Research focus:

I have been working as an intern at FuEDEI since May 2023, collaborating with thesis students and researchers in the various projects carried out in the laboratory, but mainly focused on the Hypogeococcus sp. project (Cactus mealybug).

My tasks include the breeding and maintenance of insects and the maintenance of host plants, collaboration in experiments related to plant-herbivore and plant-herbivore-parasitoid interactions, to evaluate the efficiency and safety of candidate insects to be used in biological control, and taxonomic identification of specimens of scale insects (Coccidae) collected in the field.

In addition, I am currently finishing the writing of my bachelor’s thesis at the “Laboratory of reproductive biology and growth of decapod crustaceans”, in the Institute of Biodiversity and Experimental and Applied Biology (IBBEA-CONICET), using the “Australian redclaw crayfish” Cherax quadricarinatus as a model organism for my study.

Participation in projects:

• Cactoblastis cactorum (nopal moth)
• Hypogeococcus sp. (cactus mealybug)
• Tamarix ramosissima (tamarisks)