NEWSLETTER
07/30/99 Entomology and Nematology News
Entomology and Nematology Student Organization
A University of Florida Publication

Yasmin Cardoza, former M.S. student with Dr. McAuslane, has recently finished a one-year practical training program at the USDA-ARS/CMAVE Insect attractants Lab. During this year she conducted research, under the supervision of Dr. Jim Tumlinson, on the environmental and chemical regulation of herbivore-induced synomone release by corn and cotton seedlings. At the moment, Yasmin has acccepted a research assistantship from Dr. Tumlinson and will start her Ph.D. program in our department during Summer B.

Janete Brito won a Society of Nematologist travel grant to attend the annual meeting in Monterey, CA July 6- July 9.  The award was for $500.

Dr. Nancy C. Hinkle, has been awarded tenure and also promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside.  Nancy is a 1992 graduate of our deprtment and is Dr. Koehler's first graduate student to earn tenure!

Cardoza Yasmin J., Heather J. McAuslane, and Susan E. Webb. 1999. Mechanisms of Resistance to Whitefly-Induced Squash Silverleaf Disorder in Zucchini. J. Econ. Entomol. 92(3):700-707

Cuda, J.P., P.E. Parker, R.A. Goodson and J.L. Gillmore.1998. Evaluation of Ditylenchus phyllobius (Tylenchida: Anguinidae) as a potential biological control agent for Solanum viarum and Solanum tampicense (Solanaceae). Nematropica 28: 107-111.

Cuda, J.P. 1999. Weed Reads- A Review of Biological Control of Weeds: A World Catalogue of Agents and their Target Weeds. Wildland Weeds 2: 8.

The department will have two booths at the Florida Turfgrass Association's annual meetings in Gainesville, Aug 9-12, 1999. Exhibit days are Aug 11th and 12th.  Stop by for a visit if you're in town. Free admission to the exhibit hall on the 12th.

Dr. James P. Cuda attended the X International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds held at Montana State University, July 4-9, in Bozeman, Montana. Cuda authored and/or coauthored five poster presentations at the meeting. After the symposium, Dr. Henrique Pedrosa from the Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil, and two of his students visited the department. Dr. Pedrosa is a collaborator on the Brazilian peppertree biological control project.

Dr. Gary Buckingham, Chris Bennett, and Susan Wineriter attended the X International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds July 4-9 in Bozeman, Montana.  Gary presented a poster on the melaleuca sawfly, Chris presented a poster on the fauna of hydrilla, and Susan presented a poster on the melaleuca psyllid.   They also visited field sites of weed biocontrol projects in the area; the most spectacular was the control of leafy spurge, a rangeland weed, by Aphthona spp. flea beetles.

Best of the Bugs

The latest addition to the UF Best of the Bugs WWW site is the Monarch Watch.  Examine this and the other Best of the Bugs sites at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/Bestbugs/.

Featured Creatures
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/

Grissell, E.E., and M.T. Sanford. Small carpenter bees, Ceratina spp.

Grissell, E.E., M.T. Sanford, and T.R. Fasulo. Large carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp.

Woodruff, R.E.. Rice beetle, Dyscinetus morator (Fab.)

Weems, H.V., and T. R. Fasulo. Crab louse, Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus)

Weems, H.V., and T. R. Fasulo. Human lice, Pediculus spp.

Capinera, J.L.. Beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner)

Skelley, P.E.  Pleasing fungus beetles, Pseudischyrus, Tritoma, Megalodacne, Ischyrus spp.

Nguyen, K.B.  Mole cricket nematode, Steinernema scapterisci Nguyen & Smart.

Capinera, J.L. Banded cucumber beetle, Diabrotica balteata LeConte

Dekle, G.W. Cabbage palm caterpillar, Litoprosopus futilis (G. & R.).

Sanford, M.T. Small hive beetle, Aethina tumida (Murray).

Capinera, J.L. Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith).

Denmark, H.A. and D.O. Wolfenbarger. Redbanded thrips, Selenothrips rubrocinctus (Giard).

Weissling, T.J., F.W. Howard and A.B. Hamon. Cycad aulacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi.

Weissling, T.J., F.W. Howard and A. Meerow. Royal palm bug, Xylastodoria luteolus Barber.

Denmark, H.A., H.L. Cromroy,  L. Cutts and M.T. Sanford. Varroa mite, Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans. (Revised)

Creature Citations

To save space in the newsletter, the citations for Featured Creatures are not  listed exactly as they should be referenced in a list of publications. The complete citation is: Author(s). (date). Title. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY- ##. URL

This is why we have to advertise, advertise, advertise, advertise...

A new study from the scientific journal Nature reports that the Internet's rapid growth is outpacing the capabilities of most search engines.  The most sophisticated search engines list no more than 16 percent of all Web sites on the Internet, according to the report, and the majority of engines cover less than 10 percent each.  Northern Light got top ranks in the report with 16 percent coverage, while Lycos, a much more popular and well-known engine, covers just 2.5 percent.  Combined, all of the major engines cover just 42 percent of the Web.  The remainder of sites are lost to users unless they know the exact address of a Web site.  The search engine companies do not dispute the report's findings, and analysts say the situation may give rise to a backwards leap in the distribution of information as more data is lost to easy public view than is made available. (Los Angeles Times 07/08/99, via Edupage)

Florida Pest Alert

Need to get out a message on a new or reoccuring pest?  If you're a state of Florida entomologist, nematologist or plant pathologist consider posting it on Pest Alert.  This site (available through http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~pest/) posts messages from university and state agency scientists, or links to their WWW sites.  A short message about the posting is then sent to all Florida county extension offices and to the Pest Alert list server. This list server now has subscribers from all over the United States and from 15 other countries as well. Send your notices to Tom Fasulo at fasulo@ifas.ufl.edu  You can also subscribe to the list server on the WWW site.

E-Newsletter

The electronic version of this newsletter goes to departmental members, alumni and friends throughout Florida, the United States and 12 other countries.  If you have news relating to the department you can send it to the editor or to this list server.  This is a moderated list server in that messages won't be forwarded to the list, but will be sent by the list's owner to the newsletter editor.

In the spring of 1997, a few hundred Oxyops vitiosa, a tip-feeding weevil, were released in south Florida as a potential biocontrol agent of melaleuca.  Ted Center has reported that the weevils are now established at nine sites.  Last fall, at one 7.3 hectare site in Lee County, a population of 2000 adults and 22,000 larvae was estimated after one transect sampling; tips of more than 12,000 coppiced stumps were damaged.  Recently, damage to some plants at this site has been so great that plants have died.  Many people connected to the department have been involved in this project (Dale Habeck, Gary Buckingham, Ted Center, Joe Balciunas, Howard Frank, Chris Bennett, Barbara Dawicke, James Okine, Susan Wineriter, and Jason Stanley) and are delighted that the weevil has established, expanded its range, and is having a damaging effect on melaleuca.

Roach collection boxes should be arriving in the next week, volunteers are needed to pin roaches and construct boxes.  Each collection brings in $500 and these collections are the cornerstone to all of ENSO's activities.

Thanks to the many students that ate lunch with the teaching candidates.It was a great learning experience for all involved.  There are several conferences coming up-- FACT in September, Turfgrass in August.  Volunteers are needed to represent our department.  These conferences offer students a great oppurtuntity to make contacts and get exposure.

Congrats to the recent recipients of ENSO travel grants-- Janete Brito, Claudia Reigel, JuanAlvarez, and Marco Toapanta.  Travel grants are competitive and only active members recieve them.

Check out the ENSO webpage  http://grove.ufl.edu/~enso.  The next meeting will be during the first week of classes, please look for announcements and emails notifying you of the date and time.

Six-Legged Showcase

Movie night will start on the 9th of September with the classic 1954 hit "Them!". Popcorn and admission is free. Drinks will be 50 cents each. For those few who may have never heard of this movie here is a brief synopsis. "Atomic radiation once again manages to transform tiny harmless creatures into gigantic holy terrors. Probably the best of the '50s phenomenon, this top-notch thriller witnesses an invasion of giant ants using the sewer systems of Los Angeles like a vast ant farm."
from moviefinder.com

Out-Reach is a departmental sponsored program in which students and even faculty go out and teach the public about insects (and nematodes when requested) at different events, but mainly in schools. Out-Reach is coordinated by graduate student Tom Merritt and helped advised by Dr. John Zenger, the 4-H extension unit coordinator for Alachua County.  Out-Reach recently has been going places and doing things it has never done before. At one point around the department you may have seen what had looked like the army moving in, but in reality it was the Gainesville Police Department's Juvenile Corrections Camp Students.  They came to learn about Entomology and possible career choices for the kids to show them if they straighten up now they can have a great future for tomorrow.  Big THANKS! to all those who helped in presenting and touring the kids around.

Out-Reach has also just been booming ever since the article in the Gainesville Sun.  Tom has been traveling to at least one school or summer camp a week if not more.  And the presentations have ranged from being for a normal class all the way to being made the main event of a birthday party.  The request for Out-Reach has gotten to the point where programs are having to be planned as far ahead as October.

Tours also occur in this building rather frequently and Tom is looking for new spots to take the kids to.  A big thanks goes out to the Urban lab (Dr.Koehler), the Ant lab (Dr.Stimac), and the Grasshopper lab (Dr.Capinera) who have always helped out and hopefully will keep up their great tradition.  The type of lab Tom's looking for is one that has insects the kids can see and see what they do.  Also to have someone there to explain what goes on in the lab and about the insects.  Tom is also hoping someone in the nematode labs would be willing to show off their knowledge and their lab along with being able to see real nematodes.

Please remember these are kids and they want to SEE something, not just hear about things.  That's why not all labs are appropriate for the tour. And finally on a similar note, Tom has been trying to keep many live insects to be able to take to show to the kids.  He is looking for any insects that people are willing to teach him how to rear; or if they are willing to allow him to come a borrow just for the presentations at the schools and return them afterwards like the Urban lab does.  
 

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Editor: Michael Patnaude

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

July 1999. Updated May 2003.