October 2005

Faculty News

We would like to extend a hearty welcome to Dr. Cheol Song, who recently joined the insect toxicology laboratory as a research associate. Dr. Song is working with Dr. Mike Scharf, and is supported as part of a three-year grant from the Armed Forces Pest Management Program. Dr. Song comes to UF from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Prior to that, he worked at both Cornell University and the Korean Research Institute for Chemical Toxicology in South Korea. Cheol, whose name translates directly to "iron," is joined in Gainesville by his wife Meea and two daughters, Sara and Rebecca. - Dr. Mike Scharf

Just in case you have not heard through other channels, a 12-month, tenure-accruing Apicultural/Youth faculty position is available in our department. A copy of the announcement is available from our departmental Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/.

Dr. Marc Branham served as an "Ask the Experts" participant for Scientific American Magazine. Reader submitted questions are directed toward experts in the field who answer questions such as, "How and why do fireflies flash?" Answers appear on-line and occasionally in the print edition of Scientific American magazine.

Dr. Jimmy R. Rich, nematologist at the North Florida REC in Quincy, and high school student Matthew Richardson were recently honored by the Society of Nematologists with the Society's first ever presentation of Outstanding Mentor and Young Scholar Awards. The honors were in recognition of Matthew's excellent record of achievements at middle and high school science fairs over a period of six years, all involving nematodes as research topics. (For some details, see the July 2004 issue on this newsletter's Web site.) Matthew capped his science fair career by winning First Place Honors in the Botany Division at both the Florida State Science Fair and the Intel International Science Fair. This is an outstanding honor and our congratulations go to both Dr. Rich and Matt Richardson.

Dr. Ron Cave, of the Ft. Pierce REC, and Dr. Howard Frank, Gainesville campus, are desperately working to control the weevil devastating Florida's rare bromeliads. Their work is featured at http://plaza.ufl.edu/msanford/LIFEroncave.html.

In September, Drs. James P. Cuda and Willliam A. Overholt traveled to East Africa to search for new natural enemies of hydrilla and explore possibilities for establishing collaborative linkages with institutions in the region. Overholt and Cuda visited East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Burundi). National institutions in Kenya, Uganda and Burundi were visited and populations of hydrilla were found in the latter two countries. In Burundi, Overholt and Cuda were able to rear two species of weevils and several midges from hydrilla collected near the capital city of Bujumbura. Until recently, efforts to control the aquatic weed hydrilla in Florida relied primarily on herbicides and non-selective biological control using the grass carp. However, during the past five years hydrilla developed resistance to one commonly used herbicide. Classical biological control of hydrilla may be the only viable solution to the hydrilla problems in Florida.

Student News

Ph.D. student Rebecca Baldwin is the recipient of the 2005 Nisus Annual Scholarship. Nisus, in conjunction with the Professional Women in Pest Management, will award Rebecca a $2,500 scholarship, plus $500 for travel expenses to receive the award at the National Pest Management Association's annual convention to be held in October 2005, Nashville, TN. Rebecca was selected from a field of 15 other applicants from across the U.S. Selection criteria included evaluating the potential positive impact the recipient would have on the pest control industry. This is some good news for Rebecca, who is from Louisiana, as the homes of her family and relatives were devastated by Rita and Katrina.

The Smithsonian Institution launched the Cerambycidae Holotypes Web site in August 2005. The Smithsonian currently has nearly 1,900 primary types for Cerambycidae. Graduate student Gino Nearns developed the Web site, prepared the on-line searchable database, and edited many of the photos for aesthetic Web presentation. See http://www.elaphidion.com/.

Staff News

The following individuals received service awards at a ceremony on 16 September: Pete Coon, 5 years; Maria Mendes, 5 years; Mike Sanford, 5 years; Dr. Ale Maruniak, 15 years; Raquel McTiernan, 15 years; Pam Howell, 20 years; Frank Woods, 30 years; and Myrna Litchfield, 35 years.

Mike Sanford is editor for a new photographic publication LIFE in the Department. This publication is meant to be a regular resource for photographic information regarding the department's mission toward education and research. It is available at http://life.ifas.ufl.edu/index.html.

Alumni

If you are an alumnus of our department, you might be interested in seeing how old or young some of our faculty now look. Faculty recently gathered for a meeting to discuss the upcoming departmental review and there are two pages of photographs of faces you might remember at http://plaza.ufl.edu/msanford/retreat.htm.

Publications

Micheli CJ, Nearns EH. 2005. Two new species of Plectromerus Haldeman (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the West Indies. Zootaxa 1028: 23-36.

Gyeltshen J, Hodges AC. (September 2005). Citrus longhorned beetle, Anoplophora chinensis Forster. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-357. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/beetles/citrus_longhorned_beetle.htm

Crow WT, Levin R, Halsey LA, Rich JR. 2005. First report of Meloidogyne partityla on pecan in Florida. Plant Disease 89:1128.

Crow WT, Lickfeldt DW, Unruh JB. 2005. Management of sting nematode (Belonolaimus longicaudatus) on bermudagrass putting greens with 1,3-dichloropropene. International Turfgrass Society Research Journal 10:734-741.

Trenholm LE, Lickfeldt DW, Crow WT. 2005. Use of 1,3-dichloropropene to reduce irrigation requirements of sting nematode infested bermudagrass. HortScience 40:1543-1548.

Hixson AC, Crow WT, McSorley R, Trenholm LT. 2005. Saline irrigation affects Belonolaimus longicaudatus and Hoplolaimus galeatus on seashore paspalum. Journal of Nematology 37:37-44.

Crow WT. 2005. Plant-parasitic nematodes on golf course turf. Outlooks on Pest Management 16:277-282.

Crow WT. (2005). Diagnosis of Trichodorus obtusus and Paratrichodorus minor on turfgrasses in the southeastern United States. Plant Health Progress. http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/sub/php/diagnosticguide/2005/stubby/

Hixson AC, Crow WT, McSorley R, Trenholm LT. 2004. Host status of 'SeaIsle 1' seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) to Belonolaimus longicaudatus and Hoplolaimus galeatus. Journal of Nematology 36:493-498.

Colbaugh PF, Crow WT. 2005. Rose variety reaction to blackspot disease under minimal input growing conditions, 2001. Biological and Cultural Tests for Control of Plant Disease 20:17.

Colbaugh PF, Crow WT. 2005. Rose variety reaction to Alternaria petal blight disease under minimal input growing conditions, 2001. Biological and Cultural Tests for Control of Plant Disease 20:18.

Colbaugh PF, Crow WT. 2005. Rose variety reaction to powdery mildew under minimal input growing conditions, 2001. Biological and Cultural Tests for Control of Plant Disease 20:19.

Scharf ME, Zhou X, Bennett GW. 2005. The application of molecular genomics in addressing long-standing questions on termite biology. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Urban Pests, pp. 19-27.

Green JM, Scharf ME, Bennett GW. 2005. Impacts of soil moisture level on consumption and distribution of three sympatric subterranean termites in a laboratory assay. Journal of Economic Entomology 98: 933-937.

Buczkowski G, Scharf ME, Ratliff CR, Bennett GW. 2005. Efficacy of simulated barrier treatments against laboratory colonies of the pharaoh ant. Journal of Economic Entomology 98: 485-492.

Bybee S. (August 2005). Odonata. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-355. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/odonata/odonata.htm

Mayfield AE, Foltz JL. (September 2005). Black turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-356. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/beetles/black_turpentine_beetle.htm

Kaufman PE, Reasor C, Waldron JK, Rutz DA. 2005. Suppression of the lesser mealworm (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) using soil incorporation of poultry manure. Journal of Economic Entomology 98: 1739-1743.

Kaufman PE, Reasor C, Waldron JK, Rutz DA. 2005. Evaluation of a barrier to inhibit lesser mealworm (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Dermestidae movement up support posts in high-rise, caged-layer poultry facilities. Journal of Economic Entomology 98: 1744-1749.

Howard FW, Halbert SE. (July 2005). A flatid planthopper, Ormenaria rufifascia (Walker). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-351. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/palms/Ormenaria_rufifascia.htm

Howard FW, Halbert SE. (July 2005). un salta-planta flátido en palmas, Ormenaria rufifascia (Walker). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-352. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/palms/ormenaria_rufifascia_spanish.htm

Hall DW. (October 2005). Bella moth, Utetheisa ornatrix (Linnaeus). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-358. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/leps/bella_moth.htm

Scoles J, Cuda JP, Overholt WA. (2005). How scientists obtain approval to release organisms for classical biological control of invasive weeds. EDIS. ENY-828. http://edis.at.ufl.edu/IN607

Grants

Dr. Mike Scharf received a grant for $248,500 from the U.S. Armed Forces Pest Management Program for Deployed War Fighter Protection. The title of Dr. Scharf's successful proposal was "Low Molecular Weight Insecticides for the Control of Medically Important Dipterans."

Veronica Manrique, a Ph.D. student in Dr. James P. Cuda's laboratory, was recently awarded a $2,250 research grant from the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council to evaluate the performance of the defoliating sawfly Heteroperreyia hubrichi (Hymenoptera: Pergidae) on Florida west coast, east coast, and hybrid genotypes of Brazilian peppertree.

Meeting and Presentations

Crow WT, Lickfeldt DE, Unruh JB. 2005. Management of sting nematode (Belonolaimus longicaudatus) on bermudagrass putting greens with 1,3-dichloropropene. Paper presented at the International Turfgrass Research Society meeting in Wales.

Crow WT. 2005. Alternatives to Nemacur for nematode control on golf course turf. Invited paper at the national meeting of the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America, Orlando, FL.

Crow WT. 2005. Nematode control in established turfgrass. Invited paper at the annual meeting of the Society of Nematologists, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Luc JE, Crow WT, Giblin-Davis RM, Sartain JB, Stimac JL. 2005. Effects of Belonolaimus longicaudatus management and nitrogen fertility on turf quality of golf course fairways. Poster presented at Society of Nematologists meeting, Ft. Lauderdale.

McGroary PC, Crow WT. 2005. Effects of winter overseeding on plant-parasitic nematodes on golf courses in Florida. Poster presented at Society of Nematologists meeting, Ft. Lauderdale.

Levin R, Brito JA, Crow WT, Schoellhorn RK. 2005. Host status of several perennial ornamental plants to four root-knot nematode species in growth room and greenhouse experiments. Poster presented at Society of Nematologists meeting, Ft. Lauderdale.

Entomology Seminars

A listing of topics and other information concerning this semester's departmental entomology seminars is available on the newsletter Web site, in the September 2005 issue.

The Fall 2005 seminar listing for the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity is available at http://plaza.ufl.edu/msanford/McGuire91605.html.

Featured Creatures Statistics

In August, the Featured Creatures Web site set two new records. There were 222,172 distinct visitors and 350,390 page views. Both records lasted for just 30 days as September set even higher records of 303,093 distinct visitors and over one-half million (564,546) page views.

Bug Quote

"Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a congressman can." - Mark Twain

Bugs and Brains

Earlier this year we laid new carpeting in the department. Now we have new, larger-than-life back-lighted images of natural enemies in the corridor near the computer lab. These replace the insect and nematode images which were there for 15 years. Due to advances in photography over that time period, the new images are a real treat for the eyes. Credit for the images goes to Scott Weihman, Lyle Buss, Dr. Skip Choate and Dr. Khuong Nguyen. Last, but not least, is Jane Medley who put it all together with text and her highly respected graphical talents.

And just in time for Halloween - unnatural enemies? Three new outreach posters aim to inspire interest in the fascinating world of insects among visitors to our building. Insect World Records is across from Rm. 2003, Scary Insects and Creepy Crawlies is across from Rm. 3005, and They Came from Out of Florida is next to Rm. 2106. Additional copies of the posters are set to visit schools and other outreach locales under the direction of outreach coordinator Gino Nearns. The posters were produced by Scott Weihman and Jane Medley.

A Biological Control Brain Bowl Contest was the final segment of an entomological outreach program held at the Ft. Pierce IFAS Biological Control Research and Containment Laboratory. For details see http://plaza.ufl.edu/msanford/LIFEbcbb93005.html.

Newsletter Minutia

Thomas Fasulo is the newsletter editor. Send submissions to him at fasulo@ufl.edu. Issues are published the middle of each month. Submit items for an issue by the 7th of that month.

Printed copies are distributed only within Building 970. UF-Bugnews-l listserv subscribers receive notices when HTML and PDF copies are posted on the newsletter Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/news/, which has instructions for subscribing and unsubscribing. Pam Howell and Nancy Sanders review the newsletter for errors and prepare the print version for distribution.

Count yourself lucky that UF-Bugnews-L is a moderated listserv and only I can approve what goes out over it. On the average, I receive three to four spam posts a day directed to this listserv. Naturally they go no further than my own mailbox. However, if you are interested in "great offers" on everything from software to drugs to (censored), let me know and I will forward them to you.

During the last twelve months, the newsletter Web site recorded 37,630 distinct visitors and 68,240 page views.

October 2005.