NEWSLETTER
10/04/99 Entomology and Nematology News
Entomology and Nematology Student Organization
A University of Florida Publication

Twitches of rice come to life,
Burst out from their prison to head to the battlefront,
No knights have ever had such finely ornate detail on their shields,
Battalions of living armor of such color,
Desires to eat, driven to mate,
Can we fine such pleasure dripping on that substrate?
Is there none more graceful in the ardent skies,
Than the swirling dances of the flies,
Desperation to be the one,
To ride the breath of the unsuspecting host,
Plunge deep to withdraw the life,
To begin life anew.

-Michael Patnaude

AWARDS

Marco A. Toapanta, a student under the direction of Drs. David Schuster and Phil Stansly, won the first prize in the Student Paper Competition in the 4th International Caribbean Conference of Entomology in conjunction with the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Florida Entomological, which took place in San Juan , Puerto Rico at the end of July, 1999. According to the judges, every presentation was outstanding. Good job, Marco!

Julieta Brambila won second place in the student competition at FES in Puerto Rico.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE

Clay "Fat Boy" Scherer Goes Down in Defeat

 Clay Scherer boasted that on Friday, Sept 17, he could run a mile in less than 6 minutes for $100.  The event was held at Percy Beard Track Stadium with about 15 entomology students in the stands cheering him on.  Cindy Tucker provided the incentive by waving $100 under his nose so he could smell the money. To make it more interesting, a class of about 20 girls was running 400-meter intervals on the track.  We figured Clay would run harder to chase them down.  In case of a disaster, we arranged for a certified emergency medical technician to be available.  But Clay has been running 3-4 miles a day for a year, so we were confident of his physical prowess.

 The event started with Clay stretching and focusing on the task while the students roared in the stands and the girls circled the track.  Clay lined up on the starting line and bounded into the first lap.  He really looked good during the first 100 meters, passing the line in about 20 seconds.  At the 200-meter mark he was still looking good and was way ahead of schedule at 42 seconds.  Coming down to the 400 meter mark, he passed the student section where they had unfurled a 15 foot long sign that said "Run Fat Boy Run."  He sprinted to the end of the first lap in a time of 84 seconds. Cindy was starting to worry about her $100.

 After passing the first of the 4 laps, Clay lost concentration.  His throat went dry.  Interviewed after the race, he said "My tongue got stuck to the inside of my cheek, and my mouth felt like it was full of cotton." At the 500-meter mark, Clay "hit the wall."  His stride shortened.  He slowed to a 10-minute mile pace, and he crawled along the backstretch in obvious agony, being passed by a pack of girls who had already done 2 miles of intervals.  But Clay didn't give up.  He finished the second lap in a time of 3:10, but couldn't go further.  Cindy's money was safe.

 Clay gave up saying "Gasp, Gasp, I can't breathe."  The students groaned and left the stands.  Cindy, however, said that if Clay would break the 6-minute mile in the next year, he could collect the $100. So the story may not be over.  Clay may try again as soon as he forgets the agony of defeat.

APPOINTMENTS

Dr. James P. Cuda was elected as secretary for section C of the Entomological Society of America.

MEETINGS

Dr. Tom Sanford was a featured speaker at the 13th Annual American Beekeeping Seminar in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico.  He provided information on one of Florida's recent biological invaders, the small hive beetle Aethina tumida at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/small_hive_beetle.htm.

Dr. Tom Sanford participated in two forums at the 36th World Apicultural Congress (Apimondia) in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  He presented a paper on beekeeping education in the 21st century and chaired a symposium on how beekeeping extension and regulation are likely to be structured in the new millennium.

Dr. James P. Cuda attended a Natural Resources and Extension Imperatives Workshop held at the Manatee County Extension Office, Palmetto, FL, 7-8 September.  The workshop was a continuation of the Florida FIRST program: Focusing IFAS Resources on Solutions for Tomorrow.  The goal of Florida FIRST is to identify and utilize forces of change to better serve the state and its citizens.

Dr. James P. Cuda organized and chaired a departmental workshop entitled "Extension Program in Biological Control: A Participatory Approach" on 14 Sept. The purpose of the workshop was to initiate the process of developing a state major program in biological control of insect pests and weeds. Faculty members with research/extension appointments in biological control participated in this workshop.

PUBLICATIONS

Cuda, J.P., J.C. Medal, D.H. Habeck, J.H. Pedrosa-Macedo and M. Vitorino. Classical biological control of Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolius) in Florida. UF/IFAS ENY-820

Richard Pluke recently returned from a week's long trip to Guyana. He was attending the launch of the book "Integrated Pest Management and the use of Botanicals in Guyana". The launch was attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Minister Satydeo Sawh. The book, jointly written by Richard Pluke, Dr Gary Leibee (UF Associate Professor, CFREC - Sandford) and Dy Dindyal Permaul (University of Guyana), was the product of the project "Increasing Agricultural Production through the use of Natural, Environmentally-Friendly Pesticides". The project was funded by the Canadian International Developmental Agency (CIDA).

The book describes the potential crop protection uses of 50 plant species local to Guyana. It also gives additional, more general, information about the plants, which include the sijan tree, mammey, neem, soursop, lemon grass, the castor bean tree and quassia. Also covered are general IPM concepts and advice; the safe and efficient use of pesticides; and some case studies of commonly found pests in Guyana. Richard Pluke does have some copies of the book.

WEBCRAWLING

The publication, Grasshoppers of Florida, is now online at:

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/ghopper/ghopper.html

This document is loaded with color photographs, ecological and biological information.

Featured Creatures

The UF Entomology and Nematology Department and the FDACS Division of Plant Industry have added files on the following organisms to the Featured Creatures WWW site at: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/

Weems, Jr., H.V., and J.L. Nation. (September 1999). Olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-113.

Frank, J.H., and M.C. Thomas. (September 1999). Rove beetles of the world. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-114.

Best of the Bugs

The latest edition to our Best of the Bugs WWW site is the University of Arizona's Using Live Insects in the Elementary Classrooms. This site uses arthropods to teach physical and mental health topics to children in kindergarten through third grade. The site provide everything a teacher needs: detailed lesson plans, information sheets on the arthropods, rearing sheets, etc. The site is available in both English and Spanish.

The Best of the Bugs WWW site is located at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/Bestbugs/

Free Insect Videos

Orkin is offering free insect videos at its WWW site. One per household.

http://www.orkin.com/

Label Tutorials

The department announces a new series of CEU\Training computer-verified tutorials on specific pesticide labels.  These tutorials were developed by departmental graduate students as part of the requirements for ENY 5226, "Principles of Urban Pest Management." Each tutorial is authorized by the Florida Bureau of Entomology and Pest Control for one CEU in the Core category. The first Label Tutorial is now available.  It is on the termiticide Premise 75 and was developed by Thomas Powell, Thomas Fasulo and Everett Yang.

The tutorials are available from the Buggy Software WWW site.

ENSO

ENSO will meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM.  Hope to see you there.

The officers have finished compiling the membership information forms that were passed out to all students enrolled in ENY classes.  Also, please be aware that an ENSO suggestion box will be placed in the graduate mailbox room on Monday.  Please share with us any suggestions or complaints that you may have.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Cooperation

UES and ENSO collected food and clothing for disaster relief in the NE US with great success.  We dropped off several industrial size laundry bins of clothes and food.  Everyone at the Salvation Army was appreciative of our efforts.
This type of activity really reflects well on us as individuals and as a department.  Thanks again for the concern and supplies for the less fortunate.

Volleyball

 After grueling tryouts, exhausting workouts, brutal bloody brawls, and nail biting choices, you are the few, the proud, the v-ball team players!  And there is still room for more!!!!  We are going to have a lot of fun!  We are out here to have fun with group.  There are some experienced players and some inexperienced players, and then there's Phil.  Just to let you know our schedule is as follows:

Sept 30- 9pm Court 3 SW Rec Center
Oct 7- OFF- No Game
Oct 14- 9pm Court 4 SW Rec Center
Oct 21- 9pm Court 3 SW Rec Center
Oct 28- 9pm Court 4 SW Rec Center

So come out and Support the team!  We're going to have a lot of fun. 

First game results

Volleyball team wins!!  V-ball team scares opponent into forfeiting team now 1-0
 After a grueling preparation and intense Team warm-ups, the team captains met at mid-court for only the referee to come and congratulate the Dept.'s team on their win.  All the opposing team could say was, "Our team didn't show up."  But on the inside they knew it was just a ploy to avoid humiliating defeat at the hands of the bug and really small worm world. Their team couldn't handle the thought of being destroyed by a bunch of people who play with things that go bump in the night.  They knew if they showed up back at the biomedical school saying they were massacred by a bunch of bug and really small worm people they would be the laughing stock of the department.  So instead they formulated the easiest way to get out of it.  NOT SHOW UP!

 So after scaring off the entire Graduate/Faculty/Staff League, the Dept.'s team continues its personal rampage through the intramural V-Ball world, first they scared off their first competitor, next they scared the schedule makers into giving them a bye-week (meaning they don't play on Oct. 7th). So mark your calendar's now for Oct. 14th at 9pm in the S.W. Rec Center to watch the Department's team actually try and play a game!

Halloween party

If you wish to help plan and/or work on the Halloween party please contact Phillip Lake.  There are rumors of a possible Halloween haunted house fundraiser.

Photography trip

Those who are interested in going on local insect photography trips should contact Mike Patnaude.  This Friday (October 8th) at 2:00pm we are going into the NATL.  Future trips include the Morningside Nature Center and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. If there are enough good pictures we can produce an ENSO calendar for another fundraiser.

Potluck lunch was a great success and fun was had by all.  We would like to thank everyone who brought food, UES for providing hamburger and a big thanks to Thomas Powell for slaving over the hot charcoals.

Six-legged showcase

This is ENSO's movie night held on Thursdays of every month at 7:00PM in the Entomology Building, Room 1031.  Popcorn and admission is free.  Drinks are 50 cents each.

October 21st:
Angels and Insects (1996,R)  Drama

        A deliciously decadent Victorian tale, this film follows a naturalist who moves in with a well-to-do country family upon returning to England from the Amazon.  Once there he falls for and marries the eldest daughter, only to discover a chilling parallel between the amoral behaviors of the insects he studies and the family he has entered. Based on A.S. Byatt's novella "Morpho Eugenia."

October 28th:
Ticks (1993,R)     Horror

     In an about-face from 1980's "Toxic Zombies," teens camping in a northern California retreat are terrorized by mutant insects created by evil, polluting pot farmers(?).

UES

The month of August was fairly busy for the Urban Entomological Society.  The Florida Turfgrass Association was held at the O'Connell Center during August 9-12 and many students were there to help sell publications.  Thanks to these students our club raised about $1200.  UES has many collections in the making that will also help raise money for the club.  Some of these collections are for companies such as Orkin, Sears and Zeneca.  The money we raise will help fund many activities for urban students.  These include: one $500 scholarships that will be offered to undergraduates during the Fall semester, the graduate paper contest, and hotel accommodations to students wanting to attend and participate in selling publications at pest control conventions.  If anyone is interested in helping us make collections or attending one of our monthly meetings please contact one of our UES officers, Matt Remmen, Brian Eisenberg, Cara Congdon or Laura Collins.  Remember if you are interested in applying for one of our undergraduate scholarships, volunteering is a great way to get noticed!

Last but not least, several students last month went to Sparks, Georgia where we attended a presentation given by FMC Corporation.  It was a great opportunity to see their research facilities - which were impressive.  A big thanks to Terry Porter and Rick Lewis for their hospitality!

LAUGH

Text Use

A University Course Evaluation comment taken from the MIT Course Evaluation Guide, Fall '91:    "Text is useless. I use it to kill roaches in my room."

The Rule of Revision

One small change in the middle of a manuscript results in an exponential increase in the number of changes necessary.

ENTOMOLOGY AND NEMATOLOGY DEPARTMENT

SEMINAR SCHEDULE   FALL 1999

7 Oct. Dr. Al Handler, USDA, Gainesville, Florida
"Gene Transfer in Mediterranean and Caribbean Fruit Flies with the PiggybacTransposon Vector from Trichoplusia ni"

14 Oct. Dr. Tom Moore, University of Michigan
""Behavior of Acoustically Orienting Sarcophagid Flies Parasitic on Okanagana Cicadas"

21 Oct. Dr. Bruce Gill, Entomology Unit, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
"The Starry Sky Beetle (a.k.a. Asian Longhorn Beetle): The Newest Threat to the Eastern Hardwood Forests"

28 Oct. Dr. Tom Walker, University of Florida
"The Electronic Future of Scientific Journals"

The next newsletter will be published Thursday, October 28.  Deadline for contributions is Monday, October 25.

A hard copy of this newsletter is given to department members in Building 970 only. All others can obtain an electronic subscription by sending a request to listserv@lists.ufl.edu and in the text of the message type:

Turn off any signature file, if you have one. You will receive instructions for confirming your subscription and further information on the rules for the list server.

Editor: Michael Patnaude

This version of the newsletter is prepared for the Web by Kathryn Jones.

September 1999. Updated May 2003.