NEWSLETTER
AWARDS
Dr. Jerry Butler has been awarded a number of prestigious awards and achivements. He won the Florida Entomological Society 1997 Achivement award for Teaching and the IFAS 1997 Bonus Award For Teaching and Research. He supervised his 40th graduate student with the MS program of CPT Van Sherwood during the summer of 1997. He has also received his 70th and 71st US and Foreign Patent, respectively, for elucidating the composition of an insect attractant and developing means for its deployment. Keep up the good work Dr. Butler!
The World Food Prize for 1997 has been announced and the winners are two entomologists, Ray F. Smith and Perry L. Adkisson. Dr. Smith has been called the "Father of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM)." He was on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley for many years and served as executive director of the Consortium for International Crop Protection, a project funded by the US Agency for International Development (1979-1985). He also served as chairman of the Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control, an advisory body to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a past president of the Entomological Society of America, Editor of the Annual Review of Entomology, among his many honors and awards. Dr. Adkisson has been a professor and administrator at Texas A & M University and worked to get Texas cotton growers to use IPM. Dr. Adkisson served as head of the entomology department at TAMU as well as chancellor of the University. He served as head of the Consortium for International Crop Protection, and as chair of the UN FAO Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a former president of the ESA. His honors and awards are numerous.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection presented Tom Fasulo with a "Partnership Award" for his efforts in developing a World Wide Web site on the Olustee Battlefield State Historic Site. The WWW site provides detailed information on Florida's largest Civil War battle as well as the annual reenactment, which is the largest in the southeast. The site is linked in from hundreds of other Civil War sites thoughout the United States and as far away as Australia. The site has won several awards, including the coveted Lycos Top 5% of the Web Award. Check it out yourself at: http://battleofolustee.org/
Dina Richman, student of Dr. Phil Koehler, has successfully defended her Masters thesis and will be graduating in December. The title of her thesis is "Development and Survival of Laboratory Reared Cat Fleas". After graduation, Dina will pursue a Ph.D. degree also with Dr. Koehler. However, her subject of interest will be switching to cockroaches. Good job!
Enrique Perez defended his dissertation entitled "Sampling and detection of Trichodorid Nematodes and Tobacco Rattle Virus on Corky Ring-Spot-Affected Potato Tubers" on October 30th and passed with flying colors! He will be graduating in December. Good luck in your job search Enrique!
Tom Dykstra also defended his dissertation successfully on Friday, November 21 and will receive his Ph. D. in December. Congratulations Tom!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
Last Friday was an exceptional event in my life! I thank each of you who helped make it such a good party. I especially thank everyone who worked on organizing and preparing the reception. I appreciate the participation of all who attended and those who provided the letters in the memory book.To all of those who contributed to a gift, you should know that I have already pruchased a new 10" radial arm saw for my shop. I can't wait to set it up and start making some sawdust. It is not the end, just a beginning and I look forward to my time of phased retirement and redirection. Thanks! -J. R. Strayer
ON THE ROAD
Marjorie A. Hoy just returned from Helsinki, Finland where she gave 20 lectures in applied entomology for Ph.D. students from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania called "Entomology and Biotechnology" from November 9-14.
Dr. Grover Smart presented an invitational paper entitled, "Steinernema scapterisci and its potential as a biocontrol agent of mole crickets" as part of an International Symposium on Entomopathogenic Nematodes, which was a section of the XX National Congress on Biological Control,” held in Guadalajara, Mexico, 13-14 November 1997.
Drs. Dale Habeck and Gene Gerberg have made the news for their recent visit to St. Vincent and the Ganedines. During their visit, they volunteered to examine the Plant Protection and Quarantine Unit at Campdem Park and facilitated a pest management workshop for extension officers working to control the Arrowroot leafroller. The arrowroot leafroller is a devastating pest of arrowroot, which is a valuable crop in the Granedines.
Tom Walker has returned from a month in Australia and New Zealand. The trip was prompted by an invitation to speak at the Orthopterists' Society Conference in Cairns, 26-30 Oct. Since neither Tom nor his wife Jane had ever been west of California, they arrived early and stayed late, spending the extra time in southeast and central Australia and the two principal islands of New Zealand. Highlights of the trip included the conference (really!), snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, climbing Ayers Rock, seeing Gondwana forests, close-up viewing of flocks of feeding cockatoos, spotting a koala in a eucalyptus tree, petting a tuatara, finding that our guide to Mount Cook's Tasman glacier was an entomologist, and observing tree wetas and rock wetas in the wild. [What's a weta? Any of numerous species of gryllacridids native to New Zealand.]
VISITING SCIENTISTS
Dong Weibo, Plant Pathologist and Nematologist from the Shandong Peanut Research Institute, Laixi, Shandong, P. R. China visited Don Dickson's lab for the past 3 weeks. Weibo was interested in our research on Pasteuria penetrans as a possible management tactic for root knot disease of peanut in China.
ENSO's CORNER
Halloween Potluck
The Halloween potluck was lots of fun! Many of our departmental members participated by bringing delicious food and dressing in their favorite costumes. Although all costumes were full of originality, ENSO could only afford prizes for the best three. Tim McCoy was the winner of the first place for his clever "pest strip" number, Phoebe Wilson won second place for her elaborate "Spider" costume and finally, Alina Maruniak, daughter of Drs. Jim and Ale Maruniak, obtained the third place for her enchanting "wild flower" costume. Pictures will be posted in our ENSO bulletin board soon! ENSO also wants to take this opportunity to thank Drs. John Capinera and John Strayer for serving as judges for the contest.
Photo Contest
Congratulations to the winners of the ENSO photo contest. The first place Prize ($30 gift certificate to Lone Star Steak House, 3 rolls of slide film and free processing from Harmons) went to Andrei Sourakov for his photograph "Pyrrhochalcia iphis." Second ($20 gift certificate to Olive Garden, 2 rolls slide film and free processing) and third place ($15 gift certificate to Chili's, 2 rolls film and processing) were awarded to Doug Burkett for "The wheel bug" (2nd place) and "Hemipteran nymph" (3rd place). We want to thank the coordinator of this event Dini Miller and our illustrious judges Drs. Jim Lloyd, Skip Choate and Jerry Butler for their time and expertise in judging the photo entries. A total of 20 entries were submitted and all will be forwarded to the South Eastern Branch meeting of the ESA in March to compete in the regional Photo Salon. Thank you for your participation.
Thanksgiving Food Drive
ENSO is happy to announce that the food drive was a definite success. Although the collection process started slowly, it picked up in the final two days. We collected two large boxes full of canned and other non-perishable food and $70 cash that will go to buy turkey and other perishable items. All food and money donations will help feed families in need this Thanksgiving season. We are very grateful for all your generous contributions to this noble cause.
Fundraiser
The lemon chill sale activity has closed with the last football game of the season. ENSO wants to thank Hector Cabrera and Mary Donahue for the time and effort invested in this activity during the Vanderbilt and FSU games, respectively. Overall ENSO made a profit of approximately $500 with this activity alone.
Travel Grants
Dini Miller, Tim McCoy, Juan Villanueva and Yasmin Cardoza were each awarded $100 from the ENSO travel grant fund. Tim and Juan will use the money to travel to Nashville, TN for the ESA annual meeting in December. Dini and Yasmin will use their funds to assist to the ESA Southeastern-branch meeting, which will take place March 1998 in Chattanooga, TN.
Kanapaha Festival
The 8th Kanapaha Garden Festival will take place March 28-29 1998. Jason Byrd and Clay Scherer have volunteered to coordinate the event and will be accepting ideas and suggestions so that our information booth is the best one ever. If you have any questions, ideas, or would simply like more information, please contact Jason (208), Clay (2326) or Yasmin (188) at their respective extensions.
Newsletter
Due to the upcoming holiday season and annual ESA meeting, Tim McCoy and I have decided to skip the December issue of the newsletter. That makes this the last issue I will be co-editing and Tim will be taking care of the publication from January on. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim for being such good sport and putting up with me for the last eight months, it has been a real pleasure working with him. I also want to thank all the members of the department for their contributions and support for the newsletter. This has been a very challenging but instructive and delightful experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity to give something back to the department. Thank you! -Yasmin Cardoza
The 1998 Graduate Student Forum will be held April 3, 1998 at the J. Wayne Reitz Union. This symposium is a multi-disciplinary event that gives graduate students from all departments a chance to compete for money and prizes. Abstract deadline is February 27, 1998.
DEPARTMENTAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
The 1997 Entomology and Nematology Christmas party will be held at the Austin Carey Forest on December 6 starting at 4:00 p.m. There are a number of activities for people to participate in prior and during the party. A cookie and tree ornament contest will take place on Thursday December 4 in room 1017. If you would like to participate by entering or by serving as judges the contests, please bring your entries or expert eyes and mouth to room 1017. Signing lists for people wanting to volunteer for the different party organizing committees have been posted around the building. Come on let's have the best Christmas party ever!
PUBLICATIONS
Drs. Ken Pernezny, plant pathologist, and David Schuster, entomologist, at the University of Florida have posted their Vegetable Newsletter #1 for the 1997-1998 season in Pest Alert . The file contains information on the current status of bacterial spot on tomatoes and southern armyworm on tomatoes and peppers in Florida. They also list a WWW site for photographs of these two vegetable pests. See http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/
McAuslane, H. (November, 1997). Spotted oleander caterpillar, Empyreuma affinis Rothschild. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-17. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/spotted_oleander_caterpillar.htm
Sanchez-Arroyo, H. (November, 1997). Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-15. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/mexican_bean_beetle.htm
Squitier, J.M. (November, 1997). Southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula Linnaeus. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-16. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/southern_green_stink_bug.htm
PEST ALERT
Beginning immediately, the University of Florida Pest Alert is now on the WWW. The WWW site lists some changes over the former OnLine site. The categories are gone and there is now only one menu. This menu lists files in reverse chronological order. Links to other important sites are also listed. This will allow access to Pest Alert from non-IFAS users again, as this is apparently where most of the interest is. You can visit Pest Alert on the WWW at: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/
New Aphid Pests
According to Susan Halbert, entomologist with DPI, two new aphid pests have recently been discovered in Florida . One is a pest of fennel, coriander, and dill, and perhaps could attack carrot. The other is a pest that attacks hackberrry trees, (hackberry is a favorite for imported bonzai plants). More information is available in Pest Alert.
Pine Beetles are back!
Pheromone traps indicate that southern pine beetles are once again prevalent in Alachua County, although only a few isolated infestations have been found. A mild winter coupled with last summer's drought-stress of the trees could lead to a spring outbreak like we saw in 1994. Quick detection and treatment of infested trees are essential for reducing the extent and duration of an SPB outbreak.
BIG SCREEN
"Bugs, Mr. Rico, millions of them." This quote is from one of Tom Fasulo's and Chris Tipping's favorite books "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. Long a cult classic, the book is now a movie and should be showing at a theater near you. While it doesn't closely follow the plot of the book (What did you expect from Hollywood?) it does have millions of huge, terrifying killer bugs.
NATL NEWS
The conversion of NATL's cattail marsh into a diversified wetland is proceeding on schedule. The design and specifications for the recontouring of the retention basin are essentially complete, and the excavation contract should be put out to bid early in January. If the low bid is within budget, construction should occur in February or March. When the earthwork is complete, a range of wetland environments will have been created, and the Wetlands Club will establish appropriate native plants appropriate to the various types of wetland environments created. See http://natl.ifas.ufl.edu for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICES
The UF libraries support an increasing number of bibliographic databases which are searchable via web browsers (e.g., Netscape).
Agricola is now among the databases available and is one component of the FirstSearch set of databases. For those using Windows 95, your machines can be configured for direct access to a number bibliographic services: Medline and CAB (from the Florida Health Information Network at the UF Health Center Library ), Agricola (from the Smathers library) and Biological Abstracts (from the Florida Center forLibrary Automation). If you want such access set up for you, please contact Steve Lasley.
COMPUTER CORNER
CEU Software
Extension entomologists Don Short and Tom Fasulo developed a short computer-verifed training tutorial on turfgrass insects that is authorized by the State of Florida for one (1) CEU in the Lawn and Ornamental category. This program, called "Turfgrass Insects 1," is the first in a series of training tutorials that can also be used to obtain CEUs.
For complete information on this tutorial and how it works visit the UF Buggy Software WWW site at: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/software/
Extension agents who have questions about software that allows pesticide applicators to earn CEUs at their work site or at home should review the article on "The University of Florida and Electronic CEUs" that appeared in the September, 1997 issue of "Pesticide Trainer & Examiner," a publication of the UF Pesticide Information Office. A copy of the newsletter was sent to the extension agent in every county who is responsible for leading this type of training.
The Entomology and Nematology Department, which develops these programs, and the Pesticide Information Office are working closely with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in creating quality software that will enhance the learning experience of pesticide applicators as well as provide continuous available training on the job. The programs are not meant to replace human instructors, who will always remain the best source of the latest information.
Extension agents, and other interested individuals, can review the availability and cost of such programs at the UF Buggy Software site located at: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/software/
As more programs become available, they will be posted on the above WWW site.
This version of the newsletter is edited and published for the Web by Tim McCoy.
Hardcopy Editors: Yasmin Cardoza & Tim McCoy
November 1997. Updated March 2003.