September 2005
Student News
Student Paper competition winners from the 2005 Florida Entomological Society meeting held 24-27 July were:
Ph.D.: 1st Place - Joseph Smith; 2nd Place - Matt Aubuchon; and 3rd Place - Amit Sethi.
M.S.: 1st Place - Linda NcHerne; 3rd Place- Frank Wessels.
As mentioned in last month's issue, graduate students Jennifer Zaspel, Emily Saarinen et al. presented a poster at the Annual Meeting of the Lepidopterists' Society. What is new is that this poster won the Alexander Klots Award for Best Student Poster at the meeting.
Last month, Ph.D. student and USDA Entomologist Julieta Brambila trekked west on a 16 day trip (12-27 August) where she helped coordinate and teach a Heteroptera Identification workshop for the Western Region port identifiers (USDA-APHIS-PPQ, entomology). After the workshop, Julieta traveled and collected Heteroptera in the canyons, meadows, and mountains of Routt, Roosevelt, and Medicine Bow National Forests, and well as in deserts of Colorado and Wyoming.
Teresia Nyoike, from Kenya, joined us this semester as a graduate student. She received her B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Teresia worked with an Integrated Pest Management company called Dudutech (K) Ltd, which mass produces beneficial insects and microbials. She will be working on her master's degree with Dr. Oscar Liburd on cucurbit pests. The research will look at the effect of different mulches on pest insects on cucurbits and their control.
Staff News
Sharon Hoopaugh reports that Christian (Chris) Pickles started working in the department's fiscal office on 26 August. Chris previously worked in IFAS Personnel from 1997 until she joined us, and before that in the Academic Personnel office. In our department, Chris will handle OPS Employees, Student Assistant, Student Work Study, Graduate Assistants and Post Doctoral personnel appointments and payroll. This will allow Vassie Pittman to concentrate on travel and Sharon to deal with budget issues. Please stop by and welcome her to the department as you have time
Alumni
Dr. Clay Scherer was walking around the Philadelphia Zoo when... Well, let him tell it... "My nephews (5 and 7) shouted out, ‘Hey, Uncle Clay, that's you!' My wife was equally surprised and one of my brothers snapped a photo of me standing next to the head lice poster which was on display. Apparently, Penn State extension maintains a display within the Zoo, providing all kinds of buggy stuff (the usual extension stuff). One of the items was the head lice poster Jane Medley and I worked on years back. They had one hanging up on the wall. According to the folks staffing the display that day, they said it's a pretty popular poster with the school teachers. Huh, you just never know where things will turn up. Needless to say, the display was near the primate exhibit."
Publications
Turner JC, Buss EA. 2005. Biology and management of Allokermes kingii (Hemiptera: Kermesidae) on oak trees (Quercus spp.). Journal of Arboriculture 31: 198-202.
Turner JC, Buss EA, Mayfield III, AE. 2005. Kermes scales (Hemiptera: Kermesidae) on oaks. Entomology Circular No. 416. Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry.
Frank DL, Liburd OE. 2005. Effects of living and synthetic mulch on the population dynamics of whiteflies and aphids, their associated natural enemies, and insect-transmitted plant diseases in zucchini. Environmental Entomology 34: 857-865.
Arévalo HA, Frank JH. 2005. Nectar sources for Larra bicolor (Hymenoptera: Specidae), a parasitoid of Scapteriscus mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), in northern Florida. Florida Entomologist 88: 146-151.
Krewer G, Stanaland D, Liburd OE, Larson J. 2005. Organic blueberry production and observations in Georgia. Horticultural Science 40: 891.
Dernisky AK, Evans RC, Liburd OE, Mackenzie K. 2005. Characterization of early floral damage by cranberry tipworm (Dasineura ozycoccana Johnson) as a precursor to reduced fruit set in rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Reade). International Journal of Pest Management 51: 143-148.
Nuessly G. (August 2005). Yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flava (Forbes). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-354. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/field/bugs/yellow_sugarcane_aphid.htm
Kaufman PE, Harrington LC, Waldron JK, Rutz DA. 2005. The importance of agricultural tire habitats for mosquitoes of public health importance in New York State. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 21: 171-176.
Kaufman PE, Reasor C, Rutz DA, Ketzis JK, Arends JJ. 2005. Evaluation of Beauveria bassiana applications against adult house flies, Musca domestica, in commercial caged-layer poultry facilities in New York State. Biological Control 33: 360-367.
Kaufman PE, Rutz DA, Frisch S. 2005. Large sticky traps for capturing house flies, Musca domestica, and stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans, in dairy calf greenhouse facilities. Journal of Dairy Science 88: 176-181.
Lim UT, Hoy MA. 2005. Biological assessment in quarantine of Semielacher petiolatus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) as a potential classical biological control agent of citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), in Florida. Biological Control 33: 87-95.
Nuessly G, Nagata RT. (July 2005). Greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-353. http://entmology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/field/bugs/greenbug.htm
SW Weihman, OE Liburd. (2005). Grape root borer pest management in Florida vineyards. EDIS. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG165
Grants
Dr. Oscar Liburd and Alejandro Arévalo received a $10,600 research grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to work on management and extension of grape root borer in Florida
Dr. Oscar Liburd received a $10,641 grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for development of pheromone for pest management strategies using participative and classical research to control grape root borer.
Graduate student Alejando Arévalo and Dr. Oscar Liburd received a $10,000 grant from Southern Region, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) Graduate Student Grant for development of an IPM strategy for control of flower thrips in blueberries in the southeastern United States.
Dr. Oscar Liburd, Alejandro Arévalo and Craig Roubos received a $5,500 IR-4 grant for evaluation of reduced-risk insecticide for control of blueberry pests.
The August issue of the newsletter did not include all of our student winners of various grants from the Florida Entomological Society (FES) this year. Our complete list follows:
$500 Scholarship winners: James Dunford, Cynthia Tucker and Ricky Vazquez.
$100 Mini-Grant winners: Karla Addesso, James Dunford, Luis Matos, Jason Meyer, Rui Pereira, Murugesan Rangasamy, Elena Rhodes, Amit Sethi, Joe Smith and Ricky Vazquez.
$100 Travel Grant winners: Karla Addesso, Crystal Kelts, Luis Matos, Murugesan Rangasamy, Elena Rhodes, Amit Sethi, Joe Smith, Charles Stuhl, Ricky Vazquez and Frank Wessels.
Meeting and Presentations
Ph.D. student John Warner presented a talk about his research on white-footed ant control at the annual FES meeting.
Dr. Brian Cabrera, Ft. Lauderdale REC, is coordinating the 25th UF/IFAS School of Structural Fumigation, 14-18 November 2005. For details, see the 08/18/05 link on the Pest Alert site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/.
Dr. John Foltz visited Palm Beach county on 30-31 August to assess the problem of pine decline and conduct a workshop on pine beetles with master gardeners and county employees. Although bark and ambrosia beetles were prevalent in the dead trees, the present mortality is due to root breakage and internal stem damage caused by hurricanes Francis and Jeanne last September.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Malcolm T. Sanford participated in the 3rd European Congress on Social Insects, European Section of IUSSI in St. Petersburg, Russia, 22-27 August 2005. He presented papers on the introduction of the small hive beetle in the U.S. and use of soft chemicals for Varroa control. One focus of this meeting was acknowledging the continuing emergence of Russian scientists from underneath the Soviet Umbrella; another was the continuing effort to have scientists in the European Union communicate better. For details, see http://www.iussi.org/. The second announcement for the 15th IUSSI conference scheduled for 30 July-5 August 2006 in Washington, DC, has been published.
Dr. Marjorie Hoy will attend the International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods 12-17 September in Davos, Switzerland, where she will present an invited talk. Former department graduate student Dr. Juan Manuel Alvarez will be there, as well as former postdoctoral scientist Dr. Lucia Zappala.
Elena Rhodes, Dr. Liburd, and Jay Cee Turner were invited to the Grape Harvest Festival on 1 September. They displayed a poster and an insect collection, and answered questions about pests and beneficial organisms associated with grapes.
Alejandro Arévalo will present his research at the VIII International Symposium on Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses. The meeting is in Pacific Grove, CA, on 11-15 September 2005.
Dr. Oscar Liburd will give a presentation at the 2005 USDA/IR-4 Food Use Workshop. The meeting is in San Diego, CA, on 13-15 September 2005.
Entomology Seminars
This semester's seminar coordinators are Seth Bybee, James Dunford, Luis Matos, Murugesan Rangasamy and Jennifer Zaspel. Seminars begin at 3:45 p.m. in room 1031, Entomology and Nematology (Bldg. 970).
9/1 Dr. Jonathan Day - UF/IFAS, "The importance of wild birds to arboviral transmission in Florida."
9/8 Dr. Verena Blaeske -UF/IFAS, "Switch to the dark side - biology of entomopathogenic algae."
9/15 Dr. Steven Valles - USDA-ARS, Gainesville, "Utilization of an EST library created from the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, for discovery of new microbial control pathogens."
9/22 Dr. Kris Braman - University of Georgia, TBA
9/29 Dr. Adam Silagyi - FDACS-DPI, "Early detection of exotic invasive species and the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program."
10/6 Dr. Dov Borovsky - UF/IFAS, "TMOF- a journey from physiological to bioengineering studies."
10/13 Dr. David Grimaldi - American Museum of Natural History, NY, "Why fossils matter: examples from the insects."
10/20 Dr. Paul Goldstein - McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, "Phylogenesis of host plant associations and larval behaviors in the Apameini (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)."
10/27 Dr. Susan Poats - Corporación Grupo Randi Randi, Ecuador, "Using farmer field schools to learn about Integrated Pest Management in beans: a case study from the Chota Valley in northern Ecuador.
11/3 Dr. Lincoln Brower - Sweet Briar College, VA, "The monarch butterfly migratory and overwintering phenomenon in North America: can it survive?"
11/17 Dr. Larry Duncan - UF/IFAS, "Trophic cascades following augmentation biocontrol with entomopathogenic nematodes: Opening a can of worms."
12/1 Dr. Jeff Feder - Notre Dame University, "Host fruit odor discrimination, habitat specific mating, and sympatric speciation in Rhagoletis fruit flies."
Reading Room
The Reading Room committee once again reminds us that no one is allowed to take materials out of the reading room, and no one is allowed to take food or drink in. You are also reminded that Reading Room users are monitored on closed-circuit TV, so wave and say hi. In addition, the committee asks that you tidy up after yourself before leaving the room. Those who wish to use the in-room copier should visit the stock room to get a PIN from Nick Hostettler.
Bug Quote
"What makes things baffling is their degree of complexity, not their sheer size... a star is simpler than an insect." - Martin Rees, "Exploring Our Universe and Others," Scientific American, December 1999.
Newsletter Minutia
Thomas Fasulo is the newsletter editor. Send submissions to him at fasulo@ufl.edu. Issues are published the middle of each month. Submit items for an issue by the 7th of that month.
Printed copies are distributed only within Building 970. UF-Bugnews-l listserv subscribers receive notices when HTML and PDF copies are posted on the newsletter Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/news/, which has instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing. Pam Howell and Nancy Sanders review the newsletter for errors and prepare the print version for distribution.
September 2005.