Ruth Jakobs

M.Sc. student in the Sinclair Lab

Project
In my Masters I am investigating the overwintering biology of Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii ), which is a significant agricultural pest because it can lay eggs in healthy fruits. SWD is originally from Southeast Asia and was introduced to Ontario in 2010. Its potential to establish in Ontario depends on its ability to survive winter conditions. Using adults reared from colonies collected in Ontario and British Columbia I will study the cold tolerance and its plasticity over short and long timescales, as well as desiccation and starvation tolerance. This will allow me to delimit the three main overwintering stresses and to determine whether SWD has the potential to establish as a significant agricultural pest in Ontario.

Specialized skills
General cold tolerance measurements:

- chill coma onset temperature and recovery time

- lower lethal temperature

- supercooling point

- cold tolerance strategy

Determination of larval stages of D. suzukii