Life Sciences Commons^™

Demonstration Farm Provides Educational Opportunity For Ipm, Nick Volesky, Mair Murray

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The mission of USU Extension’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is to increase the use of sustainable pest management practices within urban and rural landscapes to provide economic, human, and environmental health in Utah. In the spring of 2022, the IPM program established a vegetable farm to test and demonstrate IPM practices. The farm served as an experiential learning classroom for almost 50 farmers and home gardeners.

Wireworms, Ryan Davis, Jay B. Karren, Alan H. Roe

All Current Publications

Wireworms are the larvae (immatures) of click beetles. Adults are elongate, slender, hardshelled beetles that take their name from their habit of flipping into the air (sometimes with an audible clicking sound) when they are placed on their backs. This fact sheet reviews the management of wireworms.

Recent Hybrids Recapitulate Ancient Hybrid Outcomes, Samridhi Chaturvedi, Lauren K. Lucas, C. Alex Buerkle, James A. Fordyce, Matthew L. Forister, Chris C. Nice, Zachariah Gompert

Ecology Center Publications

Genomic outcomes of hybridization depend on selection and recombination in hybrids. Whether these processes have similar effects on hybrid genome composition in contemporary hybrid zones versus ancient hybrid lineages is unknown. Here we show that patterns of introgression in a contemporary hybrid zone in Lycaeides butterflies predict patterns of ancestry in geographically adjacent, older hybrid populations. We find a particularly striking lack of ancestry from one of the hybridizing taxa, Lycaeides melissa, on the Z chromosome in both the old and contemporary hybrids. The same pattern of reduced L. melissa ancestry on the Z chromosome is seen in two …

Clover Root Curculio (Sitona Hispidulus F.), Kaitlin Rim, Steven Price, Ricardo Ramirez

All Current Publications

The clover root curculio is an important agricultural pest in forage production systems. Adult beetles feed on the host plant leaves while the damaging larval stage feeds on the roots below ground. Heavy larval feeding has been associated with reduced stand establishment, disruption of nutrient and water uptake, increased secondary plant pathogen infection, decreased winter plant survival, delayed green-up, and reductions in forage quality and yield. Due to the hidden nature of eggs and larvae in the soil, CRC has been overlooked and damage is often misdiagnosed as nutrient deficiencies or pathogens. Historically, applications of chlorinated hydrocarbons, carbamates, and organophosphates …

Investigating The Viral Ecology Of Global Bee Communities With High-Throughput Metagenomics, David A. Galbraith, Zachary L. Fuller, Allyson M. Ray, Axel Brockmann, Maryann Frazier, Mary W. Gikungu, J. Francisco Iturralde Martinez, Karen M. Kapheim, Jeffrey T. Kerby, Sarah D. Kocher, Oleksiy Losyev, Elliud Muli, Harland M. Patch, Cristina Rosa, Joyce M. Sakamoto, Scott Stanley, Anthony D. Vaudo, Christina M. Grozinger

Biology Faculty Publications

Bee viral ecology is a fascinating emerging area of research: viruses exert a range of effects on their hosts, exacerbate the impacts of other environmental stressors, and, importantly, are readily shared across multiple bee species in a community. However, our understanding of bee viral communities is limited, as it is primarily derived from studies of North American and European Apis mellifera populations. Here, we examined viruses in populations of A. mellifera and 11 other bee species from 9 countries, across 5 continents and Oceania. We developed a novel pipeline to rapidly, inexpensively, and robustly screen for bee viruses. This pipeline …

Hart Prairie Preserve Site Visit To Assess Aspen Health Nature Conservancy, Flagstaff, Az, Amanda Grady

Aspen Bibliography

On June 11, 2018, Amanda Grady, Entomologist, Arizona Zone, Forest Health Protection, performed a site visit to evaluate aspen health on the Nature Conservancy lands at Heart Prairie Preserve (HPP) near Flagstaff. Specifically, the evaluation was to determine whether or not the aspen within exclosures on Fern Mountain have symptoms or signs of Oystershell scale (OSS), an emergent forest pest contributing to aspen decline in northern Arizona.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug [Halyomorpha Halys (Stal)], Mark Cody Holthouse, Diane G. Alston, Lori R. Spears, Erin Petrizzo

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive insect pest from eastern Asia. It includes a description of where it is found in Utah, host plants, crop injury and plant damage, general description of life stages, agricultural risks, monitoring, management, insecticides, and what to do if you find it.

Spider Mites In Raspberry, Diane Alston

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes spider mites in raspberry and includes a description of the mite, plant injury, monitoring, and cultural, biological and chemical control management options.

Raspberry Crown Borer [Pennisetia Marginata], Diane Alston

All Current Publications

This fact sheet described raspberry crown borer, a pest that attacks raspberry plants in northern Utah, causing cane-wilt and death. It includes life history, host injury, monitoring and thresholds, and management techniques.

Invasive Insect Look-Alikes, Mistaken Insect Identity, Lori R. Spears, Ryan S. Davis, Ricarado A. Ramirez

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides a quick identification reference guide for the most common look-alike species.

Rose Stem Girdler [Agrilus Cuprescens], Diane Alston

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information on the rose stem girdler, a common cane-boring beetle of raspberry and blackberry plants in northern Utah. It includes a description, host plants, life history, monitoring and thresholds, and management strategies.

Learning Ability And Factors Influencing Nest Establishment Of The Solitary Bees Osmia Lignaria And Megachile Rotundata (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), Cory A. Vorel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the last several decades, the use of solitary bees as an alternative to honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) for pollination of commercial crops has increased, in part as a response to ongoing problems faced by commercial honey bee populations. Two solitary bee species have exhibited great commercial potential: the blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria Say, and the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). However, growth of O. lignaria and M. rotundata populations is limited in commercial systems, mainly due to low establishment of females at provided nesting sites, possibly due to mortality, dispersal, or other causes. …

Supplementary Studies On The Systematics Of The Genus Perdita (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae) Part Ll, P. H. Timberlake

All PIRU Publications

This is the second part of a study (1971) that is supplementary to my revision of the genus Perdita (1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1968). Herein are treated some 57 species, of which 44 are described as new and the synonymy of three species is given. New keys are provided for the subgenera Macroteropsis, Epimacrotera, Cockerellula, and the Octomaculata Group and Sphaeralceae Group of the subgenus Perdita. The key to Macroteropsis is new for the females of that group, that for Epimacrotera is a revision of the key in Part III (1958). The key to Cockerellula is …

Host-Parasite Relationship Studies Of The Larval Alfalfa Weevil And The Ichneumonid Parasite Bathyplectes Curculionis (Thomson), Yeboa A. Duodu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The parasitic effects of the ichneumonid Bathyplectes curculionis (Thomson) on the larval alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), were studied.

Results of experiments on the rates of parasitism of the four host larval instars indicated that the first three are either preferred by the parasite over the fourth instar larvae or are more susceptible to the parasite's attack. Survival of the younger weevil larvae after their exposure to female parasites was markedly poorer than that of unparasitized larvae. Premature death of host larvae was probably from both the puncturing by the parasite's ovipositor and the feeding and other activities of parasite …

Supplementary Studies On The Systematics Of The Genus Perdita (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae), P. H. Timberlake

All PIRU Publications

Since or during the completion of my work on the monographic revision of the genus Perdita, published in seven parts (University of California Publications in Entomology 9:345-432, 11:247-350; 14:303-410, 17:1-156, 28:1-124, 28:125-388, 49: 1-196), much new material has accumulated or has been submitted for study and identification. As a result, I have found it necessary to present this supplementary study, and it is expected that other parts may follow, as the topic is far from exhaustion.

In this part some 64 species are treated, of which 32 are thought to be new, and renewed study has revealed new synonymy …

A Study Of Insects Attacking Pinus Flexilis James Cones In Cache National Forest, Thomas Evan Nebeker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Six species of insects were found attacking limber pine cones from July 26, 1968, through October 4, 1969, in Cache National Forest. The three species considered of major importance are: Conophthorus flexilis Hopkins, Dioryctria abietella (D. & S.), and D. sp. near or disclusa Heinrich. The three minor species encountered are; Bradysia sp., Trogoderma parabile Beal, and Asynapta keeni (Foote). In addition to the major and minor cone pests three parasites, Apanteles sp. prob. starki Mason, Elacherus sp., and Hypopteromalus percussor Girault were found associated with the cone pests.

C. flexilis, which completely destroys the cone, was ranked as …

Commercial Production And Management Of Wild Bees--A New Entomological Industry, George E. Bohart

All PIRU Publications

No abstract provided.

A Revisional Study Of The Bees Of The Genus Perdita F. Smith, With Special Reference To The Fauna Of The Pacific Coast (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) Part Vll (Including Index To Parts L To Vll), P. H. Timberlake

All PIRU Publications

In the preceding parts of this revision all the groups of the genus Perdita have been tabulated and the species described in more or less detail, with only a few omissions of previously known forms. In this supplementary part many more species are added and the omissions have been rectified. A bibliography of the genus, an index to all trivial names and corrigenda for preceding parts are added.

A Revision Of The Bee Genus Epeolus Latreille Of Western America North Of Mexico, Richard L. Brumley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Members of the genus Epeolus are small to medium-sized wasp-like bees which parasitize the colletid genus Colletes. Twenty-two species and two subgenera are recognized in this work.