Quantifying Anthropogenic Change In Relation To Insect Diversity In The Appalachian Mountains And Oviposition Preference In Drosophila Suzukii

Anthropogenic changes such as urbanization and globalization have caused increased light pollution and invasive species. Light pollution has been found to decrease insect diversity, however, there is very little research done regarding light pollution and the rich insect community of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. A particular invasive species that has become a major crop pest is Drosophila suzukii. Many of the crops targeted by Drosophila suzukii can be found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. We collected insects from two sites with different levels of light pollution and compared the orders found in both sites. We found that there was a higher level of order diversity in the area with high light pollution than in the area with low light pollution. We also assessed oviposition preference on six diets in eight inbred lines of locally collected D. suzukii and found a high preference for cherry, tomato, and blueberry.