation of the effects induced by the parasitoid on the fitness of coccinellid females, with a particular stress on the Asian H. axyridis. Moreover the study continued with the assessment of the parasitization effect of the native tachinid Exorista larvarum (L.) on the exotic box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis (Walker). The aim was to check the possibility for Cydalima larvae to be accepted and/or successfully parasitized by the tachinid, with a complete development of the parasitoid through formation of puparia and emergence of adults. Then, I studied the lethal and sublethal effects of two insecticides( the neonicotinoid Imidacloprid and the product of biological matrix, Spinetoram) on H. axyridis and A. bipunctata. The aim was to evaluate acute and long-term effects of the two insecticides on these predators in laboratory. These three parts are included in the GEISCA Program. The last part is related to two laboratory experiments carried out at Wageningen University (NL). The study was inserted in the AMIGA Project, focused on the evaluation of the risk of GMO in the environment. In this study it was evaluated the impact of GM potato plants, resistant to the fungus Phytophthora infestans de Bary, towards the development time of the hymenopteran braconid Aphidius colemani Viereck. In the second experiment it was evaluated the development time of A. bipunctata fed on Myzus, that was reared on non-GM potato plants infected by P. infestans. The aim was to observe some effects on this coccinellid