A curated DNA barcode reference library for parasitoids of northern European cyclically outbreaking geometrid moths.

ABSTRACT: Large areas of forests are annually damaged or destroyed by outbreaking insect pests. Understanding the factors that trigger and terminate such population eruptions has become crucially important, as plants, plant-feeding insects, and their natural enemies may respond differentially to the ongoing changes in the global climate. In northernmost Europe, climate-driven range expansions of the geometrid moths Epirrita autumnata and Operophtera brumata have resulted in overlapping and increasingly severe outbreaks. Delayed density-dependent responses of parasitoids are a plausible explanation for the 10-year population cycles of these moth species, but the impact of parasitoids on geometrid outbreak dynamics is unclear due to a lack of knowledge on the host ranges and prevalences

SUBMITTER: Nyman T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9674473 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature