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The common spruce (Picea abies L.) is currently the focus of particular attention due to its high proportion of forest area and its present severe threat from increased dry periods, storms and the associated mass occurrence of secondary pests. Especially phloeophagous bark beetle species such as the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typgraphus L.) are among the most economically important forest pests. Currently applied methods of clean forest management as well as the use of mechanical methods or non-selective insecticides are reaching their limits. Therefore, there is a need for the provision of near-natural regulation methods as a supplement to already existing control methods.
This is where the projects EIVES and IPSolut come in. The perspective goal is to effectively regulate the population density of the European spruce bark beetle by releasing mass-reared parasitoid hymenoptera. Advantages of these insects are promising parasitization rates, high mobility as well as a large reproduction rate. In the field of storage protection and agriculture, there are already established methods of pest control using parasitoid hymenoptera, which is why the development of such a method for forest protection is obvious.
In 2021, potential target species for rearing could already be identified for the Saxon region. The species belong to the braconid and chalcidoid wasps and are larval parasitoids on Ips typographus. However, for a functioning mass laboratory rearing, it is crucial to find an alternative host that can be easily and continuously reared in sufficient numbers. Therefore, the current focus is on storage pests from the order Coleoptera. Smaller parasitization experiments have already been carried out on the tobacco beetle (Lasioderma serricorne FABRICIUS), but so far without success. The aim of the upcoming project year is to extend the experiments on the tobacco beetle, to test further storage pests for their suitability as alternative hosts and to test various parasitoid hymenoptera for their suitability for rearing under laboratory conditions on the original host.