November 2006

November 2006

Faculty News

The Association of Natural Bio-control Producers, the national organization for producers and suppliers of beneficial insects and mites (http://www.anbp.org/), established a new Liaison Council at their 2006 conference. The council will provide advice, contribute technical expertise, and enhance communication with the university community. Dr. Norm Leppla was one of the first three permanent members appointed to the council.

Dr. Oscar Liburd gave a research seminar at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee on 10 October. The subject was "IPM in small fruits focusing on strawberries and grapes."

Dr. Faith Oi received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Extension from the Southeast Branch of the Entomological Society of America.

Dr. James P. Cuda was a guest lecturer for the department's Insect Community Ecology course (ENY 6203) on 3 November. Cuda delivered a PowerPoint presentation on aquatic insect community ecology using weed biological control case studies to illustrate trophic and predator-prey interactions.

Dr. James Cuda was a guest lecturer for the Agronomy Department's Aquatic Weed Control course (PLS 4613) on 8 November. Cuda provided students with an historical perspective on successful aquatic weed biological control programs in Florida. He also discussed progress on classical biological control of Brazilian peppertree, which is often considered a semi-aquatic invasive weed.

Staff News

Lucy Skelley (M.S., 2002) joined Dr. Howard Frank's lab as a Biological Scientist. Lucy will work with mole crickets and their biological control agents. Lucy studied under Dr. Marjorie Hoy, doing her research on the rearing, release, and establishment of Tamarixia radiata and Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis, two parasitoids of Diaphorina citri, the Asian citrus psyllid, in Florida. (See http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/acpsyllid.htm.) Lucy comes back to us from a position in the UF Department of Medicine, where she learned molecular biology techniques while working on gene therapies for hypertension. She says she is happy to be back in the department and stated, "Although the rats and mice in the medical labs are very nice, I did miss the charms of my six-legged friends."

Student News

Bayer Environmental Science recently announced the winner and two finalists of its second "Young Scientist of the Year" contest. A panel of university and industry professionals determined the final awards. One of the two finalists was Ph.D. student Matthew Tarver, who is conducting research to understand the most effective solutions for termite control. Not only will Matt receive a $1,000 scholarship, but $1,000 will be donated to the general scholarship fund at UF. The three students received an all-expense paid trip to present their research during PestWorld 2006, in Grapevine, Texas, on 28 October. Matt studies under Dr. Mike Scharf, our insect toxicologist.

Ryan Welch graduated from the Urban Entomology program with an M.S., and is now employed with McCall Services, Inc. (Jacksonville) as a staff entomologist.

Alumni News

Sandra Garrett (now Sandra Rodrigues), M.S. 2005, a Master's student of Dr. James Maruniak joined the Ph.D. program in the Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico. She is working with Dr. Adelfa Serrano, and will be studying molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in malaria using the rodent malaria model.

Publications

Hoy MA. 2006. Book review of: Mites of Greenhouses, Identification, Biology and Control. Florida Entomologist 89: 426.

Lim UT, Hoy MA. 2006. Overwintering of the citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), without diapause in Florida. Florida Entomologist 89: 361-366.

Capinera JL. (October 2006). Armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haworth). Featured Creatures. EENY-394. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/field/true_armyworm.htm

Capinera JL. (October 2006). Black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel). Featured Creatures. EENY-395. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/black_cutworm.htm

Wang K-H, McSorley R, Fasulo TR. (2006). Root-knot Nematodes as Pests of Ornamental Plants - computer-verified training/CEU tutorial. UF/IFAS. SW-186.

Wang K-H, McSorley R, Fasulo TR. (2006). Foliar Nematodes as Pests of Ornamental Plants - computer-verified training/CEU tutorial. UF/IFAS. SW-187.

Howard FW. (September 2006). American palm cixiid, Myndus crudus Van Duzee. Featured Creatures. EENY-389. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/palms/palm_cixiid.htm

Woodruff RE, Fasulo TR. (October 2006). Banana root borer, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar). Featured Creatures. EENY-391. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/fruit/borers/banana_root_borer.htm

Oliveira JV, Wolff JL, Garcia-Maruniak A, Ribeiro BM, de Castro ME, de Souza ML, Moscardi F, Maruniak JE, Zanotto PM. (2006). Genome of the most widely used viral biopesticide: Anticarsia gemmatalis multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus. Journal of General Virology 87: 3233 - 3250.

Daniels JC, Pence JA, Emmel TC. 2006. Additional records of Cyclargon ammon (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae) in the Florida Keys. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 60: 97-99.

Daniels JC, Pence JA, Emmel TC. 2006. Notes on the ovipositional behavior of Leptotes cassius theonus (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae) in the Lower Florida Keys. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 60: 99-100.

Daniels JC, Sanchez SJ. 2006. Blues Revival: Can a Change in Diet - and a Little Laboratory Assistance - Help a Florida Butterfly Escape Extinction. Natural History. 26-28 October.

Howard FW, Gallo S. (October 2006). El cixíido americano de las palmas, Myndus crudus Van Duzee. Featured Creatures. EENY-396. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/palms/palm_cixiid_sp.htm

Fall 2006 Seminars

This semester's seminar committee members are graduate students Murugesan Rangasamy, Craig Roubos, Seth Bybee, Emily Saarinen and Amit Sethi. Seminars are held on Thursday afternoons in room 1031. Refreshments are served at 3:45 pm, and the seminar begins at 4:00 pm. A listing of the seminars is in the September issue, which is available at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2006-2007/Sep06.htm.

Meetings and Presentations

Dr. Oscar Liburd and Dr. Robert McSorley participated in the annual Organic Field day on 20 September, in Citra, Florida. Dr. Liburd gave a presentation "Ecological management of insect pests on organic farms." Dr. McSorley's presentation was "Ecological management of nematodes on organic farms."

Graduate student Matthew Lehnert gave an oral presentation at the Sigma Xi meeting in Detroit, Michigan, on 4 November. His topic was "The ecology and population biology of the Homerus swallowtail, Papilio (=Pterourus) homerus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), in the Cockpit Country, Jamaica." Matt studies under Dr. Thomas Emmel.

Matt Lehnert then gave a similar presentation on 13 November, at the North American Butterfly Association meeting in West Palm Beach. His presentation was, once again, "The ecology and population biology of the Homerus swallowtail, Papilio (=Pterourus) homerus in the Cockpit Country, Jamaica," but also included details on his current research studying tiger swallowtail, Papilio (=Pterourus) glaucus populations in Florida.

Dr. Jim Maruniak participated in the XXXIX Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology (SIP), held in Wuhan, China from 27 August - 1 September. This was his second year as the Chair of the Virology Division. He moderated several of the virology presentations, symposia as well as the General Virology Division meeting.

Dr. Jim Maruniak is participating in the 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) in Atlanta, Georgia, 12-16 November.

Ph.D. student Leslie Rios is also participating in the ASTMH meeting, presenting the poster "Preliminary data from mosquito collections obtained from horse-baited and light traps located on a West Nile virus (WNV) endemic farm in Florida" by Leslie Rios, Maureen Long, Dr. James Maruniak, Sarah Beachboard, MaryAnn Dixon and Dr. Jonathan Day.

Dr. Jaret Daniels gave a seminar, "Conservation Strategies for the Miami Blue," for the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville on 25 September.

Dr. Jaret Daniels gave two presentations, "Florida's Fantastic Butterflies" and "Butterfly Gardening 101," for the inaugural Florida Butterfly Festival held at the Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville on 14-15 October. Total festival attendance exceeded 7,500 visitors.

Dr. James P. Cuda was an invited speaker at the Florida Association of Science Teachers Annual Conference held in Gainesville, 12-14 October. Cuda participated in a workshop "Silent Invaders: A True Story About Native, Non-native and Invasive Plants in Florida". He gave a hands-on presentation about equipment and procedures used in exploratory surveys for natural enemies of invasive plants.

Dr. James Cuda participated in the Annual Sun-Belt Agriculture Expo held in Moultrie, GA, 16-19 October. Cuda created a display presentation on aquatic weed biological control programs in Florida.

Dr. James Cuda was an invited speaker at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society held in St. Petersburg, FL, 30 October- 2 November. Cuda gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Update: Biological Control of Aquatic Weeds".

Grants

Ph.D. student Amit Sethi received the following grants: Graduate Student Council - $250, IFAS CALS - $200, and Entomology and Nematology - $200. He will use the finds to attend the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America on 10-13 December in Indianapolis.

Dr. Jaret Daniels received a $14,425 grant from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Conservation Endowment Fund for the "Expansion of the Florida Butterfly

Grants

Dr. Jaret Daniels received a $14,425 grant from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Conservation Endowment Fund for the "Expansion of the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network."

Nematode Tutorials

As seen under Publications above, the department issued two computer-verified training tutorials on nematodes that are pests of ornamental plants. The tutorials were created by Drs. Koon-Hui Wang and Robert McSorley, nematologists; and Thomas Fasulo, entomologist. The tutorials discuss the biology, ecology and damage caused by foliar and root-knot nematodes.

These tutorials were approved by Florida for CEUs in the following pesticide applicator categories: Demonstration & Research, Commercial Lawn and Ornamental, Limited Certification Commercial Landscape Maintenance, Limited Certification Lawn and Ornamental, Ornamental & Turf Pest Control, and Private Applicator Agriculture Pest Control. However, Drs. Wang and McSorley also designed the tutorials for use as educational tools for college-level students and others who are studying nematodes.

The two tutorials will be sold on one CD-ROM for $15, and are designed to be installed on computers that run the Windows operating system. When they become available they will be listed on the UF/IFAS Buggy Software Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/software/ under Bug Tutorials.

Segments

The October issue of the UF/IFAS Chemically Speaking newsletter carried two articles that should be of interest to entomologists. One discussed a new study that the organic insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis requires the assistance of other microbes to perform its insect-slaying work. The other reported that the World Health Organization endorsed the indoor spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes, thereby reversing a 30-year policy. The issue is available through the Pest Alert at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/.

Newsletter Minutia

Thomas Fasulo is the newsletter editor. You can submit news anytime 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. Andrew Puckett and Thomas Fasulo code the HTML version.

During the last 12 months, the newsletter Web site recorded 51,029 distinct visitors and 86,929 page views. In addition, visitors downloaded 5,402 PDF files during January-October 2006.

November 2006.