UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology

Dr. Phil Kaufman began his term as President of the Structural, Veterinary and Public Health Systems Section of the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

On 25 February, Dr. Christine Miller delivered an invited talk and a poster at the "Genes and Behavior" Gordon Conference, in Lucca, Italy. The Gordon Research Conferences promote discussions and the free exchange of ideas at the research frontiers of the biological, chemical and physical sciences. Scientists with common professional interests come together for a full week of intense discussion and examination of the most advanced aspects of their field.

Dr. Jim Rich recently attended the ISHS Symposium on Sociological and Economic Impact of Modern Vegetable Production Practices on Developing Country Farmers, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He presented the report "Towards a More Sustainable Tomato Production System" from work conducted in conjunction with Drs. Fred Rhoads and Steve Olson. The Symposium was attended by participants from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Dr. James P. Cuda was invited to serve on the UF/IFAS CALS Student Development Committee; the first meeting was held on campus, 21 February. The primary responsibilities of the Committee include advising the Director of Student Development on program issues, student internships, and career opportunities.

On 28 February, Dr. Yang-Seop Bae, a professor at the University of Inchon, in South Korea, arrived with his family for a 12-month sabbatical at UF. While housed at the McGuire Center, Dr. Bae will study southeast Asian Tortricidae moths in the collections of the Florida State Collections of Arthropods (FSCA) and the McGuire Center.

Dr. K.-T. Park returned to South Korea after spending his first six-month segment in Gainesville following his retirement from Kangwon National University (KNU), in South Korea. Dr. Park was professor of entomology and biology, and also served as Dean of the College of Agriculture, at KNU. He will return to study micro-moths at the McGuire Center each year, returning to South Korea during the summer months. He will return to Gainesville in September 2008. He is an expert in the families Lecithoceridae and Gelechiidae for Asia.

Dr. John B. Heppner, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry (FDACS-DPI) taxonomist for Lepidoptera, was on an extended survey expedition in Peru during November 2007, mainly in the Amazon-side foothills north of Cuzco and also east of Lima in Dept. Junin. Over 12,000 moths were collected in this survey, plus 1000s of other smaller insects, all to enhance tropical representation for the FSCA insect collection. A number of rare species were found, including undoubtedly new species of small moths. Dr. Heppner expects to return to Junin in early December 2008 (virgin forests of the Pampa Hermosa site) and has space on this next expedition for any students who wish to study the fauna in this part of Peru. His McGuire museum contact is at 273-1998 (or leave message at 372-3505 x139).

Dr. Carl Barfield reports that the following undergraduate students made the Dean's List for Academic Performance in Fall 2007. Beginning with the 2007-2008 catalog year, CALS Dean's List criteria are now 3.70 GPA with a minimum of 12 semester hours of graded credits.

Bret Boyd, Meredith Cenzer, Adam Davis, Michael Donovan, Christina Gutierrez, Fae de Lestang, Nadia Palma, Casey Reed, Erin Partridge, and Natasha Wright.

Ph.D student Peter Obenauer received the Robert T. Gast Award at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Branch (SEB) of the ESA, held in Jacksonville, FL, 2-5 March 2008. This award is given annually to the student delivering the best presentation in the Ph.D. student oral presentation competition. Pete works on Aedes albopictus in Dr. Phil Kaufman's laboratory.

Our department's Linnean Team took second place at the recent SEB/ESA meeting. This means the team will participate in the Linnean games at the ESA national conference in November. The team members are graduate students John Herbert (captain), Kyle Buecke, Ameya Gondhaleker, Patricia Toth and Melissa Doyle (alternate). The team seeks faculty assistance to prepare for the November competition.

Ph.D. student Gaurav Goyal took third place in the SEB/ESA meeting Photo Competition - Photomicroscopy section for his image of the male aedeagus of the corn silk fly, Euxesta stigmatias Loew.

Gaurav Goyal also received a 2007 Student and Young Professional Participation Award which included a cash prize along with certificate from the ESA, due to his active involvement in ESA activities. He recently served as a student representative on the Local Arrangements Committee for SEB/ESA.

Colin Hickey (M.S. ‘06) received the Professional of the Year Award from the NE Pest Management Association. Hickey serves as technical specialist for 28 Terminix branches in New York and the New England states. His job duties include training new hires, on-going training with individual branches, help for troublesome accounts, and technical support within his territory. He holds a Massachusetts Supervisory license in General Pest Control. In 2007, Hickey also earned certification as a Board Certified Entomologist from the ESA.

Stelinski LL, Rogers ME. 2008. Factors affecting captures of male citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella, in pheromone-baited traps. Journal of Applied Entomology 132: 143-150.

Nearns EH, Branham MA. 2008. Revision and phylogeny of the tribes Curiini LeConte and Plectromerini Nearns & Branham, new tribe (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society, No. 45. 117 pp.

Hall DW, Branham MA. 2008. Aggregation of Calopteron discrepans (Newman) (Coleoptera: Lycidae) larvae prior to pupation. Florida Entomologist 91: 124-125.

Heppner JB. 2007. Hickory horned devil, or royal walnut moth, Citheronia regalis (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). FL Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Entomology Circular 395: 1-2.

Heppner JB. 2007. Notes on Iophanus pyrrhias in Guatemala (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 17(1-2): 14.

Heppner JB, Bordelon C, Knudson E. 2007. Trotorhombia metachromata: a tropical crenulate moth new to Florida and Texas (Lepidoptera: Epiplemidae). Tropical Lepidoptera 17(1-2): 34.

This semester, graduate students Seth Bybee, Rosie Gill, Heidi Hanspetersen, Craig Roubos, Corraine Scott and Tricia Toth serve on the Seminar Committee. 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 seminars is available online in the January 2008 issue.

The remaining McGuire Center Seminars are listed in the online February 2008 issue.

Dr. Marc Branham gave the invited presentation, "The Evolution of Fireflies and their Sexual Signals," at the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University.

Dr. Marjorie Hoy presented a seminar in Plant Pathology on 26 February on Agricultural Bioterrorism and was hosted later by the students to an interesting and informative luncheon.

Dr. James Cuda was a guest lecturer for the department's graduate level course on Biological Control (ENY5241). His topic was "Biological Control of Terrestrial Weeds."

Dr. James Cuda attended the Annual Meeting of the Weed Science Society of America, in Chicago, 4-7 February. Cuda presented the paper "Septoria sp. (Sphaeropsidales): A new fungal pathogen for classical biological control of Schinus terebinthifolius." The paper was co-authored by T. Stevens, R. Barreto, T. Schubert, and R. Charudattan. The Septoria fungus is the first pathogen introduced into a Florida quarantine laboratory for testing as a classical biological control agent for a terrestrial weed.

Dr. James Cuda was an invited speaker for the First Coast Invasive Working Group meeting held at Camp Blanding, on 13 February. Because of the recent reports of Brazilian peppertree in northeast Florida and the Panhandle, Cuda was asked to give a presentation on Florida's Brazilian Peppertree Management Plan.

During the SEB/ESA meeting, Drs. James Cuda and Howard Frank participated in the S-1034 Regional Project on Biological Control of Arthropod Pests and Weeds. Cuda also moderated one of the 10-minute paper sessions.

Kaufman PE, Wood LA. Prevalence and seasonality of Euoniticellus intermedius (Reiche) (Coleoptera: Scarabeaidae) in North Central Florida.

Obenauer PJ, Kaufman PE, Allan SA. Oviposition response of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) to common North-Central Florida plants.

Thomas D. The likelihood and consequences of introduction of the spherical mealybug, Nipaecoccus viridis, in the continental U.S.

Cuda JP, Gillmore J, Medal J. Apocnemidophorus pipitzi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a new candidate for biological control of Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolius (Anacardiaceae).

Goyal G, Nuessly GS, Capinera JL, Seal DR, Gill HK. Corn Silk flies: Who's on primary, What's on secondary?

Gill HK, McSorley R, Goyal G, Om N. Impact of sunhemp mulch for management of lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).

Mann RJ, Kaufman PE, Nunez S. Comparison of bioassay methods sensitivity to Aedes aegypti and Musca domestica.

Doyle MA, Kline DL, Allan SA, Kaufman PE. Is backyard mosquito control effective?

Ph.D student Jennifer Zaspel and Dr. Marc Branham received an $11,267 National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant for "Systematics and evolution of the vampire moths and their fruit-piercing relatives using morphological and molecular data (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae)."

Ph.D student Seth Bybee and Dr. Marc Branham received an $11,906 NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant for "Winging it! Phylogeny and evolution of the helicopter damselflies (Pseudosigmatidae: Odonata)."

Tobias Schmid received a $2500 Undergraduate Research Award. He is an undergraduate student, mentored by Dr. James Cuda, enrolled in the HHMI/ Science for Life program.

Abhishek Mukherjee, a Ph.D student with Dr. James Cuda, received a $10,000 Mini-Research Student Project Grant sponsored by the UF Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

Gaurav Goyal, a Ph.D. student with Dr. Gregg S. Nuessly, and Harsimran K. Gill, a Ph.D. student with Dr. Robert McSorley, received grants from the Graduate Student Council towards travel expenses related to the SEB/ESA meeting.

How will honey bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) affect the price you pay for your favorite ice cream? See what one major vendor is saying about reduced fruit pollination, available through the UF/IFAS Pest Alert site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/, under 02/25/08. You can read more about CCD on the same site, under 09/06/07.

Heyla huppla Mister Bee, make some honey just for me!
Fly o'er lawn and buzz o'er lea,
fetch that honey for my tea,
visit all your special flowers
blooming through the summer hours.
Heyla huppla Mister Bee, make some honey just for me!
Woodruff clover poppy thyme,
spurrey sorrel columbine,
dogrose heather harebell blue,
violet pansy speedwell too.
Heyla huppla Mister Bee, make some honey just for me!
From the blossom's nectar sweet,
comes a hearty honey treat,
I can't wait ‘til you arrive,
at my table from your hive.
Heyla huppla Mister Bee, make some honey just for me!
Golden rich and gooey thick,
sticky likkle paws I lick,
scrumptious munchious gorgeous stuff,
Dibbums just can't get enough,
Heyla huppla Mister Bee, make some honey just for me!

- Song for the Bee Dance, from Brian Jacques' book High Rhulain

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.

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