Project properties
Title <b>Can an omnivorous insect alters the behaviour of its conspecifics by changing the quality of the shared plants (NEW)
Group Entomology, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Nina Zhang, Erik Poelman
Examiner(s) Erik Poelman, Marcel Dicke
Contact info nina.zhang@wur.nl
Begin date 2024/04/01
End date 2025/12/31
Description Omnivores have strong potential to be widely used as biocontrol agents for pests in different crops. As omnivores, they feed both on plants and herbivore pests. The unique advantage of omnivorous predators is that they can establish and maintain their population by feeding on plants when prey density is low. This plant feeding can trigger plant defences that negatively affect the performance of herbivores, for example, reducing the survival, slow down the development of herbivores and making the plants less attractive for herbivore pests. Plant feeding by omnivores can also induce plant volatiles that attract other natural enemies, recruiting more bodyguards for plants. However, it is not clear how these omnivore-induced defences affect the performance of their own conspecifics.
In this project, you will study: 1) how conspecifics of an omnivorous predator respond to plant volatiles induced by its conspecifics, 2) whether and how an omnivorous predator alters its feeding behaviour when exposed to plants previously induced by its conspecifics. You will perform olfactometer and behavioural experiments in the lab to address these research questions.
Used skills insect behaviour, behavioural ecology, trophic interactions
Requirements For doing a BSc-thesis at Entomology, there are no requirements for specific courses.
For doing a MSc-thesis or Research Practice at Entomology, the following requirements apply: ENT-30806 + a second ENT-course (preferably ENT-30306 or ENT-50806 or ENT-53806). As an alternative for the second ENT-course, PHP-30806 or BHE-30306 can be selected.
For doing an Internship, the following requirements apply: ENT-30806.
Note:
1) these requirements do not apply for MBI students;
2) MBI students should check the requirements for doing an ENT MSc-thesis, Research Practice or Internship in the study programme of their specialisation.