ENTOMOLOGY and NEMATOLOGY NEWS
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November 13th, 2019

Dr. Thomas Chouvenc, UF/IFAS Entomology and nematology

ABOVE: UF/IFAS Senior Vice President Dr. Jack Payne wrote a piece on Dr. Thomas Chouvenc. Titled How support for public scientists pays dividends for south Florida, the full story was published by the Sun Sentinel.

Faculty and Staff News

Dr. James “Jim” Maruniak, passed on Monday, October 14th, at home surrounded by his family. He is survived by Ale, his loving wife of 24 years, daughter Alina, son Alex and siblings, John Jr., Carole, Joel (Carole), Dan (Donna), and Nick. Dr. Maruniak was a faculty member with us for 36 years where he did research in insect virology and taught several courses. He was a beloved mentor to numerous students, member of the TKE fraternity, advisor for the UF Virology Club, and a passionate lifetime educator. His “open door” policy did not stop at his lab but continued into his everyday life, where he shared his enthusiasm of viruses and vaccines with all. His memorial service was held on October 18th.

Dr. James P. Cuda attended the Fall Meeting of the UF/IFAS Invasive Plant Working Group held in McCarty Hall on September 23rd.

Dr. James P. Cuda and Dr. Carey R. Minteer organized and participated in the Brazilian peppertree biocontrol agent release celebration held at the Adams Ranch in Ft. Pierce, FL, on October 24th. The thrips Pseudophilothrips ichini is the first insect released for biological control of Brazilian peppertree in the continental United States.

Farewell to Dr. Pavan Kumar who has accepted a position at Corteva AgriScience in Johnston, Iowa and to Mariah Kemmerer who has accepted a position at University of Delaware. Both will be leaving the Bonning lab in mid-November.

Dr. Ya Guo, from the Bonning lab, received second place in the Postdoc Poster Competition at the UF Genetics and Genomics Symposium held November 4th and 5th. Her poster was titled Peptide-mediated protection of the honey bee against virus infection. Dr. Rahul Banerjee also presented a poster at the same event on Transgenic citrus plants expressing a Bt toxin for management of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri.

ABOVE: Dr. Ya Guo, from the Bonning lab, received second place in the Postdoc Poster Competition at the UF Genetics and Genomics Symposium held November 4th and 5th. Her poster was titled Peptide-mediated protection of the honey bee against virus infection. Dr. Rahul Banerjee also presented a poster at the same event on Transgenic citrus plants expressing a Bt toxin for management of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri.  

Dr. Chouvenc was featured in Entomology Today, the Entomological Society of America blog for the Halloween 2019 post. Chouvenc talked about various spooky bug facts and cannibalism in termites.

Dr. Bryony Bonning gave the 2019 Charles Chesley Doane Distinguished Lecture titled “Orange juice, psyllids and Bt toxins”, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Student and Alumni News

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The DiGennaro lab would like to congratulate Dr. Gideon Alake on his successful defense of his Ph.D. Dissertation titled Characterization of Soil Communities using Nematode and Microbiome Analytics.

Sara Zlotnik, a graduate student in the Miller lab, headed to South Carolina in October to present her research at the Southeastern Population Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics 45th Annual Meeting. Sara presented her work on feeding facilitation in leaf-footed bugs. Her outstanding presentation was also formally recognized as the best lightning talk at the conference.

Hard working distance student, Larry Stretz studying for an exam at 5:30 am waiting for his flight in the airport. That week, Larry was attending PestWorld in San Diego. He had worked the exhibit booth for Syngenta all week and was getting ready to fly home on Friday morning. He looks like he is really enjoying the class!
ABOVE: Hard working distance student, Larry Stretz studying for an exam at 5:30 am waiting for his flight in the airport. That week, Larry was attending PestWorld in San Diego. He had worked the exhibit booth for Syngenta all week and was getting ready to fly home on Friday morning. He looks like he is really enjoying the class!

Rachel Atchison, graduate student in the Lucky lab, visited Mr. Haught's Environmental Science classes on October 25th to facilitate learning about ant diversity. Using microscopes, students compared morphological characteristics to identify the three different ant species they had collected the previous day on their high school campus.
ABOVE: Rachel Atchison, graduate student in the Lucky lab, visited Mr. Haught's Environmental Science classes on October 25th to facilitate learning about ant diversity. Using microscopes, students compared morphological characteristics to identify the three different ant species they had collected the previous day on their high school campus.

Masters student, Gisele Nighswander, successfully defended her thesis titled , "Drivers of herbivorous pest resistance in urban ornamental gardens", on October 17th. Gisele's major advisor is Dr. Basil Iannone in the School of Forest Resource Conservation and her minor advisor in Entomology and Nematology is Dr. Adam Dale.

Gabrielle LaTora successfully defended her master’s thesis titled Innovations in Spotted Wing Drosophila Monitoring and Attract-and-Kill for Development of More Targeted Integrated Pest Management Programs on October 24. She and her partner are moving to Atlanta, Georgia in December, where she plans to pursue a career in applied entomology, crop consulting, or Extension.

Simon Yeboah successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis titled Development of IPM tools for managing Anastrepha suspensa and Bactrocera dirsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) in tropical guava and mango orchards, on November 7th. Simon will return to home to Ghana, where he will continue teaching entomology at his university. ​

A beautiful engagement! Sarah Anderson, a graduate student in the Mallinger lab, was proposed to at Steinmetz Hall by her now fiancé Chris. Congratulations Chris and Sarah! Our own Suzy Rodrigues was there to capture the moment.
ABOVE: Filipe Lemos Jacques is the new visiting Ph.D. student from Brazil that will spend one year working at the West Florida Research and Education Center under the supervision of Dr. Paula-Moraes. He will be involved in several projects, including studying the ecology of fall armyworm in the Florida Panhandle.

Lab News

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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:
Earlier this summer Lyle Buss saw that pawpaw plants (Asimina sp.) in his yard were being damaged. The culprit was an attractive caterpillar called the Asimina webworm, Omphalocera munroei. The caterpillars use silk to tie leaves together, and feed in the shelter.

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.

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.

Publications

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Bonning BC. 2019. The insect virome: Opportunities and challenges. Current Issues Mol. Biol. 34: 1-12 doi: 10.21775/cimb.034.001.

Canton PE, Bonning BC. 2019. Proteases and nucleases across midgut tissues of N. viridula (Hemiptera:Pentatomidae) display distinct activity profiles that are conserved through life stages. J. Insect Physiology. 119:103965. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103965.

Dale AG, Perry RL, Cope GC, Benda N. 2019. Floral abundance and richness drive beneficial arthropod conservation and biological control on golf courses. Urban Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00907-0 

Erram D, Blosser EM, Burkett-Cadena N. 2019 Habitat associations of Culicoides species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) abundant on a commercial cervid farm in Florida, USA. Parasites and Vectors. 12(1): 367. doi: 10.1186/s13071-019-3626-1.

Harmon DS, Haseeb M, Kanga LH, Liburd OE. 2019. Evaluation of monitoring traps and lures for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in berry plantings in Florida. Insects 10: (10): 313. doi.org/10.3390/insects10100313.

Liburd OE, Rhodes EM. 2019. Management of strawberry insect and mite pests in greenhouse and field crops. In Pre- and Post-Harvest Management Techniques for Higher Fruit Quality. Edited by Toshiki Asao and Md Asaduzzaman, Publisher IntechOpen, London. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.82069.

Liu S, Bonning BC. 2019. The principal salivary gland is the primary source of digestive enzymes in the saliva of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys. Frontiers in Physiology – Invertebrate Physiology. 10:1255. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01255

Shrestha B, Stelinski LL. 2019. Effects of ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis, foraging trails on behavior of Tamarixia radiata. Journal of Insect Behavior. 32: 81-88.

New on Featured Creatures:

Tallow leaf roller, Caloptilia triadicae (Davis). Authors: Kristen Bowers and Andrea Lucky

Sheep bot fly, Oestrus ovis L. Authors: Hannah A. Sholar and Jennifer L. Gillett-Kaufman

 

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

Meetings and Presentations

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Above: October 9 was the Central Florida Turfgrass Field Day at the Plant Science Unit and was attended by around 250 people. Dr. Billy Crow and Dr. Adam Dale presented their research on the field tours and the Crow Lab manned a turf nematology display booth in the pavilion.

Dr. Chouvenc was invited to give an educational session on subterranean termite control methods at Pest World 2019, organized by the National Pest Management Association, in San Diego CA, on October 18th. During this event, Johnalyn Gordon, recent Masters graduate, and Joseph Velenovsky, Ph.D. candidate, were able to present their work in a graduate student session on October 20th.

Dr. Chouvenc gave a Zoom educational session on wood destroying organisms in collaboration with the Manatee county extension office, on October 2nd.

Ph.D. candidate Sang Bin Lee (with Su and Chouvenc) gave two presentations at the 2019 Fall International Conference of KSAE in Korea, on October 24th.

Dr. Chouvenc provided an educational session on termite control methods to the Certified Pest Control Operator regional meeting in Davie FL, on October 12th.

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpgDr. James P. Cuda and Dr. Emma N.I. Weeks were co-authors on a paper presented at the 7th Annual Science by the Shore Symposium held at the UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, FL on 21 September. The presentation was titled Methionine as an effective larvicide in natural water sources.

Dr. James P. Cuda was an invited speaker for the September Master Gardner Meeting held at the Flagler Co. Extension Office in Bunnell, FL on 18 September. Dr. Cuda gave a presentation titled Biocontrol of Brazilian peppertree: Thrips and psyllid update.

Dr. James P. Cuda was invited by UF/IFAS Sarasota County Extension Office to participate in their new online statewide Healthy Ponds Certification Program. Cuda developed two training modules about pond management tools; one on biological control of invasive plants in the buffer zone and one on biological control in the littoral zone.

Dr. James P. Cuda participated in an in-service training workshop titled Managing Florida’s natural resources: Firescaping, native habitat, water resources and invasive species (IST# 31712). This three-day workshop was held at the Roland T. Stern Learning Center at Austin Carey Forest Station, Gainesville, FL, October 28th to the 30th.

ABOVE: Dr. Billy Crow attended the NE-1640 Multi-State project meeting at the University of Hawaii-Manoa October 17 to the 19th.

Dr. Adam Dale led a workshop for the Alachua County IFAS Master Gardener volunteers about entomology and integrated pest management in Gainesville on October 3rd.

Dr. Adam Dale gave a webinar presentation about IPM and insect pest best management practices on golf courses for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, which is viewed from around the world.

Dr. Adam Dale, Dr. Billy Crow, and turfgrass faculty from Agronomy, Environmental Horticulture, and Plant Pathology hosted and presented new research at the UF/IFAS North Central Turfgrass Field Day at the PSREU in Citra, FL on October 9th for over 200 industry professionals from across Florida.

Dr. Adam Dale gave a webinar presentation for the statewide Florida Friendly Landscaping Program webinar series about new insect pests of turf and ornamental plants in urban and residential landscapes on October 29th.

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpgEntomology and Nematology undergraduate, Ava Joy Cockey, presented her research conducted during her IFAS Emerging Scholars Internship at the 2019 Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by the UF Center for Undergraduate Research on October 22nd in the Reitz Union.

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpgDr. Faith Oi and Dr. Adam Dale, along with Dr. Chris Marble (IFAS MREC Environmental Horticulture), Paul Mitola (FDACS), and Joe Jonovich taught another well-attended Masters of Lawn & Ornamental Pest Management course for Pest Management University at the IFAS MREC in Apopka, FL, October 23rd to the 25th.

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpgDr. Derrick Mathias and Dr. Nathan Burkett-Cadena (FMEL) co-taught the FMEL Fall Advanced Mosquito Identification and Certification Course at the FMEL in Vero Beach, October 7th to the 11th. The course was attended by 14 mosquito control professionals from 10 different mosquito control districts in Florida.

Outreach

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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.

Grants

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Dr. James P. Cuda was awarded a $43,141 grant from the State of Florida Cattle Enhancement Board to develop a laboratory rearing procedure and investigate the impact of the Indonesian gall midge, Orseolia javanica (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on the invasive cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica


http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpg

Above: ENSO is happy to announce the fall 2019 travel grant winners: First place: Matthew Borden. Second place: Balwinder Kaur. First place will receive $500, which has been generously donated by Dr. Norman Leppla, and second place will receive $250 from ENSO. 

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpg Want grant writing tips? Check out the UF Libraries Grants Management Program!

Announcements

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The 35th Fume School will take place on November 18th to the 22nd at the FLREC. Registration is open!

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2010-2012/images/divider.jpgWant to stay up to date? Check out our website home page for a link to our Google calendar.

About this Newsletter

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Suzy Rodriguez 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.