October 2004

Faculty News

Dr. Russ Mizell added a file on "Monitoring stink bugs with the Florida stink bug trap" to his Insects, Traps and Sampling Web site at http://ufinsect.ifas.ufl.edu/.

Dr. Malcolm (Tom) Sanford, who "retired" from IFAS as its apiculture specialist, but not from bees or beekeeping, was invited as a journalist to cover the 15th Brazilian Beekeeping Congress in Natal. See his first article in the September 2004 American Bee Journal. On the heels of that, he attended the 18th Mexican Beekeeping Seminar in Villahermosa, Mexico, giving two presentations (Tolerance to Varroa and New Technologies in Beekeeping) escaping the wrath of Frances, flying out on the same day the airport resumed service. He concluded the summer escaping again just ahead of Ivan, but being hit by the remains of Javier on the west coast as part of a week-long canoe trip down the Green River in Utah from Mineral Bottom to the confluence with the Colorado, paralleling the experience of the Powell Expedition 1869 through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons (now part of the Canyonlands National Park). Dr. Sanford has returned and is resuming his "normal" activity as executive secretary of the Florida State Beekeepers Association and utility player on the "Flycatchers," the Entomology-Nematology Department's premier co-ed intramural softball team. See his Web site at http://beeactor.vze.com/.

Dr. Marc Branham is the new Book Review Editor for the journal Cladistics - the international journal of the Willi Hennig Society. Marc welcomes recommendations of new books dealing with systematics, organismal biology, behavioral ecology, etc., that people would like to see brought to the attention of a larger audience.

Dr. James P. Cuda was selected for inclusion in the forthcoming 8th Edition of Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

We recently interviewed both candidates for the Veterinary Entomology position, Drs. Jeffery K. Tomberlin and Phillip E. Kaufman. We will vote on the candidates at a meeting on 14 October at 1:15 p.m.

Student News

During May, Ph.D. student John Warner gave two presentations at the National Conference on Urban Entomology in Phoenix, AZ. The presentations were co-authored with Dr. Rudi Scheffrahn and were entitled "White-footed ant feeding preferences and pesticide efficacy trials," and "Meet the White-footed ant."

Ph.D. entomology student Emily Heffernan, a Graduate Research Associate at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, was asked to be the University of Florida Student Representative to the McGuire Center. She gave some brief remarks and accepted the McGuire Center on behalf of the students at the official dedication on 8 October.

Awards

Two other students received awards at the annual meeting of the 87th Florida Entomological Society , which was combined with the 5th International Caribbean Conference, held 25-28 July in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Scott Weihman received a 1st Prize at the M.S. level for his paper, "Monitoring and control tactics for grape root-borer in Florida Vineyards." Daniel Frank received 2nd prize for his paper, "Effects of living and synthetic mulches on the population dynamics of homopteran pests, their associated natural enemies, and insect transmitted diseases." Dr. Oscar Liburd is the advisor for both students.

Dr. James P. Cuda was selected by the Florida Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals as one of the recipients of a team award in the Innovative Program Category for his contribution to TAME melaleuca.

Publications

Warner J, Scheffrahn RH. 2004. Feeding preferences of white-footed ants, Technomyrmex albipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), to selected liquids. Sociobiology. 44: 403-412. (Available at http://shalompest.homestead.com/Warner_Scheffrahn_2004_Feeding_Pref_WFA.pdf)

Liburd OE, Holler TC, Moses AL. 2004. Toxicity of imidacloprid-treated spheres to Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in the laboratory. Journal of Economic Entomology 97: 525-529.

Sarzynski EM, Liburd OE. 2004. Effect of trap height and within-planting location on captures of cranberry fruitworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in highbush blueberries. Agricultural and Forest Ento-mology 6: 199-204

Liburd OE. 2004. Identification of host volatile compounds for monitoring blueberry maggot fly. Small Fruits Review 3: 307-312.

Stelinski LL, Pelz KS, Liburd OE. 2004. Field observations quantifying attraction of the parasitic wasp, Diachasma alloeum (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) to blueberry maggot fly, Rhagoletis mendax (Diptera: Tephritidae). Florida Entomologist 87: 124-129.

Mead FW. (June 2004). Oak treehopper, Platycotis vittata (Fabricius). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-328. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/oak_treehopper.htm

Mead FW. (June 2004). Citrus flatid planthopper, Metcalfa pruinosa (Say). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-329. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/shrubs/citrus_flatid_planthopper.htm

Fall Entomology Seminars

Coordinators for this semester are graduate students Veronica Manrique, Rodrigo Diaz and Karla Addesso.

10/14 - Dr. Jane Polston (UF/IFAS). "Interactions of tomato plants, begomoviruses, and the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci."

10/21 - Dr. Baldwyn Torto (UF/IFAS). "Chemical ecology of the small hive beetle: An alarming development for honeybees."

10/28 - Dr. Charles Cowell (University of Louisville, Kentucky). "A summary of forty years of Lepidoptera and mosquito research at the University of Louisville, Kentucky."

11/04 - Dr. Catherine Mannion (UF/IFAS). "Nursery production and exotic insect pests."

11/18 - Dr. Stephen M. Ferkovich (ARS-USDA, Gainesville). "Improvement of artificial diets for beneficial insects with host-derived factors and insect cell lines."

12/02 - Dr. Dave Carlson (ARS-USDA Gainesville). "Chemotaxonomy of insects using surface hydrocarbons."

Grants

Dr. Oscar Liburd and Ph.D. student Alejandro Arevalo received a two year grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for $60,000. The grant is to continue studying the biology and behavior of thrips and gall midge in southern blueberry plantings.

Meetings and Presentations

Dr. James P. Cuda participated in a Grantsmanship Workshop held in Atlanta, GA, 15-16 September. The workshop, co-sponsored by the University of Georgia, Clemson University and Auburn University, focused on how to prepare and submit a successful USDA competitive grant proposal.

Buy Me Some Peanuts...

The department's softball team, the Flycatchers, is undefeated so far in its first season with a record of 3-0. The scores for the first three games were 12-9, 15-2 and 26-3. Games are on Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. at the softball field behind the Southwest Recreation Center. The team has another games on October 21st and then goes to the playoffs. Playoff times will be announced. Please come out and show your support for the department. The team includes: Dr. Jim Cuda - 3rd base, Trey Deller - left center, Aissa Dounbouya - catcher, Jim Dunford - 1st base, Collin Hickey - short stop, Crystal Kelts - 2nd base, Jennifer Meyer - right field, Sonja Peters - left field, Dr. Malcolm Sanford - 1st base and 3rd base, Harry Scheulen - pitcher, Gisette Seferina - right center.

NATL News

The Natural Area Teaching Laboratory (NATL) is a 46-acre tract west and south of the Entomology and Nematology (EYN) building that is dedicated to teaching students and the public about ecology and biodiversity. Here are events of interest that have occurred since last spring.

Upland Pine Restoration: Nearly 300 small pots of wiregrass, 500 wiregrass plugs, 50 small turkey oaks, and 52 six-foot-tall longleaf pines were transplanted into the public-area upland pine.

Surge Area Wetland: This is ca. 12 acres east of Natural Area and Surge Area Drive. Its dominant feature is a large, temporary lake that drains into NATL's sinkhole pond, which drains directly into the Florida aquifer. On the unanimous recommendation of the NATL Advisory Committee, the Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee recently approved (1) the concept that academic users of NATL will benefit from having easy and inviting access to the Surge Area Wetland, and (2) the building of two sections of corral fence, as a start toward implementing this concept. A committee working on the 2005 revision of the UF master plan has recommended that this area become "NATL East."

Natural Area Park: This is the small park that is across the street from the EYN building in the northeast corner of NATL. Fifteen trees were planted east of the table area: three redbuds and one each of hop hornbeam, wild plum, Florida maple, yaupon, mockernut hickory, pignut hickory, magnolia, turkey oak, swamp chestnut oak, winged elm, basswood, and cedar. Three picnic tables were added to the five already in place and two loads of wood chips were spread among and near the tables on bare, compacted soil. Plans for an ADA-compliant sidewalk between the Park and the Cultural Complex and plans for a two-board corral fence on the north and east Park boundaries were approved and funded, with construction of both projects scheduled for this fall.

Hurricanes: Frances and Jeanne had a significant impact on NATL's hammock ecosystem. Among the specimen trees felled were a 31-inch [diameter breast high] swamp chestnut oak, a 33- inch water oak, 15- and 18-inch live oaks, a 19-inch sweet gum, and a 26-inch laurel oak. The large longleaf pines in NATL's upland pine ecosystem seemed to have survived the winds except for a 16-inch tree in the restricted area and an 18-inch tree in the public area.

Miscellany: Eight new trail signs were installed in NATL's public area. Funding was obtained for control of NATL's cogon grass and other invasive exotics. A milk-can type rain gage, courtesy of the EYN Department, was installed at the intersection of East Trail and the trail that bisects the old field plots. Visit the NATL's Web site at http://natl.ifas.ufl.edu/.

To Toss or not To?

The summer issue of the Alachua County Office of Waste Alternatives' "One Person's Trash" newsletter is available on its Web site at http://www.alachua-wastewatchers.org/. Read it and learn how to dispose of your trash usefully.

Bug Quote

Sometimes you have to wonder what visitors to our department might overhear and think. Recently, while walking past one of our meeting rooms, I overheard one member of our department saying to another, "...but we want them dead!" I hope they were discussing arthropods.

Featured Creatures

This popular UF/IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology and FDACS Division of Plant Industry Web site is available at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/. New files are added every month and older files are updated as information becomes available. Looking for some exposure for you and your favorite creature? During the last 12 months, the Featured Creatures Web site recorded 1,408,329 distinct visitors and 2,705,171 page views.

New text and/or photographs were added to Florida carpenter ant, land planarians and Cuban laurel thrips.

A recent comment on Featured Creatures: "I just wanted to thank you for the Featured Creatures Web site and all the information on insects. I am a biologist, but not an expert in terrestrial insects, and am constantly getting questions like 'what is this wasp that stung me?' and the information on your site has helped me provide answers. I had what I think is a pigeon fly or a relative land on me at one of our field sites (the area is a haven for pigeons and pheasants) and couldn't find info on it anywhere else. Thanks " - Dr. Ellen Pehek, Senior Ecologist, City of New York Parks & Recreation.

Tom Fasulo recently discovered that the North American Plant Protection Organization Phytosanitary Alert System at http://www.pestalert.org/main.cfm also references Featured Creatures articles. A recent post on citrus greening disease in Brazil referred readers to the Featured Creatures article on Asiatic citrus psyllid, a vector of the disease. In addition, the Phytosanitary Alert System also refers its readers to the UF/IFAS Pest Alert Web site.

Newsletter Minutia

Thomas Fasulo is the newsletter editor. Please send submissions to him at fasulo@ufl.edu. Issues are published about the middle of each month. Items for each month's issue should be sent no later then the 7th of that month.

Printed copies are distributed only within Building 970. A notice is sent to all those on the UF-Bugnews-l listserv when HTML and PDF copies are posted on the newsletter Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/news/, which contains instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing to the listserv. Andy Koehler does the coding for the HTML version.

During the last twelve months, the newsletter Web site recorded 35,344 distinct visitors and 59,680 page views. The newsletter listserv has 236 subscribers.

October 2004.