Contact Information
Department of Entomology
Texas A&M University
2475 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2475
Phone: 979.845.2510
Fax: 979.845.6305
E-mail: kmheinz@neo.tamu.edu

Peter C. Krauter M.S.
Research Associate

Responsibilities include development and implementation of research activities on biological control of arthropod pests in Texas crops; provide summarization and analysis of data for publication in reports, manuscripts, and presentations; maintains project computing and other technological resources; to design and fabricate required apparatus and equipment; interface with cooperating producers and collaborating researchers; supply guidance and assistance to graduate student research projects; and participate in educational outreach activities both on and off campus.

Andrew Chow, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Research Associate

My research focuses on the use of behavioral ecology approaches to increase the efficiency and predictability of parasitoid mass-rearing programs. Parasitoid wasps can be effective biological control agents for many insect pests; however, their economic feasibility is often limited by high production costs. The overproduction of males (more than necessary to mate females) is one of the factors contributing to the high costs of mass rearing parasitoids. We are evaluating the application of host-size dependent sex-ratio theory to decrease the proportion of males produced in mass-rearing systems. For our model system, we are using Diglyphus isaea (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a commercially available parasitoid of agromyzid leafminers, and Liriomyza langei Frick (Diptera: Agromyzidae), a pest of both field- and greenhouse-grown vegetables and ornamentals. Our research is concerned with: (1) identifying the behavioral criteria used by D. isaea to assess host size, (2) determining how host size influences progeny sex ratios, and (3) evaluating whether manipulation of progeny sex ratios will affect parasitoid fitness and biological control efficacy. Our experimental approach ranges from laboratory studies of individual wasp behavior by digital macro-video analyses to greenhouse studies of parasitoid efficacy against leafminer infestations on ornamental crops.