Public defense of doctoral thesis with Lina Viklund
On June the 14th, Lina Viklund will present her doctoral thesis in chemistry. The thesis is called "Aggregation pheromones in the four-eyed bark beetles Polygraphus poligraphus, Polygraphus punctifrons, Polypgraphus subopacus and Polygraphus proximus".
Name of thesis: Aggregation pheromones in the four-eyed bark beetles Polygraphus poligraphus, Polygraphus punctifrons, Polypgraphus subopacus and Polygraphus proximus
Date: June 14, 2024 at 10:00 am
Place: O102 campus Sundsvall and Zoom
Supervisor: Professor Erik Hedenström, Mid Sweden University
Assistant supervisor: Professor Martin Schroeder SLU Uppsala, dr. Erika Wallin, Mid Sweden University, Professor Bengt-Gunnar Jonsson, Mid Sweden University
Chairman of the public defence: Professor Rikard Unelius, Linnaeus University
Opponent: Dr. Anna Jirošová, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague
Examination Board:
Associate Professor Raimondas Mozuraitis, Stockholm University/Institute of Ecology, Nature Research Center, Vilnius
Professor Emerita Anna-Karin Borg Karlsson, Mid Sweden University/KTH
Gunnar Isacsson, Swedish Forest Agency
Reserve: Associate Professor Kerstin Sunnerheim, Mid Sweden University
Summary
Double-eyed beetles (genus Polygraphus) have been involved in large bark beetle outbreaks in Sweden and abroad. In Sweden, there are three species of double-eyed bast borers: Polygraphus poligraphus, Polygraphus punctifrons and Polygraphus subopacus. From the east, an invasive species, Polygraphus proximus, is threatening, which has caused major forest damage in Siberia. Bark beetles use aggregation pheromones to attack their host trees together, and traps baited with aggregation pheromones can be used to monitor populations of insect pests and help control them. In this work, the chemical communication of the Swedish Polygraphus species and Polygraphus proximus was studied. Several pheromone substances were identified and all four species can now be attracted to pheromone-baited traps in the field.