ENRIQUEZ Thomas
- Bertanne VISSER laboratory, Unité d'entomologie fonctionnelle et évolutive - Gembloux Agro Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium
- Behavior, Biocontrol, Biology, Ecology, Insecta, Molecular biology, Pest management, Physiology
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I am an ecologist PhD, specialized in entomology, especially on insect behavior, insect physiology and biological control. I graduated my bachelor and master degree in the University François Rabelais of Tours (France), and defended my PhD in the University of Rennes1 (France). My early works focused on the dynamics of insect populations in fields, as part of biological control programs. I pursued this biological control thematic by studying the efficiency of a large number of parasitoid wasp strains to control the box tree moth, an invasive pest. During my PhD I orientated my research on insect physiology. Specifically, I studied the underlying physiological mechanisms of thermal tolerance plasticity in the invasive fly Drosophila suzukii. My work helped to define the basal thermal tolerance of this pest. Using ‘omic’ techniques I produced the first descriptions of the underlying physiological mechanisms of cold tolerance plasticity in this pest. My works were among the firsts to study the effect of temperature fluctuations on the life history trait of this drosophila, including effects on mating behavior. In accordance with the biological control thematic I pursued since my earlier works, the results acquired during my PhD are of major interest to facilitate the biological control of the pest D. suzukii using the sterile insect technique. As a postdoc, I am know studying the effects of environmental factors on the plasticity of lipid synthesis in a parasitoid wasp, Leptopilina heterotoma.