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ABOVE: Thumbs up to all of our amazing December grads! We are so proud of you and excited to see what you achieve! (see list below)
Lois Wood, a 35-year UF employee in the department, passed away on January 06, 2019 at Haven Hospice in Gainesville, at the age of 64. During her time at UF, Lois was a biological scientist, working for 21 years with Dr. Jerry Stimac, 2 years with Dr. Eileen Buss and then her remaining 12 years with Dr. Phil Kaufman, bringing excellence and admiration at each stop.
ABOVE: Lois retired from UF in August 2017 and enjoyed her post-retirement days with her Appaloosa, Shoshone. Lois received her M.S. with Dr. Walter Tschinkel at Florida State University in 1979 and then spent three years conducting studies for the state of Florida on salt marsh-inhabiting sparrows and several endangered species. While working with Dr. Stimac, Lois had the enviable opportunity to work in Brazil where she spent 6+ months working on a fire ant project, one of many highlights of her time in our department. Lois worked with the Florida Entomological Society for many years, producing the newsletter and assisting with the annual meeting. She was active in several horseback groups, a local clogging group, martial arts and the bromeliad society, among others. Lois will be interred near her family at her hometown of Staten Island, NY. For individuals interested in donating in Lois’ memory, consider Haven Hospice (http://beyourhaven.org/donate ) or your favorite charity.
The Mallinger Lab was the featured lab at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention on Saturday, December 8, 2018. Members of the lab spent the day presenting their research and discussing bees and pollination with museum visitors.
Dr. Tom Walker saves the day! His Singing Insects of North America (SINA) website helped answer a puzzling question. What is that sound haunting U.S. diplomats in Cuba? SINA is a project Dr. Walker has worked on this project since he retired in 2000. Dr. Teresa Cooper became his assistant (in May of last year), she and Dr. Walker have been working to complete the latest updates of SINA under his editorship.
We are proud to announce that we have several students that graduated in December!
These students have earned their PhD’s: Dr. Nur Asbani, Dr. Omatola Dosunmu, and Dr. Qinwen Xia.
Our MS graduates are: Riley Fee, Brandon Jones, Marian Lyman, Ray O’Bosky, and Eliott Smith.
Graduating with a BS degrees are: Paige Carlson and Trudi Durgee.
Matthew Borden, DPM and M.S. graduate student in the Dale Lab, was selected to receive a 2019 Florida Fertilizer and Agrochemical Association (FFAA) graduate student scholarship in the amount of $2,500.
Ph.D. student, Binita Shrestha, in the Stelinski lab received second place in the poster competition at ESA in Vancouver in November. Her poster was: Impact of natural enemy interactions on biological control of Asian citrus psyllid.
Need to name that bug? A host of experts are available to help Floridians identify any insect or related arthropod. If a mystery creature has six or more legs, the UF Insect ID Lab is the place to call.
The Insect ID Lab received 593 physical samples in 2018, which is the 3rd highest during the 17 years that Lyle has managed the lab. Digital samples sent as images through email continue to increase each year, with 807 this past year.
Lyle also manages the department’s collection of insect images. Much of the collection is online and available for use by personnel within IFAS, including the main campus in Gainesville, the Research and Education Centers, and the County Extension offices. Currently, the online collection has over 11,000 images. If you need insect images for a publication or presentation for your extension or teaching work, this is a great resource to check out! You can go to this direct link, pictures are copyrighted material and intended for official UF use only, and log onto the website using your Gatorlink credentials.
Lyle Buss is the UF/IFAS Insect ID Lab manager.
Think it might be a nematode problem? The Nematode Assay Laboratory serves Florida and other states by providing nematode assays and expert advice regarding nematode management.
For more information on the Nematode Assay Laboratory, please contact the lab manager Dr. Billy Crow.
Adrion AC, Scheffrahn RH, Serre S, Lee SD. 2018. Impact of sporicidal fumigation with methyl bromide or methyl iodide on electronic equipment. Journal of Environmental Management 231: 1021-1027.
Burkett-Cadena ND, Hoyer I, Blosser E, Reeves L. 2018. Human-powered pop-up resting shelter for sampling cavity-resting mosquitoes. Acta Tropica https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.12.002.
Capinera JL. 2019. Direct and indirect effects of herbicides on insects. Pages 76-91 in Korres NE, Burgos NR, Duke SO, Weed Control: Sustainability, Hazards and Risks in Cropping Systems Worldwide. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Castro D, Scheffrahn R, Carrijo T. 2018. Echinotermes biriba, a new genus and species of soldierless termite from the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon (Termitidae, Apicotermitinae). Zookeys 748: 21-30.
Chen XD, Gill TA, Ashfaq M, Pelz-Stelinski KS, Stelinski LL. 2018. Resistance to commonly used insecticides in Asian citrus psyllid: Stability and relationship to gene expression. Journal of Applied Entomology. 142: 967-977.
Chouvenc T, Scheffrahn R, Warner J. 2018. Establishment of Alluaud's little yellow ant, Plagiolepis alluaudi Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae): First continental New World record. Florida Entomologist 101: 138-140.
Constantini JP, Carrijo TF, Palma-Onetto V, Scheffrahn R, Carnohan LP, Šobotník J, Cancello EM. 2018. Tonsuritermes, a new soldierless termite genus and two new species from South America (Blattaria: Isoptera: Termitidae: Apicotermitinae). Zootaxa 4531: 383-394.
Gile G, James E, Tai V, Harper J, Merrell T, Boscaro V, Husnik F, Scheffrahn R, Keeling P. 2018. New species of Spirotrichonympha from Reticulitermes and the relationships among genera in Spirotrichonymphea (Parabasalia). Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology 65: 159-169.
Gillenwaters B, Scheffrahn RH. 2018. Minimum sulfuryl fluoride dosage for bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) fumigation. Journal of Economic Entomology doi: 10.1093/jee/toy394.
Gillenwaters B, Scheffrahn RH, Warner J. 2018. Prevention of colony establishment by the West Indian drywood termite using reduced rates of borate and silica dust or solution. Journal of Economic Entomology 111: 2298-2302.
Keller O, Branham MA. 2018. Miscellaneous notes on the fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) in McDermott’s 1966 catalogue of Lampyridae II. Insecta Mundi 0682: 1-4.
Martini, X, Rivera M, Hoyte A, Setamou M, Stelinski LL. 2018. Effects of wind, temperature and barometric pressure on Asian citrus psyllid (Hemiptera: Liviiidae) flight behavior. Journal of Economic Entomology 111: 2570-2577.
Scheffrahn RH. 2018. Neotermes costaseca: A new termite from the coastal desert of Peru and the redescription of N. chilensis (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae). ZooKeys 811: 81-90.
Scheffrahn RH. 2018. A new Cryptotermes (Blattodea (Isoptera): Kalotermitidae) from Honduras and known distribution of New World Cryptotermes species. Florida Entomologist 101: 657-662.
Scheffrahn R, Roisin Y. 2018. Anenteotermes cherubimi sp n., a tiny dehiscent termite from Central Africa (Termitidae: Apicotermitinae). Zookeys 793: 53-62.
Scheffrahn R, Bourguignon T, Akama P, Sillam-Dusses D, Sobotnik J. 2018. Roisinitermes ebogoensis gen. & sp. n., an outstanding drywood termite with snapping soldiers from Cameroon (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae). Zookeys 787: 91-105.
Scheffrahn R, Chase J, Mangold J, Hochmair H. 2018. Relative occurrence of the family Kalotermitidae (Isoptera) under different termite sampling methods. Sociobiology 65: 88-100.
Sourakov A. 2018. Leopards and giants, tigers and woolly bears: casting a broader net in exploring heparin effects on Lepidoptera wing patterns. F1000Research 7:1842.
Sourakov A. 2018. Baculovirus infection may affect wing color of the zebra longwing butterfly. Tropical Lepidoptera Research 28: 96-98.
New on Featured Creatures:
Grass-like mantid, Thesprotia graminis (Scudder). Authors: Bethany McGregor, Nathan Burkett-Cadena, and Andrea Lucky.
Flower thrips, Frankliniella tritici (Fitch). Authors: Danielle Sprague, Joe Funderburk and Andrea Lucky.
Do you have a favorite creature? Learn how to make it into a Featured Creatures!
Nine current members and one previous member of Dr. Christine Miller’s Lab headed to Tampa, FL in the first week of January to present their research accomplishments at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB). SICB is an educational and research forum for investigations of biology on a broad comparative scale.
Postdoctoral researchers delivering oral presentations included Drs. Pablo Allen, Ginny Greenway, and Ummat Somjee (now a Tupper Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). Graduate students delivering presentations included Lauren Cirino, Zach Emberts, and Daniela Wilner.
The Miller Lab has a strong undergraduate researcher training program and brought along four undergraduates to present posters on their research projects: Rachel Shepherd, Robert Entzian, Sklyer Brandfon, and Haley Lenga. Research topics ranged from the morphology of insect weapons, to the evolution of autotomy, and to the effects of nutrition on reproductive success. Members of the Miller Lab had a great time disseminating their entomological research with this scientific community.
ABOVE: Novel weapons, social networks, weight lifting, and surprising coloration: current and former Miller lab members did a great job representing UF! Above are Ebony Taylor, Rachel Shepherd, Robert Entzian, and Ummat Somjee.
Members of the Mallinger Lab gave a talk on Florida’s native wild bees at the Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve in Yankeetown, FL on December 7, 2018.
Dr. Mallinger gave a course on “Native Wild Bees: Biology and Conservation” to the Palm Beach County Master Gardeners in West Palm Beach, FL on December 6, 2018.
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.
If you have any questions, please email me.
Thank you —Clayton Bania, 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.
Dr. Mallinger received a grant from the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens Conservation Fund for $9,679 to conduct research on “Plants for Pollinators: Evaluating the Attractiveness and Resource Value of Ornamental Plants for Native Wild Bees”
Dr. Mallinger received a UF IFAS Early Career Scientist Seed Grant for her proposal entitled “Understanding and Overcoming Barriers to Pollination Success in Florida Blueberries”, which will provide $49,500 in funding over two years.
Want grant writing tips? Check out the UF Libraries Grants Management Program!
UF in Greece - From Ancient Farms to Modern Tables (ENY 4905)
A new study abroad program offered next year. This Summer-A program will be based on the campus of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece, and will include classes (taught in English) on Greek agriculture, food, culture, and several field trips to visit local agrobusinesses, museums and other locations that will illustrate the role of agriculture and insects in human history.
This 3-credit course will run from June 8 to 23, 2019. The program fee is $3,883 for undergraduates, and $4,131 for graduate students, and that includes tuition, all in-country transportation, some meals, accommodations, field trips, guided tours, international health insurance and emergency medical assistance. Not included in the fees are the airfare, some meals, additional travel and personal expenses. Financial aid that would be used on campus usually can be applied toward the cost of the program.
Want to stay up to date? Check out our website home page for a link to our Google calendar.
Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman is the newsletter editor and does the HTML coding. Issues usually are published by mid-month. Submit items for an issue by the seventh of that month.
We like to share news when it happens using our social media outlets: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Follow us on these sites for daily updates! When you send news, we will post it on one or more of these sites and again in the monthly newsletter. Please be sure you have permission from people in photographs you submit for publication.
UF-Bugnews-L listserv subscribers receive notices when issues are posted. Our home page has instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing.
Special thanks to Eleanor Phillips and Nancy Sanders, who reviewed the newsletter for errors, and to Jane Medley and Don Wasik, who built the web page design.
Give Back
Want to support the UF Entomology & Nematology Department? Consider making an online gift today! Questions can be directed to Christy Chiarelli at (352) 392-1975 or ccw@ufl.edu.
PO Box 110620, 970 Natural Area Drive, Steinmetz Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone: 352-273-3901, Fax: 352-392-0190
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