Entomological Society of America Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section

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1 Entomological Society of America Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section June 2014 Newsletter P-IE Masters Student Achievement in Entomology Award It is time to nominate Masters students who have excelled in research, teaching, and/or outreach for the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Legends of Entomology Award. A cash award of $1,500, waiver of 2014 Annual Meeting registration fee, and a plaque will be presented to an outstanding Masters student during the ESA P-IE Section Networking Afternoon on 17 November The award winner must attend and present a paper or poster at the ESA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. See or contact Committee Chair Dr. Bonnie Pendleton (bpendleton@wtamu.edu) for details on applying for the award. The deadline to apply is August 1. P-IE Legend of Entomology Sought Many of us have current or former entomology mentors we would like to recognize in a special way. Please send P-IE President John Adamczyk (jadamczyk301@gmail.com) a short paragraph of <250 words to nominate your favorite entomologist for the Plant- Insect Ecosystems Legends of Entomology Award to be presented on 17 November 2014 during the P-IE Section Networking Afternoon at the ESA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Previous Legends of Entomology are Dr. Larry Pedigo and Dr. George Teetes. Note that the winner will also receive a waiver of 2014 Annual Meeting registration fee. For consideration, complete applications must be received by Sept 1.

2 P-IE Volunteers Needed for ESA Meeting in Portland: Grand Challenges Beyond our Horizons. It is never too early to volunteer! Sujaya Rao reports P-IE needs many more volunteers to be student judges at the ESA meeting in Portland (16-19 November). Please contact Sujaya to volunteer In addition, we still need moderators to serve as alternates, so please let Sujaya know that you are willing to serve P-IE in this capacity. Although we appreciate the effort, please note that students are not allowed to judge student papers and posters. Special thanks to all that have already agreed to moderate a P-IE session at the 2014 ESA Annual Meeting: Alejandro Del Pozo David Hall Chris Werle Kevin Steffey Ash Ahmad Sujaya Rao Gregg Nuessly Alton Sparks C. Sheena Sidhu Jarrad Prasifka Vivek Kumar Rizana M. Mahroof Ram B. Shrestha Laura Campbell Bonnie Pendleton William R. Morrison Jeff Gore Mike Shaw Rosalind James Robert L. Meagher Jessica D. Petersen Kelley Tilmon Tracy C. Leskey Joe Lewis Robert K. D. Peterson Christopher Sansone Walt Mullins Katherine Parys Mark E. Whalon Ayman Mostafa Jon M. Babcock Hannah Burrack Frank Peairs John Fitt Lisa Neven Fred Musser John Adamczyk

3 Upcoming ICE 2016 Meeting Information We certainly do not want to sidestep the 2015 ESA Annual meeting in Minneapolis, which will be co-located with ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting (American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America. and Soil Science Society of America), but there are many deadlines for the International Congress of Entomology 2016 that are approaching in 2014 and Please visit / for more information. Featured Council Member, Alejandro Del Pozo, Student Representative Coming from Lima, Peru; Alejandro has found Raleigh NC as a new place to call home. Alejandro is in his third year as a graduate student at North Carolina State University. He graduated from La Molina National Agrarian University in 2003, with a B.S. in Agronomy. Upon completion of his degree, Alejandro worked for 5 years at CAMPOSOL S.A., one of the largest asparagus producers in Peru. During that time, he was in charge of implementing and executing the IPM program of 3,000 acres of asparagus for exportation. In 2009, after he got married, he decided to move to the US and pursued a M.S. in Entomology at Washington State University. During his time at WSU, he worked with Dr. John Brown and his research was focused on developing new strategies to implement the IPM program on irrigated hybrid poplars at GreenWood Resources Tree Farms. At the 2011 ESA meeting, Alejandro won first place at P-IE section presenting his research on hybrid poplars. Alejandro has been working on his Ph.D. thesis under the direction of Dr. Dominic Reisig since January His project focuses on implementing new strategies to manage the recently introduced soybean pest, Megacopta cribraria, also called kudzu bug. Alejandro is looking at the natural history of this insect, as well as monitoring and other management practices. One of Alejandro s field studies is looking at the impact of planting date, maturity group, and pesticide treatments on soybeans to control M. cribraria. The ultimate goal of Alejandro s research is to provide practical solutions to manage this important soybean pest in NC. During the past 2012 ESA meeting in

4 Knoxville TN, Alejandro was the recipient of the Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology. When Alejandro is not studying insects, he is actively supporting ESA as a member of the Student Affair Committee and as the student representative for the P-IE section. He also likes to support and help on multicultural events organized by the Office of International Services and the Latino Student Association at NCSU. He also enjoys travelling with his wife Christie and his son Joshua, camping, watching movies, dancing salsa and playing table tennis, soccer and volleyball. Featured P-IE Student Article, " Invasive Fruit Fly Research: What's New?" - Chris Werle, PhD Student, Louisiana State University The past few years have seen several emerging pests of southeastern fruit production, including some destructive fly species. By now we are well aware of the spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii Matsumura; SWD), the focus of many fruit pest researchers. More recently, the African fig fly (Zaprionus indianus Gupta; AFF) has been discovered at Mississippi blueberry farms. An important pest at commercial orchards of tropical fruits in Central and South America, AFF exhibits a lifecycle similar to that of the SWD. Emerging slightly later than SWD, adults oviposit in fruits, with subsequent feeding damage caused by the larvae. A native of tropical regions in Africa, AFF is larger than SWD, with a very striking pair of white stripes extending dorsally from the antennae to the tip of the thorax. Two more shorter stripes extend laterally across the post-pronotum to the wing base, and the eyes are a distinctive red color. Seen side by side with SWD, there can be no mistaking the AFF for any other flies in your vinegar traps Captured in Florida as early as 2005 and now reported as far North as Michigan, the impact of AFF on fruit growers is not yet fully understood. It is possible that its co-occurrence with SWD will provide greater opportunity for infestation of blueberry orchards, or even packing houses. A team of ARS scientists from Washington and Mississippi are monitoring blueberry orchards and plantations of four other crops using a new chemical lure designed specifically for AFF. This season-long collection data will be used to pin down the lifecycle of the AFF, determine crop preferences, and facilitate development of a commercially-available lure.

5 P-IE Governing Council John Adamczyk, President (serves in personal capacity) Gary Thompson, Past President Sujaya Rao, Vice President Fred Musser, Vice President Elect Andy Michel, Secretary Patrick Moran, Treasurer (serves in personal capacity) Alton Stormy Sparks, ESA Governing Board Representative Alejandro Del Pozo-Valdivia, Student Representative