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Miss Fazila Yousuf
PhD Student
School School of Agricultural & Wine Sciences
Location Charles Sturt University, Orange
Phone 02 6365 7652
Fax 02 6363 7578
Email fyousuf@csu.edu.au
Project
Interactions between the pine pests Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) and Ips grandicollis (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) and their associated fungi and nematodes.
Summary
The wood wasp, Sirex noctilio Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is a serious threat to pine trees in many parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, South America, and South Africa. Since the 1980s, this pest has been successfully controlled in Australia by the nematode Beddingia siricidicola (Bedding) (Beddingidae). The biological control program is now seriously threatened by another exotic pest, a bark beetle, Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). The bark beetles attack/colonize the “trap trees” that are used to introduce the nematode into the S. noctilio population. Reasons for the recent elevated levels of bark beetle attack are unclear but may be linked to recent drought and future climate change may compound this problem.
Research is under progress to elucidate the interactions between the insects, their associated fungi, nematodes and the likely effect of climate change. This novel research will contribute towards the profitability of Australia’s pine industry by reducing future wood losses.
Supervisors
Geoff Gurr, Catherine Gitau, Angus Carnegie, Robin Bedding, Richard Bashford.
Funding source
Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Sirex Coordination Committee (NSCC).
Selected Publications
Yousuf F, Rahman KSM Pattanathu and O’Hare S (2011). Bio-processing of Wool - Amino acid Extraction, Purification and Recovery investigation. Trends in Biotechnology (Submitted).