DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mw6m90677
title: Thermal limitations to the biological control of Gonipterus sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African Eucalyptus plantations

description: Climate significantly influences the efficacy of biological control
 agents. Differences in thermal tolerance between herbivores and their
 parasitoids can limit the success of biological control due to
 asymmetrical impacts of extreme temperatures in winter and summer. The
 resurgence of the Eucalyptus weevil Gonipterus sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera:
 Curculionidae), in South Africa, is geographically variable in ways that
 have been hypothesized to reflect differential patterns in winter
 mortality, favouring early-season growth of beetle populations. The aim of
 the study was to examine evidence for local adaptation and climatic
 mismatching between Gonipterus sp. n. 2 and Anaphes nitens (Hymenoptera:
 Myrmaridae) across elevations in the summer rainfall area of South Africa.
 We examined the upper lethal thresholds (ULT; at which 50% of the insects
 died), the lower lethal threshold (LLT; the supercooling point), and
 development time at 15, 20, and 25 °C of Gonipterus sp. n. 2 and its
 biological control agent, A. nitens, collected from high and coastal
 populations. Gonipterus sp. n. 2 had higher ULTs and LLTs than A.
 nitens across populations. The coastal population of A. nitens had a
 higher ULT than the inland population. No further evidence of local
 adaptation was detected. Results indicate a climatic mismatch
 between Gonipterus sp. n. 2 and A. nitens consistent with observed
 patterns of pest outbreaks. Pest management strategies to improve control
 of Gonipterus n. sp. 2 will need to take the local climate and its effect
 on pest-parasitoid interactions into account.
description: # Data from Thermal limitations to the biological control of *Gonipterus*
 sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African *Eucalyptus*
 plantations
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mw6m90677](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mw6m90677) ## General information 1\. Date of data collection: 2015 - 2016 2\. Geographic location of data collection: Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa 3\. Information about funding sources that supported the data: This work was supported by the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP) based at FABI, University of Pretoria. ## SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION 1\. Links to publications that cite or use the data: Schroder et al. 2025 Thermal limitations to the biological control of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African *Eucalyptus* plantations. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 2\. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: none 3\. Was the data derived from another source? No 4\. Recommended citation for the dataset: Schroder, Michelle; Hurley, Brett; Wingfield, Mike et al. (2025). Thermal limitations to the biological control of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African *Eucalyptus* plantations [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mw6m90677 5\. Recommended citation for the associated manuscript: Schröder, M.L., Hurley, B.P., Wingfield, M.J., Slippers, B. and Garnas, J. R. 2025 Thermal limitations to the biological control of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in South African *Eucalyptus* plantations. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. ## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1\. File list: gonipterus_anaphes_thermal_limits_data.xlsx (contains all data in 7 associated data sheets) 2\. Environmental/experimental conditions: see methods section of manuscript 3\. Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: N/A 4\. People involved with insect collection, experiments, analysis, and/or submission: Corresponds to the author list and the acknowledgement section in the associated manuscript. ### //The following is data-specific information for each sheet in the .xlsx file// ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: ULT_Gon (Mortality data of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 adults collected during upper thermal limit experiments) 1\. Number of variables: 8 2\. Number of cases/rows: 393 3\. Variable List:  population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. pop: low elevation population assigned number 1, high elevation population assigned number 2 treatment: temperature water bath was set to measure in degrees Celsius measured_temp: average of the actual temperature measured (degrees Celsius) with thermal couple during experiment date: data collection date in format dd/m/yyyy replicate: replicate number insect_no: insect number per replicate mortality: 0 assigned to insects that survived and 1 assigned to insects that died ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: ULT_An (Mortality data of *Anaphes nitens* adults collected during upper thermal limit experiments) 1\. Number of variables: 8 2\. Number of cases/rows: 245 3\. Variable list population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. pop: low elevation population assigned number 1, high elevation population assigned number 2 treatment: temperature water bath was set to measure in degrees Celsius temperature: average of the actual temperature (degrees Celsius) measured with thermal couple during experiment date: data collection date in format dd/m/yyyy replicate: replicate number no_insect: insect number per replicate mortality: 0 assigned to insects that survived and 1 assigned to insects that died ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: SCP (Supercooling points of adult *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 and *Anaphes nitens*) 1\. Number of variables: 5 2\. Number of cases/rows: 27 3\. Variable List:  Species: Indicates species of insect tested. Sample: Sample number assigned to each individual tested Elevation: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. Sp_pop: Species and population combined for each sample SCP: Supercooling point of each individual measured in degrees Celsius; see associated manuscript for further details. ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: DevTimeGon (Development time of egg, larval, and pupal life stages of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 in the laboratory) 1\. Number of variables: 6 2\. Number of cases/rows: 264 3\. Variable List:  species: species of insect used for the experiment. population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. temp: Temperature (degrees Celsius) at which insects were reared to determine the time that insects take to complete development from egg to adult. life stage: Life stage of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 that was measured. days: Number of days taken to complete a specific life stage. 4\. Missing data codes: blank cells indicate missing data. ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: DevTimAn (Development time of egg, larval, and pupal life stages of *Anaphes nitens* in the laboratory) 1\. Number of variables: 4 2\. Number of cases/rows: 24 3\. Variable List:  population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. Temperature: Temperature (degrees Celsius) at which insects were reared to determine the time that insects take to complete development from egg to adult. Sampleno: Number assigned to each parasitised egg capsule tested.  days: Number of days taken to complete a specific life stage. ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: DegDaysGon (Degree days required for each life stage of *Gonipterus* sp. n. 2 to complete development at a specific temperature. See methods section of associated manuscript for details on how degree days were determined.) 1\. Number of variables: 7 2\. Number of cases/rows: 61 3\. Variable List:  Temp: Temperature (degrees Celsius) at which insects were reared during the experiment. Population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. Sample size: Number assigned to each *Gonipterus* egg capsule. The number at the end indicates the replicate number egg_larva: degree days required for development from egg to larval stage. larva_pupa: Degree days required for larval development to complete. pupa_adult: Degree days required for pupal stage to complete. egg_adult: Degree days required for development to complete from egg to adult life stages. ### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: DegDaysAn (Degree days required for each life stage of *Anaphes nitens* to complete development at a specific temperature. See methods section of associated manuscript for details on how degree days were determined.) 1\. Number of variables: 4 2\. Number of cases/rows: 27 3\. Variable List:  Population: high elevation (inland) population or low elevation (coastal) population, see methods section of associated manuscript for details on collection sites. Temp: Temperature (degrees Celsius) at which insects were reared during the experiment. Sample: Number assigned to each *Gonipterus* egg capsule. The number at the end indicates the replicate number DD: Degree days required for development to complete from egg to adult life stages.