1. Tachinid Fly (Lespesia archippivora) Parasitism of Monarch Butterfly Larvae (Danaus plexippus) Kaitlyn Creasey February 14, 2007

2. University of Minnesota Dr. Karen Oberhauser

3. Tachinid Fly (Lespesia archippivora) Photo by Author

4. Armyworm

5. Monarch Butterfly Larva (Danaus plexippus) Photo by Author

6. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

7. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

8. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

9. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

10. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

11. Life Cycle of Tachinid Flies Photos by Author and Dr. Karen Oberhauser

12. Monarch Instars Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

13. Egg Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

14. First-instar Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

15. Second-instar Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

16. Third-instar Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

17. Fourth-instar Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

18. Fifth-instar Photo used with permission of Dr. Karen Oberhauser

19. Focus of Project Continue Oberhauser study (2000- 2005) on wild monarch tachinid parasitism Study correlations of sex, mass, and length of pupation of tachinid pupae Successfully parasitize monarch larvae with laboratory-raised tachinid flies

27. Photo by Author

28. Background Goal 2: Find correlation between tachinid pupae sex, mass, and duration of pupal stage of tachinid flies Cardoza et al. (1997)

29. Hypotheses Female tachinid pupae would be larger than male tachinid pupae and duration of pupal stage would be longer for females Number of tachinid larvae laid on a monarch larva would affect the mass of tachinid pupae

30. Solutions for Problems Encountered After 24 hours, monarch larvae had died before any tachinid larvae could emerge

31. Solutions for Problems Encountered After 24 hours, monarch larvae had died before any tachinid larvae could emerge Echegaray (1975)

32. Solutions for Problems Encountered After 24 hours, monarch larvae had died before any tachinid larvae could emerge Echegaray (1975) Dissection showed an average of 20 tachinid fly larvae in a single dead monarch larvae

33. Superparasitized Monarch Larva

37. Solutions for Problems Encountered Larvae exposure time to the flies was shortened in order to avoid super parasitism and allow tachinid larvae to fully develop

38. Tachinid Fly Parasitized Wild Monarch Larvae Survey Percent healthy adults Percent parasitized by tachinid flies Percent died from other causes 70.9 (n=61)7.0 (n=6)22.1 (n=19)

39. Tachinid Fly Parasitized Wild Monarch Larvae Survey Percent healthy adults Percent parasitized by tachinid flies Percent died from other causes 70.9 (n=61)7.0 (n=6)22.1 (n=19)

40. Percent Parasitized Monarch Larvae at each Site

41. Percent Monarch Larvae vs. Instar at Collection (chi square value=11.296, df=6, 0.10>p>0.05)

42. Mean Tachinid Pupa Mass vs. Sex (p=0.0001; standard error for females =9.31 x 10 -4 ; standard error for males =1.97 x 10 -3 )

43. Tachinid Sex vs. Tachinid Duration of Pupal Stage (p=0.0001; standard error for females =0.31; standard error for males =0.18)

44. Number of Tachinid Larvae per Monarch Larva

45. Number of Tachinid Larvae per Monarch Larvae vs. Mean Tachinid Pupae Mass (p=4.29E-4, standard error for 1-4 = 3.77E-5; standard error for 5-8 = 1.60E-5)

46. Monarch Parasitisms by Tachinid Flies Monarch instarNumber of tachinid larvae First2 Fourth3

47. Conclusion 7% wild monarch larvae parasitized

48. Conclusion 7% wild monarch larvae parasitized Male tachinid pupae were statistically heavier than females and remained in the pupal stage longer than females

49. Conclusion 7% wild monarch larvae parasitized Male tachinid pupae were statistically heavier than females and remained in the pupal stage longer than females When a larger number of tachinid larvae emerged from host monarch larvae, the average mass of the tachinid pupae was significantly less

50. Future Work Continuing the study of percent of parasitized monarch larvae

51. Future Work Continuing the study of percent of parasitized monarch larvae Maintaining a population of tachinid flies in the laboratory

52. Future Work Continuing the study of percent of parasitized monarch larvae Maintaining a population of tachinid flies in the laboratory Continuing the study of the relationships between tachinid flies and monarch larvae

53. Acknowledgements Dr. Karen Oberhauser Roger Moon Lois Fruen Research Class

54. Tachinid Fly (Lespesia archippivora) Parasitism of Monarch Butterfly Larvae (Danaus plexippus) Kaitlyn Creasey February 14, 2007