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ABOVE: Dr. James P. Cuda searching for galls of the cogongrass midge, Orseolia javanica in Cianjur, Indonesia.
A note from Dr. Siegfried
I hope everyone is having a great summer. It is hard to believe that we are only a month away from the start of the fall semester. While Gainesville summers can be oppressive, I enjoy the slower pace and not having to fight to get onto Hull Road at the end of the day. In spite of the slower pace, we still have had a busy summer.
Our three-year Administrative review took place in late May in which IFAS administrators meet with the department to assess our progress and direction. We had great participation from our faculty, students, and staff. The review included a stakeholders meeting, and I would like to thank the attendees who took time out of their busy schedules to visit campus and interact with IFAS administration. All of the sessions were well-attended, and the IFAS administrators were very complimentary of all that you do. I have not yet seen the final report, but I think we made a good impression and look forward to sharing the report when it becomes available.
ABOVE: Dr. Don Dickson (51 years) and Patrick Penny (15 years) who worked in Don’s program as an Agricultural Assistant III at the Plant Sciences Research Unit in Citra were recognized for their service at a retirement reception in the department in June. We heard from many of Dr. Dickson’s former students and some great pictures and stories were shared. Special thanks to Dr. Dickson and Mr. Penny for all their service to the department.
A number our faculty have been successfully promoted and/or tenured in 2019. Dr. Jaret Daniels was promoted to full curator, Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman was promoted to full extension scientist, Dr. Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski received tenure, Dr. Dak Seal was promoted to full research scientist, and Dr. Lukas Stelinski was promoted to full professor. Please congratulate them for their accomplishments and successful decisions!
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
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.
Our UF/IFAS VP Dr. Jack Payne recently featured a member of the department (Dr. Brian Bahder) in the Palm Beach Post and FNGLA Greenline.
Dr. Bryony Bonning edited “Insect Molecular Virology: Advances and Emerging Trends,” recently released by Caister Academic press. The book is now available for sale online.
Dr. James P. Cuda travelled to Bogor, Indonesia from 22-28 June to conduct field research on the gall midge Orseolia javanica, a potential biological control agent of cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica. Cogongrass is a federal listed noxious weed and one of the most invasive introduced grasses in Florida. Dr. Cuda was hosted by Dr. Purnama Hidayat and his students at Bogor Agricultural University.
ABOVE: Dr. Nathan Burkett-Cadena and Ph.D. student Kristin Sloyer (pictured, far right) traveled to Darien Province, Panama, to participate in field studies of the ecology of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in rural eastern Panama. The field work was led by researchers at the Gorgas Memorial Institute (Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud) of Panama City, Panama.
Jennifer Carr, lab manager of the Biosecurity Research and Extension Lab was appointed to the Alachua County Environmental Protection Advisory Committee by commissioners on July 9. Her appointment ends June 30, 2022.
Dr. Qian “Karen” Sun from Louisiana State University visited the Chouvenc Lab on June 13-14 to discuss collaborative research projects using Coptotermes formosanus as a model.
Johnalyn Gordon (MS student, with Dr. Thomas Chouvenc), successfully defended her Master’s exit seminar on June 27th, at the FLREC. She presented about the changes of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in termites as colonies age.
Lauren Cirino received the 2019 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, Graduate Student Teaching Award at the Annual NACTA conference held at the College of Sourthern Idaho in June.
Richard West presented his MS final seminar on July 8th, at 1:00PM. Title: Seasonal Changes in Host Use and Vectorial Capacity of Culiseta melanura (Diptera: Culicidae) in Relation to Epizootic Transmission of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Central Florida. Committee: Dr. Nathan Burkett-Cadena, chair; Dr. Jonathan Day; Dr. Derrick Mathias
We have a new Ph.D. student starting this fall, David Olabiyi, who will work with Dr. Lauren M. Diepenbrock on a new invasive pest in citrus.
Mr. Ike Irvin joined that laboratory of Dr. James P. Cuda on July 1st. Ike is an undergraduate student that is supported by a summer internship provided by the office of the Dean for Research.
Postdoctoral research associate Dr. Miles Zhang and Ph.D. student Jason Williams from the Lucky Lab visited the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. for a month to generate genomic DNA library for their Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs) phylogenomics projects on gall wasps and ants, respectively.
ABOVE: Dr. Miles Zhang (Right) with collaborators Dr. Matthew Buffington (Left) and Dr. Michael Gates (Center) of the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory based at the NMNH.
ABOVE: Jason Williams (Right) with collaborator Dr. Ted Schultz (Center) and Ph.D. student Karen Neves of the Smithsonian Institute.
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.
ABOVE: Rainy weather often leads to calls about terrestrial amphipods, also called lawn shrimp. They are small crustaceans that live in mulch and moist soil. Too much moisture forces them out of their normal habitats onto sidewalks and into buildings. However, these areas are too dry for them, and the amphipods often die there. In life they are dark brown, but dead ones turn red. Amphipods aren’t harmful, but they can be a nuisance when large numbers of dead ones accumulate around buildings.
If you need insect images for a publication or presentation for your UF/IFAS Extension or teaching work, you can go to this direct link, pictures are copyrighted material and intended for official UF use only. 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.
Chouvenc T. 2019. The relative importance of queen and king initial weights in termite colony foundation success. Insectes Sociaux. 66: 177:184. DOI: 10.1007/s00040-019-00690-3.
Sourakov A, Austin GT. 2019. What one can learn from collecting 25,000 moths in one’s backyard during two years. News of the Lepidopterists’ Society. 61(2): 92-98.
New on Featured Creatures:
Striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus (Hentz, 1845). Authors: Laurel B. Lietzenmayer, Ronald D. Cave, and Lisa A. Taylor, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida.
Do you have a favorite creature? Learn how to make it into a Featured Creatures!
Dr. Andrea Lucky and Dr. Miles Zhang have attended the Evolution 2019 meeting in Providence, RI on June 20-23rd, where they presented two oral presentations "Pavement ants to population genomics: Using citizen science to benefit invasion scienc" and "Global domination by crazy ants: Phylogenomics reveals biogeographic history and invasive species relationships in the genus Nylanderia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)," respectively.
ABOVE: The 2nd annual Celebration of Insects event at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft. Pierce on July 6th was a success thanks to FMEL and IRREC faculty and graduate students! A. Dr. Phil Lounibos was the event creator and organizer. Led by docents, children explored various habitats throughout the gardens and found insects to bring to the viewing stations for further observation and identification with the aid of microscopes and magnifiers, B. Tse-Yu Chen served as the docent to the butterfly garden habitat, C. Patricia Prade helped children look for insects in the vegetable garden.
ABOVE: A. Rebecca Zimler assisted with identification of insects found in bromeliad tanks, B. Kristen Bowers led the hunt for insects in bushes, C. Emilie Pauline helped search for insects in citrus.
ABOVE: A. Diana Rojas and Dr. Eva Buckner provided information on insect biology and conservation, B. Shawna Bellamy engaged participants in insect-related activities like “bugagami”, C. Kelly Carruthers shared the diversity of insects in curated collections provided by FMEL and IRREC faculty and students.
Dr. Ginny Greenway, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Christine Miller’s lab, attended two conferences in June, the Evolution conference in Providence, Rhode Island and the Council for Undergraduate Research's biennial Undergraduate Research Programs conference in Columbus, Ohio. At the Evolution conference, Ginny presented a talk titled "A tangled web: Why do some individuals mate with the wrong species?" and a poster on "Broadening horizons: How to connect the classroom with the outside world." While in Ohio, she gave a talk titled "Scaling up and rolling out Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) at UF."
Florida Pest Management Association (FPMA) hosted Dr. Thomas Chouvenc at a regional meetings in New Port Richey, FL on May 22nd to discuss about control methods against invasive subterranean termites.
Dr. Thomas Chouvenc was invited to discuss the interaction between invasive termites and the urban tree canopy in South Florida at International Society of Arborist, Florida Chapter annual meeting on June 18 in Ft Lauderdale, FL.
ABOVE: The 2019 Termite Course took place on June 3rd to the 8th at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. The event was organized by Dr. Thomas Chouvenc, Dr. Rudi Scheffrhan, Dr. Nan-Yao Su and Dr. Bill Kern. Eight international guest speakers were invited to share their expertise on termite biology: Dr. Kenji Matsuura (Kyoto Univ., Japan), Dr. Jan Šobotník (Czech Univ., Prague Czech Rep.), Dr. Thomas Bourguignon (OIST, Okinawa, Japan), Dr. Tiago Carrijo (Univ. ABC, Brazil), Dr. Gillian Gile (Arizona State Univ, Tempe, AZ), Michael Engel (Univ. of Kansas, KA), and Christophe Lucas (Univ. Tours, France). The course combined 45 hours of teaching material, lab ID sessions and field collection. A total of 43 students from 15 countries participated to the event. During the course, a 10 min oral presentation graduate student competition was organized and 17 participants from 12 different Universities competed. Tatsuya Inagaki (Kyoto U) received first place, Joseph Velenovsky (UF) received second place, and Johnalyn Gordon (UF) received third place. The next session of the termite course will take place in June 2021.
Dr. James P. Cuda was an invited speaker for the 30th IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor) Talks on Complexity & Sustainability Sciences sponsored by the Department of Plant Protection at Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia on June 26th. Dr. Cuda gave a presentation on prospects for biological control of cogongrass in the southeastern USA.
Dr. James P. Cuda was an invited speaker for the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (SEAMEO BIOTROP) held in Bogor, Indonesia on 26 June (Figure 3). Cuda gave a presentation on biological control of Brazilian peppertree in Florida.
ABOVE: Dr. James P. Cuda flanked by faculty and students of SEAMEO BIOTROP. The Centre Director is Dr. Irdika Mansur (far right).
From the Outreach Coordinator
June Outreach Events:
June 3rd: Baby Gator comes to Steinmetz- Clayton Bania
June 12th: Fear Facers Camp at Kanapaha veteran park- Clayton Bania
June 13th: Belleview public library summer camp- Clayton Bania
June 17th: Paynes praire presentation state park- Kylie Lenon
June 18th: Branford public library summer reading event- Dylan Tussey
June 26th: College reach out program – Clancy Short, Clayton Bania, Constance Darrisaw
June 24th-28th: BUG CAMP!!!!- Dr. Baldwin, Clayton Bania, Constance Darrisaw, Brett LaBelle, Sarah Anderson, Yuexun Tian, Jordon Ranfone, Sean McKay
ABOVE: Check out these great pictures from BUG CAMP!!!!
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.
The 35th Fume School will take place on November 18th to the 22nd at the FLREC. Registration will open in late August!
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 Dr. Phil Kaufman, 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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