Dr. Elad Chiel
Senior Lecturer
I’m an entomologist and my research interests are in two main areas, which are not mutually exclusive: 1) biological control of arthropod pests; 2) insect symbiosis. Biological control is defined as the deliberate use of organisms to regulate the population size of pest organisms. Biological control can be studied at different levels and currently I focus mainly on applicative field studies in various systems. Microbial symbionts are increasingly recognized as a major factor in the biology of their multicellular hosts: from producing essential nutrients, through protecting from natural enemies to reproductive manipulations, and much more. I am mostly interested in the effects of microbial symbionts on insect natural enemies and their relevance to biological control.
Academic Background
B.Sc. Animal Sciences, The Hebrew University
M.Sc. Plant Protection, The Hebrew University
Ph.D. Biology, University of Haifa
Selected publications
Semiatizky A, Weiss B, Bagim S, Rohkin Shalom S, Kaltenpoth M, Chiel E. 2020. Effects, interactions, and localization of Rickettsia and Wolbachia in the house fly parasitoid, Spalangia endius. Microbial Ecology, DOI: 10.1007/s00248-020-01520-x.
Biale H, Geden CJ, Chiel E. 2019. Heat adaptation of the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) and its associated parasitoids in Israel. Journal of Medical Entomology, DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjz152.
Biale H, Chiel E, Geden CJ. 2019. Autodissemination of pyriproxyfen as a method for controlling the house fly Musca domestica. Journal of Pest Science, 92: 1283-1292.
Betelman K, Caspi-Fluger A, Shamir M, Chiel E. 2017. Identification and characterization of bacterial symbionts in three species of filth fly parasitoids. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Vol. 93, DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fix107.
Gomez-Polo P, Ballinger M, Lalzar M, Malik A, Ben-Dov Y, Mozes-Daube N, Perlman S, Iasur-Kruh L, Chiel E. 2017. An exceptional family: Ophiocordyceps-allied fungus dominates the microbiome of soft scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccidae). Molecular Ecology, 26: 5855-5868.
Kishinevsky M, Keasar T, Harari A, Chiel E. 2017. A comparison of naturally growing vegetation vs. border-planted companion plants for sustaining parasitoids in pomegranate orchards. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 246: 117-123.
Chiel E, Kuslitzki W. 2016. Diversity and abundance of house fly pupal parasitoids in Israel, with first records of two Spalangia L. species. Environmental Entomology, 45: 283-291.
Teaching
Introduction to Biology, Biological Control, Introduction to Entomology, Symbiosis