NEWSLETTER

AWARDS

Ryan Hewlett (Tom Hewlett's son) won first place in the environmental science division at the Fort Clarke Middle School Science Fair. The title of his project was "Using capsaicin to control root-knot nematodes." He found that capsaicin, a chemical found in hot pepper plants, repels root-knot nematodes in the soil. His project was also selected for the regional Science Fair that will be held in Gainesville at the O'Connell Center in January. Ryan is excited about this finding and plans to continue his research in trying to find the best rate and mode of application of this organic compound.

Congratulations to Chuck Strong for being the department candidate and recipient of the ESA Southeastern Branch Kirby L. Hayes Award for outstanding research in a masters program.

Congratulations to Dr. Don Dickson, Dr. Don Hall, Dr. Freddie Johnson, and Dr. Philip Koehler for receiving a Professorial Excellence award. This honor recognizes their outstanding accomplishments as professors in our university in teaching, research and service. The Professorial Excellence Program, funded by the Florida legislature, exists to identify and reward those faculty with long-term commitments to the university who have accumulated exceptional records of achievement at the University of Florida after at least 10 years of service after promotion to full professor rank. The University of Florida can offer few of these awards, and this honor represents a strong endorsement of continued superior service to the university and the state of Florida.

Dr. Dale Habeck and Dr. Julio Medal were awarded a grant of $150,000 from the USDA and Florida Department of Agriculture-DPI for screening of potential biological control agents of tropical soda apple, Solanum viarum, in Florida. This two-year project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Robinson Pitelli, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal campus in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Dr. Habeck will celebrate his retirement with this new research project. Dr. Medal will be traveling to South America to do explorations, insect collecting and importation for host specificity screening at the DPI quarantine in Gainesville.

Congratulations to Dr. Marjorie Hoy for being named a fellow of the Entomological Society of America.

From a letter from Mark Griskey from the National Academy of Sciences to Dr. Tom Walker: "Congratulations, the National Academy Press has selected the UF Book of Insect Records site as the cool science link of the day on December 9. The National Academy Press is the publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

NEW GRADUATES

Congratulation to the following students graduating this semester: Jaw-Ching Liu (Ph.D.), Zhongxiao Chen (Ph.D.), Eliane Quintela (Ph.D.), Tonya Van Hook (Ph.D.), Sami Ur-Rehman (Ph.D.), Kerry Schwartz (M.S.), Richard Worth (M.S.) and Aliska Akers (M.Ag.).

BON VOYAGE

Robin Goodson is leaving this week for Raleigh, NC. He will return in February to defend his Ph.D dissertation. He is getting married in March.

ROACH QUEEN

Many of you missed it while you were at the ESA meetings, but Ph.D. student Dini Miller was the subject of an entire page in the Alligator, UF's student newspaper, on Tuesday, December 10th. The article covered Dini's work with cockroaches, insect zoos, and local school students.

FROM THE INCOMING GRADUATE COORDINATOR

As you know, on 1 January 1997 I assume the role of Graduate Coordinator. I look forward to working with you during the next couple of years and helping you in any way that I can. I must confess that I do not know all of you; thus, I invite each of you to drop by at your convenience so that we can become acquainted. Except when I have an engagement, such as a class to teach, my door will be open to you. And as you already know, Debbie Hall is available to assist you with most of your concerns. -- Grover Smart.

FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS NEWS

Dr. Thomas Baum from Iowa State University was invited to speak at the department November 21. Dr. Baum presented the seminar "Plantibodies: A novel approach to engineering plant resistance to nematodes." He also visited with faculty and graduate students and discussed the challenges and potentials of this new approach for managing nematodes.

Dr. Gene Gerberg and Dr. Ross Arnett presented a talk and slide show on "The Galapagos after Darwin" at the annual meeting of the Center for Systematic Entomology at the DPI auditorium on December 2.

Dr. Gene Gerberg will be the invited luncheon speaker on January 30th at the Dodd Short Course, at the Radisson. Dr. Gerberg will speak on "An environmental assessment of a malaria program in Sri Lanka."

Dr. Tom Sanford was recently invited to the 11th Congreso Braxileiro de Apicultura in Teresina, Brazil. This area called the Sertao is the next big beekeeping frontier using Africanized honey bees. Dr. Sanford gave presentations on using electronic communications and the WWW. There are three Internet providers in Teresina; since his presentation, four beekeepers in the area have contacted Dr. Sanford through his updated home page. Dr. Sanford presented information on nutritional management of honey bees. He was the only speaker invited who is currently residing in the United States. He spoke in Spanguese (hybrid Spanish/Portuguese). Beekeeping congresses are held every two years in Brazil.

Pauline Lawrence attended the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Louisville, KY. She served her third and final year as a member of the governing board of the society. She initiated and gained approval for the "ESA Recognition Award in Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology." Subsequently, members of Section B secured sponsorship of the award by Rohm and Haas in the form of $1,500. The annual award is now open to all ESA members who have made significant contributions to basic or applied entomology through studies in physiology, biochemistry or toxicology. The recipient will be presented with a check and an ESA plaque at the annual meeting. Look for the call for nominees in the ESA newsletter in early 1997.

Dr. James Cuda also attended the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Cuda organized and moderated an informal conference for the International Organization for Biological Control/Nearctic Regional Section Weed Biocontrol Working Group. Thirty-seven scientists representing the United States and Canada participated in the conference, which featured two invited speakers: Dr. Judy Myers, an ecologist from the University of British Columbia, and Dr. Doug Boyette, a USDA plant pathologist from Stoneville, Mississippi. Both speakers provided interesting insights into the theory and practice of weed biocontrol.

Many students and professors from the Entomology and Nematology Department attended and presented talks and posters at the ESA annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky December 9-12. Poster presenters: Marco Toapanta and Pauline Lawrence: "Developmental profile of a 24 kD parasitism-specific protein from the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, parasitized by Diachasmim orpha longicaudata: A western blot analysis." Denise Johanowicz: "Molecular and biological studies of Wolbachia in the western predatory mite and twospotted spider mite." Clay Scherer: "Response of grasshoppers to different forest management practices in a longleaf pine ecosystem in southeastern United States." Carlyle Brewster: "Large-scale cropping systems and whitefly spatio-temporal dynamics."

Oral presentations included Rejane R. de Moraes: "Use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction to monitor persistence of the Anticarsia gemmatalis nuclear polyhedrosis virus in soybean fields." Chuck Strong: "Induction of detoxifying enzymes by allelochemicals in the German cockroach." Dina Richman: "Cat flea diet preference for optimal efficiency and development."

PUBLICATIONS

Chen, Z.X., D.W. Dickson, R. McSorley, D.J. Mitchell, and T.E. Hewlett. 1996. Suppression of Meloidogyne arenaria race 1 by soil application of endospores of Pasteuria penetrans. Journal of Nematology 28:169-178.

Chen, Z.X., D.W. Dickson, and T.E. Hewlett. 1996. Quantification of endospore concentrations of Pasteuria penetrans in tomato root material. Journal of Nematology 28:50-55.

Chen, Z.X., D.W. Dickson, L. Freitas, and J.F. Preston. 1997. Ultrastructure, morphology, and sporogenesis of Pasteuria penetrans. Phytopathology (in press).

Chen, Z.X., D.W. Dickson, D.J. Mitchell, R. McSorley, and T.E. Hewlett. 1997. Suppression mechanisms of Meloidogyne arenaria race 1 using Pasteuria penetrans. Journal of Nematology 29 (in press).

The Proceedings of the first IOBC/NRS Biological Control of Weeds Working Group Workshop held in Billings, Montana, July 25-26, is now available for distribution. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, contact Dr. James P. Cuda.

WWW SITE PROVIDES CURRENT PESTICIDE LABELS

Recent inquiries from County Extension faculty about label information sent me scrambling for the all-important label books that pest specialists try to keep current on their shelves. Because of the need to be sure that my information was correct, I tried a WWW site that was recently recommended by a colleague from another state as a good source of current label information. The company from which I needed current label information was represented, and the file had been revised within the month! This site can be a big help to state and county faculty who need to see labels for products from the companies who subscribe to this service.

The site, called Information Services for Agriculture, is a private "full-service" provider of info on the web for agriculturally involved clients, including labels. I am not sure if every possible label of these companies is listed, but the product I was investigating was thoroughly documented, including Florida only and California only labels.

Of course, some companies may choose to post their labels only on their own websites, so check company by company if this service does not have the label you need. -- Dr. Robert Dunn.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE COMPETITION

Jane Medley received the best cookie prize at the department Christmas party on Sunday. This is the recipe for those who would like to try it out:

Molasses Sugar Cookies: 3/4 cup cooking oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 egg, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream oil and sugar. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Mix remaining ingredients and add to the first mixture. Mix well and chill dough. Form into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for eight to 10 minutes. Makes about four dozen cookies.

REGISTRATION REMINDER

Debbie Hall reminds students January 3 at 4 p.m. is the deadline to register for Spring 1997 term without a $100 fine. See Debbie if you need help in registration. Also, professors and students need to make sure that the letter of appointment has been signed and turned in for the fee waiver before January 6, 1997.

NEW COURSE

Dr. Gary Simone (Plant Pathology), Dr. Don Short (Entomology) and Dr. Bob Dunn (Nematology) announce Landscape IPM: Ornamentals and Turf, PMA 4242, Section 4531, 3 credits. This course will be offered in Spring 1997.

INSECT MANAGEMENT GUIDE

The Insect Management Guide available through the OnLine Database on the VAX will no longer be available after this month. However, you still can access the Insect Guide, as well as the Nematode Management Guide, through the department's WWW site under the Publications button. Hundreds of extension publications are available that offer information on biological, cultural and reduced pesticide control and management through our site.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS

Gregg Nuessly, Ken Pernezny and David Schuster have posted their Vegetable Newsletter No. 2 (1996-1997) in Pest Alert. This file is devoted to the appearance of damaging western flower thrips in pepper field in southeast Florida. It covers damage, diseases and control strategies.

PEST ALERT

Since last month's issue information has been added to Pest Alert on the new southern pine beetle outbreak in Marion county; on the new Landscape IPM course offered by Dr. Bob Dunn, Dr. Don Short and Dr. Gary Simone; on the new Nemacur restrictions for citrus; thrips on peppers; and other problems. (Not that Drs. Short, Dunn and Simone are problems.)

ESA TO OFFER ELECTRONIC REPRINTS

At the recent Entomological Society of America meeting in Louisville, the governing board voted to offer ESA authors the option of buying electronic reprints, beginning as soon as possible and no later than January 1998. The price is to be commensurate with that of paper reprints. Articles in ESA journals by authors who choose to purchase these reprints will be freely available everywhere on the Internet all the time, as those published in Florida Entomologist have been since 1994.

A hard copy of this newsletter is given to department members in Building 970 only. All others can obtain an electronic subscription by joining the listserv.

The next newsletter will be published Wednesday, January 15. Deadline for contributions is Friday, January 10.

Editor: Enrique Perez

This version of the newsletter is published for the Web by Tim McCoy.

December 1996. Updated March 2003.