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Dr. Coby Schal, NC State University
April 24 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
A Narrow Chemosensory Adaptation to Pest Control Drives Broad Resistance and Sexual Conflict
Coby Schal, Ph.D., North Carolina State University
Abstract
Cockroaches pose significant challenges to human health, especially in affordable housing where resources needed to implement IPM are scarce. Significant barriers to effective pest interventions also include poor choice of control strategies, and rampant insecticide resistance. In response to strong selection with insecticide-containing baits that also contain glucose to stimulate feeding, populations of the German cockroach have rapidly evolved a novel heritable behavior, aversion of glucose, which is highly adaptive because these cockroaches avoid eating toxic baits. Our recent studies showed that the glucose aversion phenotype extends well beyond glucose, as more complex sugars are hydrolyzed by cockroach saliva into glucose monomers. Glucose aversion also profoundly affects other behaviors including courtship.
The GGA Seminar Series is held In-Person and on Zoom: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/99571426936?pwd=L2tqQjRUOWMzK1BkSFZSQXprYnRVQT09