Master 1 project of 4 students at Institut Agro Montpellier in collaboration with a research lab for population biology and management (CBGP) in Montpellier
The change of the microbiota of the pest insect Drosophila suzukii through its life stages remains unknown. The microbiota is important to the insect and could become a tool for pest management. In this article, we want to study two factors that may influence D. suzukii microbiota: its stage of development and its host fruit. We will determine and compare the microbiota species of D. suzukii of different stages and those of the fruits to know whether the fly microbiota comes from the parent or the environment. If the microbiota species are the same from one stage to another, it will show that they are transferred through stages. If they are different, the larva microbiota should be the same as the host fruit microbiota.