Congratulations to our faculty (and students/staff in the team award) who received the following recognition on August 4th from the Florida Entomological Society at their annual meeting.

• Dr. Lance Osborne, Entomologist of the Year
• Dr. Roxanne Connelly, Annual Achievement Award for Extension
• Dr. Phillip Kaufman, Dr. Faith Oi, Dr. Emma Weeks, Dr. Amanda Eiden, Lucas Carnohan, Lois Wood, Dr. Michael Dark, Dr. Sandra Allan and Dr. Robert Miller, Achievement Award For Team Research
• Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman, Special Award for Service to Florida Entomologist and the FES Website

Dr. Roberto Pereira was promoted to Research Scientist as of July 1, 2015.

Congratulations to our students who received the following recognition on August 4th from the Florida Entomological Society at their annual meeting.

Scholarships:

• Luis F. Aristizábal
• Lucas P. Carnohan

Mini Grants:

• Omotola Dosunmu
• Deepak Shrestha

Travel Grants:

• Luis F. Aristizábal
• Lindsy E. Iglesias
• Omotola Dosunmu

Ph.D. Student Paper Competition:

• 1st place: David Owens
• 2nd place: Lucas P. Carnohan
• 3rd place: Lindsy E. Iglesias

M.S. Student Paper Competition:

• 1st place: Christophen R. Kerr
• 2nd place: Eric G. LaVeen
• 3rd place: Keenan Wiggins

Scholarships

We have just finished awarding College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) http://cals.ufl.edu/ scholarships for 2015-2016. In total, CALS awarded $418,800 in scholarships and fellowships to 274 undergraduate students and 48 graduate students. Listed below are the students from Entomology and Nematology who were selected for a scholarship or fellowship.

Graduate Student Awardees:

• Dale Halbritter: William C. and Bertha M. Cornett Fellowship, $1,500       
• David Owens: Agricultural Women's Club Scholarship in Memory of Doris Tichenor, $1,000           

Undergraduate Student Awardees:

• Stefani  Harrison: Price Scholarship $1,000            
• Gabriella Steele: Coca Cola Scholarship $1,000   
• Andre Szejner Sigal: Kenneth R. and Waynell Tefertiller Scholarship $1,000

After graduating with her Ph.D. in May, Dr. Erika Machtinger has moved to the USDA in Beltsville, MD to be a post-doctoral researcher with Dr. Andrew Li. Erika will be working on research in both the relationships between wildlife and tick movement and integrated management of ticks. 

Kevyn Juneau (MS '09, Dr. Norm Leppla) has accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of conservation and environmental science in the Plant and Earth Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in River Falls, Wisconsin. He will begin his new position in January 2016.

Mr. Brendan Bennett, a high school student who participated in UF’s 57th Summer Student Science Training Program, gave two presentations on a research project he conducted in the laboratory of Dr. James P. Cuda. Mr. Bennett gave an oral presentation titled "Biological control of the Brazilian peppertree" on July 23rd and a poster presentation on the same topic on July 24th. 

Tropical Entomology Field Lab in Honduras

Dr. Jacqueline Miller, Dr. Ronald Cave, and Dr. Deborah Matthews led a troop of nine UF undergraduate and graduate students and three Wichita State University students to Honduras for the 2015 Tropical Entomology Field Lab during July 7-17. The expedition began at the Lodge at Pico Bonito located a few kilometers west of La Ceiba on the north coast of the country. Students were apparently pleased with the plush accommodations of the Lodge and enthralled by the immense species richness of flora and insect fauna.

Mercury-vapor lights were run every night and attracted a plethora of moths, beetles, and bugs, which included the harlequin beetle (Acrocinus longimanus), large longhorn beetles (e.g., Orthomegas monnei), Hercules beetles (Dynastes hercules), giant silk moths, cicadas, and peanut heads (Fulgora laternaria).

During the day, students explored waterfalls, chased Morpho butterflies, flirted with agoutis, and gawked at the wonders of a tropical lowland rainforest. We visited the Museo de Mariposas at the Centro Universitario Regional del Litorál Atlántico where the museum’s creator, Mr. Robert Lehman, explained the immense collection’s creation, purpose, and value. During one morning and one night we explored and collected at the nearby Río Santiago Nature Resort owned by a couple of gold miners from Arizona. Students who tended the lights all night here were rewarded with five Hercules beetles! On the last full day on the north coast, the group was guided through a pineapple plantation and packing facility.

Then it was on to the Panamerican Agricultural University, Zamorano. We stayed in the foothills of Cerro Uyuca at the Chalet Cabot (1,600 m elevation), which is bit more rustic (bunk beds, no internet, and only one shower with hot water [when there was water]) than the posh Lodge at Pico Bonito. During five days at Zamorano, students experienced a cloud forest and a tropical dry forest. Tours of Zamorano’s insect collection, biocontrol natural enemy production labs, seed and grain science center, apiculture lab, and organic horticulture project were offered. During night collecting, students discovered the painful sting of nocturnal vespids (Apoica), the marvel of black witches (Ascalapha odorata), and the joy of jewel scarabs (Chrysina quetzalcoatli).

If the annoying problems with rental vehicles are ignored, then the expedition was a great success. There were lots of good bugs, good habitat, and good weather. Even the food was good as students found the pizza from La Casona Restaurant worthy of a second experience and the bean and quesadilla anafres were the culinary highlight of the trip.

ABOVE: Upper left: The Tropical Entomology Field Lab at the Lodge at Pico Bonito, some still wearing their hair nets from the tour of the pineapple packing plant. Upper right: Jose Monroy of Dole explaining pineapple pest management near La Ceiba (Photo by R. Cave). Middle left: Robert Lehman displaying his Museo de Mariposas (Photo by S. Harrison). Middle right: Students collecting at a mercury-vapor light on the bird tower at the Lodge at Pico Bonito (Photo by D. Matthews). Bottom left: Rogelio Trabanino describing natural enemy production in Zamorano’s biological control lab (Photo by R. Cave). Bottom right: Students working on their family lists in the Zamorano insect collection (Photo by R. Cave).

From the Outreach Coordinator

The live critters are always a hit with children and adults alike. The critters are available for you to check out should you be leading an outreach event. We have doubles of our most popular critters, as well as various native insect species depending on the time of year. We have large wood and Plexiglas cages for viewing our native orb weaving spiders. There is one travel cage and one larger static cage. Please be sure to contact us and review the protocol on transporting and handling the critters if you are not already familiar with it. If you lead an outreach, be sure to fill out a documentation form so your event can be included in the newsletter and we can log all outreach events.