Tom Saunders

BSc, PGDipSci, MSc (The University of Auckland)

Doctoral Candidate - Doctor of Philosophy

In: Biological Sciences » Faculty of Science

Research | Current

My PhD explores how chemical ecology techniques can be applied to understand the host ranges of classical biological control agents. I'm interested in how and why a parasitoid's physiological host range (the list of non-target species supporting successful parasitoid deveopment) differs from its ecological host range (the list of species a parasitoid will actually attack in the field). If we can apply techniques such as coupled gas-chromatography electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) to pre-release risk assessments, we'll have a much better idea of the kinds of non-target risks posed by a biocontrol agent before they are released.

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Saunders, T., Holwell, G., & Avila, O. G. (2018). Improving pre-release risk prediction for classical biocontrol agents. Paper presented at Introducing New Capability to B3, Te Papa, Wellington. 7 May - 8 May 2018.
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/41861
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Greg Holwell
Saunders, T. E., & Ward, D. F. (2018). Variation in the diversity and richness of parasitoid wasps based on sampling effort. PeerJ, 610.7717/peerj.4642
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Darren Ward
Saunders, T. E., & Ward, D. F. (2017). A new species of Lusius (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist, 40 (2), 72-78. 10.1080/00779962.2017.1357427
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/41733
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Darren Ward
Saunders, T. E. (2016). Optimising capture methods for the evaluation of parasitoid wasp diversity The University of Auckland. ResearchSpace@Auckland.