Phylogeography and host specificity of stemborer parasitoids: essential components for the pre-emptive biocontrol of sugarcane pests in Australia

蛀干昆虫给世界范围内的制糖业造成了巨大的经济损失，但幸运的是，这些害虫在澳大利亚基本上没有出现，部分原因是检疫措施阻止了它们的引入。然而，由于它们的接近，来自亚洲的外来茎蛀虫的入侵对澳大利亚甘蔗构成了严重威胁。为了制定有效的害虫管理计划，以便在最坏的情况下迅速采用，本研究将1）开发分子诊断工具，以选择适合控制特定外来茎虫害虫的黄蜂生物防治剂，2）评估澳大利亚本土黄蜂是否有能力杀死外来茎虫。

Stemboring insects cause huge economic losses to the sugar industry world-wide but fortunately these pests are largely absent from Australia, in part because quarantine measures have prevented their introduction. However, given their proximity, incursion of foreign stemborers from Asia pose a serious threat to Australian sugarcane. To prepare effective pest management plans that can be adopted promptly in a worst-case scenario, this study will 1) develop molecular diagnostic tools to select wasp biocontrol agents that are suitable for the control of specific foreign stemborer pests, and 2) evaluate whether any Australian native wasps have the ability to kill foreign stemborers.