Entomology Commons^™

Vertical Distribution Of Aedes Mosquitoes In Multiple Storey Buildings In Selangor And Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chen Chee Dhang

Chen Chee Dhang

No abstract provided.

Temephos Resistance In Field Aedes (Stegomyia) Albopictus (Skuse) From Selangor, Malaysia, Chen Chee Dhang

Chen Chee Dhang

Larvae of Aedes albopictus obtained from dengue endemic areas in Selangor, Malaysia were evaluated for their susceptibility to operational dosage of temephos (1 mg/L). Larval bioassays were carried out in accordance to modified WHO standard methods. Biochemical microassay of enzymes in Ae. albopictus was conducted to detect the emergence of insecticide resistance and to define the mechanisms involved in temephos resistance. The 50% mortality lethal time (LT50) for Ae. albopictus tested against temephos ranged between 58.65 to 112.50 minutes, with resistance ratio ranging from 0.75 - 1.45. This study addressed the fluctuation of time-related susceptibility status of Ae. albopictus towards …

Effects Of Proximity To Forest Habitat On Hymenoptera Diversity In A Costa Rican Coffee Agroecosystem, John E. Banks, Lisa Hannon, Paul Hanson, Thomas Dietsch, Sebastian Castro, Natalia Urena, Mark Chandler

John Banks

No abstract provided.

Progress Towards A Phylogeny Of World Tachinidae. Year 1, John O. Stireman Iii, James E. O'Hara, Michael C. Moulton, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Isaac S. Winkler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

D eveloping a structural phylogenetic framework for the family Tachinidae has been an interest of mine since I first started working on tachinids as a graduate student. It was then that I developed a new phylogenetic perspective with which to view the world, and many of the questions I wanted to ask of tachinids depended on some level of phylogenetic knowledge of them. I was surprised at the time that no one had attempted a broad quantitative phylogenetic analysis of the family, and a publication from my thesis work on the Exoristinae (Stireman 2002) became the first such study that …

Selective Utilization Of Microhabitats By Web-Building Spiders, Kelton D. Welch

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Natural enemies are members of complex ecological communities, and their ability to contribute to the biological control of pest organisms is strongly influenced by a convoluted network of ecological interactions with many other organisms within these communities. Researchers must develop an understanding of the mechanisms that shape trophic webs to predict and promote top-down effects of predators. The behavior of predators can have a strong influence on their potential as biological control agents.

Web-building spiders are a useful example organism for the study of natural enemy behavior because of the experimentally tractable nature of their foraging behavior. Specifically, patterns in …

Current Known Range Of The Platte River Caddisfly, Ironoquia Plattensis, And Genetic Variability Among Populations From Three Nebraska Rivers, Lindsay A. Vivian, Michael Cavallaro, Kate Kneeland, Erica Lindroth, W. Wyatt Hoback, Kerri M. Farnsworth-Hoback, Robert R. Harms, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The Platte River caddisfly (Ironoquia plattensis Alexander and Whiles 2000) was recently described from a warm-water slough along the Platte River in central Nebraska and was considered abundant at the type locality. Surveys of 48 sites in 1999 and 2004 found eight additional sites with this species on the Platte River. The caddisfly was not found at the type locality in 2004 and one additional site in 2007, presumably because of drought conditions. Because of its apparent rarity and decline, the Platte River caddisfly is a Tier I species in Nebraska. For this project, surveys for the caddisfly were …

Mobilization Of Lipids And Fortification Of Cell Wall And Cuticle Are Important In Host Defense Against Hessian Fly, Chitvan Khajuria, Haiyan Wang, Xuming Liu, Shanda Wheeler, John C. Reese, Mustapha El Bouhssini, R. Jeff Whitworth, Ming-Shun Chen

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Background: Wheat – Hessian fly interaction follows a typical gene-for-gene model. Hessian fly larvae die in wheat plants carrying an effective resistance gene, or thrive in susceptible plants that carry no effective resistance gene.

Results: Gene sets affected by Hessian fly attack in resistant plants were found to be very different from those in susceptible plants. Differential expression of gene sets was associated with differential accumulation of intermediates in defense pathways. Our results indicated that resources were rapidly mobilized in resistant plants for defense, including extensive membrane remodeling and release of lipids, sugar catabolism, and amino acid transport …

Unlinked Genetic Loci Control The Reduced Transcription Of Aminopeptidase N 1 And 3 In The European Corn Borer And Determine Tolerance To Bacillus Thuringiensis Cry1ab Toxin, Brad S. Coates, Douglas V. Sumerford, Blair Siegfried, Richard L. Hellmich, Craig A. Abel

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Transgenic expression of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crystalline (Cry) toxins by crop plants result in reduced insect feeding damage, but sustainability is threatened by the development of resistance traits in target insect populations. We investigated Bt toxin resistance trait in a laboratory colony of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, selected for increased survival when exposed to Cry1Ab and correlated survival on Cry1Ab toxin with a constitutive~146.2 ± 17.3-fold reduction in midgut aminopeptidase N1 (apn1) transcript levels. A 7.1 ± 1.9-fold reduction apn3 transcript level was also correlated with Cry1Ab resistance. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping identified a single major …

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Used To Investigate Genetic Variability Of The Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Across North America, K. M. Kneeland, S. R. Skoda, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), is a cosmopolitan pest of livestock and humans. The pestiferous nature and painful bite cause stress to cattle and other animals. The stress and resulting avoidance behaviors manifest as reductions in weight gain or milk production in cattle; estimated annual economic loss in the United States exceeds US$2 billion. Understanding the population genetics of stable flies could provide information on their population dynamics, origins of outbreaks, and geographical patterns of insecticide resistance, resulting in a tactical advantage for developing management strategies. Previous studies, mostly on a local scale, reported a high level of gene …

Dietary Supplementation With Pollen Enhances Survival And Collembola Boosts Fitness Of A Web-Building Spider, Jason M. Schmidt, Julie A. Peterson, Jonathan Lundgren, James D. Harwood

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Uncertainties exist about the value of non-prey food for predators that are commonly food-limited, and the dietary conditions where non-prey foods are beneficial for carnivorous species. Prior studies show that large quantities of pollen grains are intercepted in the webs of web-building spiders. We examined the nutritional benefits of pollen as a non-prey food for a common ground-dwelling, sheet web-building spider, Mermessus fradeorum (Berland) (Araneae: Linyphiidae). These predators were provided diets of prey or no prey in the presence and absence of pollen. Treatment effects were quantified by measuring predator body nutrient composition, survival, body size, and offspring production. Per …

Inter- And Intraspecific Identification Of The Screwworm, Cochliomyia Hominivorax, Using Random Amplified Polymorphic Dna-Polymerase Chain Reaction, Steven R. Skoda, James L. Figarola, Saowaluck Pornkulwat, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), is one of the most devastating arthropod pests of livestock in the Western Hemisphere. Early instars are very difficult to distinguish morphologically from several closely related blow fly species. Random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) markers were developed for identifying C. hominivorax from other wound inhabiting species. Forty decameric primers were screened; nine showed clear reproducible RAPD profiles suitable for distinguishing all life stages of C. hominivorax from 7 other species, including C. macellaria (Fabricius). The results from RAPD-PCR with field-collected samples of unknown first instars agreed with morphological identification that the …

Impacts Of Insecticide Treatments On Platytetranychus Multidigituli (Acari:Tetranychidae) And Predatory Mites On Gleditsia Triacanthos Var. Inermis (Honeylocust), Adam Robert Witte

Open Access Theses

Spider mite outbreaks can occur in urban forests after insecticides are applied to control early season pests. We used thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis) and honeylocust spider mite (Platytetranychus multidigituli) as a model to investigate this phenomenon by applying both topical and systemic insecticides to treat early season pests of honeylocust. Impacts of these applications on populations of P. multidigituli and its associated predatory mites were assessed. Early season applications of bifenthrin caused outbreaks of honeylocust spider mite and drastically reduced phytoseiids but not the stigmaeid mite, Zetzellia mali. In contrast later season applications suppressed populations of P. multidigituli. …

Spiders, Ryan S. Davis, Ricardo A. Ramirez

All Current Publications

Spiders are arachnids, a group that includes other 8-legged arthropods like ticks, mites, sun spiders, scorpions, and harvestmen (daddy longlegs). There are approximately 621 species of spiders known to occur in Utah (Allred and Kaston, 1983). Spiders are beneficial predators and the majority of them are harmless to humans.

Forest Development And Carbon Dynamics After Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreaks, E. Matthew Hansen

The Bark Beetles, Fuels, and Fire Bibliography

Mountain pine beetles periodically infest pine forests in western North America, killing many or most overstory pine stems. The surviving secondary stand structure, along with recruited seedlings, will form the future canopy. Thus, even-aged pine stands become multiaged and multistoried. The species composition of affected stands will depend on the presence of nonpines and outbreak severity, among other factors, and can range from continued dominance by pines to hastened conversion to more shade-tolerant species. The loss of mature host trees results in reductions of ecosystem carbon productivity. The surviving and recruited stems, however, grow more quickly in response to the …

Examining The Causes Of Rarity For The Odonata Of Illinois, Miranda R. White, Paul V. Switzer

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) play an important role in habitat management and conservation, but our understanding of the causes of commonness versus rarity in this group is limited. In this study we examined the causes of rarity for the Odonata of Illinois. Using S-ratings for conservation status and published habitat classifications for Illinois odonates, we investigated whether habitat type (lotic versus lentic) or habitat specificity (whether they were limited to a specific type of aquatic habitat) was related to commonness. We found that lotic species and habitat specialists were more likely to be rare than lentic and generalist species. More …

Examining The Causes Of Rarity For The Odonata Of Illinois, Miranda White, Paul Switzer

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) play an important role in habitat management and conservation, but our understanding of the causes of commonness versus rarity in this group is limited. In this study we examined the causes of rarity for the Odonata of Illinois. Using S-ratings for conservation status and published habitat classifications for Illinois odonates, we investigated whether habitat type (lotic versus lentic) or habitat specificity (whether they were limited to a specific type of aquatic habitat) was related to commonness. We found that lotic species and habitat specialists were more likely to be rare than lentic and generalist species. More …

Female Mate Choice For Multimodal Courtship And The Importance Of The Signaling Background For Selection On Male Ornamentation, Jay A. Stafstrom, Eileen A. Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Conspicuous visual ornaments are frequently incorporated into complex courtship displays that integrate signal components from multiple sensory modalities. Mature male Schizocosa crassipes (Walckenaer, 1837) wolf spiders wave, arch, and tap their ornamented forelegs in a visual courtship display that simultaneously incorporates seismic components. To determine the importance of modality-specific signal components in female mate choice, we used a signal ablation design and compared the mating frequency of female-male pairs across signaling environments with manipulated modality-specific transmission properties. We found that the successful transmission of isolated visual or seismic signaling was sufficient for mating success; neither signaling modality was necessary. Additionally, …

Social Aggregation In Pea Aphids: Experiment And Random Walk Modeling, Christa Nilsen, John Paige, Olivia Warner, Benjamin Mayhew, Ryan Sutley, Matthew Lam '15, Andrew J. Bernoff, Chad M. Topaz

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

From bird flocks to fish schools and ungulate herds to insect swarms, social biological aggregations are found across the natural world. An ongoing challenge in the mathematical modeling of aggregations is to strengthen the connection between models and biological data by quantifying the rules that individuals follow. We model aggregation of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Specifically, we conduct experiments to track the motion of aphids walking in a featureless circular arena in order to deduce individual-level rules. We observe that each aphid transitions stochastically between a moving and a stationary state. Moving aphids follow a correlated random walk. …

2012 Wild Blueberry Project Reports, Dorothy J. Klimis-Zacas, Vivian Ch Wu, Frank A. Drummond, Judith A. Collins, Lee Beers, Eric Asare, Alex Bacjz, Kalyn Bickerman, Sara Bushmann, Shannon Chapin, Cyndy Loftin, Alison Dibble, Lois Berg Stack, Eric Venturini, Samuel Hanes, Aaron Hoshide, Matthew S. Jones, Brianne Looze, Seanna L. Annis, Caleb Slemmons, David E. Yarborough, Jennifer L. D'Appollonio, Tsutomu Ohno, Ellen Mallory, Hannah Griffin, Katie Mcphee

Wild Blueberry Research Reports

The 2012 edition of the Wild Blueberry Project Reports was prepared for the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine and the Wild Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include:

1. Do wild blueberries alleviate risk factors related to the Metabolic Syndrome?

2. Development of effective intervention measures to maintain and improve food safety for wild blueberries

3. Control tactics for blueberry pest insects, 2012

4. Development and implementation of a wild blueberry thrips IPM program, 2012

5. IPM

6. Biology of blueberry and pest insects, 2012

7. Biology of beneficial insects and …

Elevational Distribution And Conservation Biogeography Of Phanaeine Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) In Bolivia, Sebastian K. Herzog, A. Caroli Hamel-Leigue, Trond H. Larsen, Darren J. Mann, Rodrigo W. Soria- Auza, Bruce D. Gill, William D. Edmonds, Sacha Spector

Entomology Papers from Other Sources

Insect macroecology and conservation biogeography studies are disproportionately scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Dung beetles are an ideal focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Using distribution and body size data on the ecologically important Phanaeini, the best-known Neotropical dung beetle tribe, we determined elevational patterns of species richness, endemism, body size, and elevational range in Bolivia, specifically testing Bergmann’s and Rapoport’s rule. Richness of all 39 species and of 15 ecoregional endemics showed a hump-shaped pattern peaking at 400 m, but overall declined strongly with elevation up to 4000 m. The relationship between endemic and total species richness appeared …