Faculty and Staff News

Student and Alumni News

New on Featured Creatures:

Black scale, Saissetia oleae (Olivier). Authors: Morgan A. Byron, Jennifer L. Gillett-Kaufman, University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department, and Sandra A. Allan, USDA-ARS-CMAVE.

A parasitoid wasp, Anagyrus pseudococci Girault. Authors: Theresa Chormanski, Miami Dade College; and Ronald D. Cave, University of Florida.

A sting nematode, Belonolaimus longicaudatus Rau. Author: Billy T. Crow,University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department.

Fiddlewood leafroller, Epicorsia oedipodalis (Guenée). Author: William H. Kern, Jr., University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department.

Do you have a favorite creature? Learn how to make it into a Featured Creatures!

Meetings and Presentations

Our 2015 Bee College was the largest so far with attendance exceeding 400 people.  The event featured our regular local speakers and invited speakers Dr. Deborah Delaney, University of Delaware and Dr. Tom Seeley, Cornell University.  We wish to thank all who attended and the staff who worked so hard to make event a success.

Bee College in the news: Record number of students swarm to annual UF Bee College session.

Dr. Billy Crow presented "Nematode management on golf course turf 2015" at regional seminars of the Florida Turfgrass Association in Jacksonville and Orlando on February 18 and 19, respectively.

Dr. Billy Crow gave a 4-hour seminar on "Nematodes on golf course turf" at the annual Educational Conference of the Golf Course Superintendents of America in San Antonio TX on February 23.  This is an international conference, so Dr. Crow was happily reconnected with his former grad student Yun Zhang (MS 2010).  Yun is the Turfgrass Product Field Support Representative for Bayer Environmental Sciences in China.

ABOVE: Dr. Billy Crow and alumni Yun Zhang (Bayer) at the Golf Course Superintendents of America meeting in San Antonio TX.

Dr. James P. Cuda participated in a webinar sponsored by the Southern IPM Center as part of the National Invasive Species Awareness Week on 25 February.  The webinar titled “Integrated management of the invasive aquatic weed hydrilla” was co-authored by Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman, Dr. Raymond Hix, Dr. Verena-Ulrike Litze and Dr. Emma Weeks.

Dr. James P. Cuda was a co-author on a presentation by Dr. William Overholt titled “Exploring and Testing Natural Enemies of Cogongrass.”  The presentation was part of the biannual FWC-IFAS Research Review for Invasive Plants in Florida held at the UF/IFAS Orange County Extension Office, 4-5 March.

4th International Research Conference on Huanglongbing

Dr. Phil Stansly, Dr. Jawwad Qureshi, Dr. James Tansey, graduate students Scott Croxton, Thomson Paris, and Xulin Chen presented at the conference and did a great job representing the Entomology and Nematology department! 

Presentations: 

• Pilar Vanaclocha, Moneen M. Jones, César Monzó, James. A Tansey, Fritz Roka, and Philip. A. Stansly. Productivity of HLB infected trees enhanced by vector control of ACP and foliar nutrition. 
• Jawwad A. Qureshi, Susan E. Halbert, Dyrana N. Russell, and Philip A. Stansly​. Development and reproduction of the Asian citrus psyllid on Zanthoxylum fagara Rutaceous relative of citrus. 
• Philip A. Stansly, Barry Kostyk, Rachael Cameron, and Hector Portillo​. Soil applied systemic insecticides to control Asian citrus psyllid and slow spread of HLB in young citrus trees. 

Posters:

• Pilar Vanaclocha, and Philip. A. Stansly. The Citrus Greening (HLB) Bibliographical Database. 
• Scott Croxton, and Phil Stansly. Systemic insecticides and reflective mulch for Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) control in new citrus plantings. 
• Jawwad A. Qureshi, and Philip A. Stansly. Organic insecticides and parasitoids for integrated management of Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri​. 
• Xulin Chen, Samuel W. K. Wong, and Philip A. Stansly. Functional and behavioral response of Tamarixia radiata (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) to different densities of its host, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psylloidea). 
• Thomson M. Paris, Sandra A. Allan, and Phillip A. Stansly. The behavioral response of Diaphorina citri to ultraviolet light. 
• James A. Tansey, Moneen M. Jones, Pilar Vanaclocha, Jacqueline Robertson, and Philip A. Stansly. Frequent low volume applications of horticultural mineral oil for management of Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae). 

In addition: Dr. Susan Halbert, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Dr. Manjunath Keremane, USDA/ARS/NCGRCD Dr. Chandrika Ramadugu, U CA, Riverside, Dr. Richard Lee, USDA/ARS/NCGRCD Dr. Jo Ann Lee, UF Mathematics Department, Dr. James Keesling, UF Mathematics Department, Dr. Burt Singer, Emerging Pathogens Institute, UF and Dr. William O. Dawson, UF CREC presented a talk called “Surprising results and implications of the Florida psyllid testing project” at the 4th International Research Conference on Huanglongbing meeting in Orlando.

Outreach

A big thank you to the students and faculty who volunteered at our February outreach events.

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.

If you have any questions please email me.

Thank you — Erin Powell, Outreach Coordinator.

If you would like to schedule an event or have any outreach questions, go to the Outreach pages on our Bug Club Website and contact us.

Getting social!

We have several social media sites for the Entomology & Nematology Department. To make them easily searchable, all three (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) have the same page name: UFEntomology. Please share these links with past students or colleagues who may have an interest in departmental activities.

Grants

Virni Mattson, our grants specialist, reports that from January 1st to February 28th, 2015, we have had 27 new grants or contracts awarded for a total of $2,320,591.66 in external funding for all Entomology & Nematology faculty (in Gainesville and at RECs).

Dr. Barry Alto with Co-PI Dr. L. Philip Lounibos were awarded $79,701 from FDACS for their project - Emergence and risk prediction for Florida of chikungunya virus from the Caribbean.

Dr. James P. Cuda with Co-PI Dr. William A. Overholt were awarded a $10,000 grant from the UF/IFAS FAES for their Multi-State research project “Biological Control of Arthropod Pests and Weeds, S-1058.” The funds will be used to import and establish a colony of the gall forming midge Orseolia javanica Kieffer  (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), a candidate biological control agent for cogongrass.

Announcements

97th Annual Meeting of the Florida Entomological Society
August 2-5, 2015 at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa
17260 Harbour Pointe Drive, Fort  Myers , FL  33908

Don’t miss your opportunity to submit a symposium or workshop idea for consideration for the 98th Annual Meeting of the Florida Entomological Society. 
Any FES member who would like to organize a symposium or workshop for the annual meeting should e-mail (preferable), phone, or fax, their suggestions to Program Chair, Dr. Phil Stansly (pstansly@ufl.edu) by 15 April 2015. 

Symposia/workshop organizers are expected to arrange for speakers and moderate their sessions. Speakers should be requested to provide their details (addresses, etc.), title of presentation, and abstract in BOTH English and Spanish. Symposium Chairs will organize and send a finished file of abstracts, etc. to the Program Chair. A form will be provided. The Program Committee will assist organizers with equipment needs (projectors, laptops, etc.). However, it is preferable if the organizers arrange for their own equipment needs.

Symposium or Workshop?

A symposium is a session organized around a common theme and is for researchers to inform others of what they are doing.

A workshop is designed to train participants about a specific subject. Workshops are fee-based and participants can earn credits or CEUs. Those who do not register and pay for the workshop are NOT supposed to attend. Workshops have traditionally been on the last day of the meeting because many participants only want to attend that day, and just that workshop.

Exhibitors/Vendors are welcome, and for a fee can set up a booth for all three days of the meeting. Two lunch tickets are included.

Dr. Phil Stansly
Professor of Entomology
University of Florida-IFAS-SWFREC
Phone: 239-658-3427

FES Honors and Awards 2015

The Florida Entomological Society Honors and Awards Committee are requesting nominations for 2015 in the following categories:

• Entomologist of the year.
• Annual Achievement Award for Research.
• Annual Achievement Award for Extension.
• Annual Achievement Award for Industry.
• Annual Achievement Award for Teaching.
• Annual Achievement Award for Regulatory Entomology.
• Achievement Award for a Collaborative Research Team.

Winners will be announced at the 2015 Annual Meeting. Each nomination should be accompanied with a justification narrative that will be read at the awards luncheon. View previous winners.

Nomination deadline is July 1, 2015.

Nominations should be emailed to: Dr. Jawwad Qureshi
Chair, Honors and Awards Committee
University of Florida-IFAS-SWFREC
Phone: 239-658-3451

Want books???

Michelle Leonard will try to purchase all book requests that support research and curriculum for faculty. Each year she is given a deadline for end of fiscal year purchases. Please send any book purchase requests before the dates outlined below:

• March 31st. Last day for order requests from all foreign vendors.
• April 30th. Last day for print order requests from all domestic vendors.
• May 14th. Last day for ebook order requests.

She will need the full title, author and year. Please indicate if you prefer an ebook or a hardcopy.

Michelle Leonard
Environmental Engineering Sciences & Natural Resources
Marston Science Library, 209A
352-273-2866