Agriculture Commons^™

The Potential For Dickeya Dianthicola To Be Vectored By Two Common Insect Pests Of Potatoes, Jonas K. Insinga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dickeya dianthicola (Samson) causing blackleg and soft rot was first detected in potatoes grown in Maine in 2014. Previous work has suggested that insects, particularly aphids, may be able to vector bacteria in this genus between plants, but no conclusive work has been done to confirm this theory. In order to determine whether insect-mediated transmission is likely to occur in potato fields, two model potato pests common in Maine were used: the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decimlineata Say) and the green peach aphids (Myzus persicae Sulzer). Olfactometry and recruitment experiments evaluated if either insect discriminates between infected and …

Landscape Pattern And Wild Bee Communities In Maine, Brianne Du Clos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Commercial production of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) in Maine relies primarily on managed honeybee hives; however, naturally occurring wild bees are more efficient pollinators of the crop. Wild bees have short foraging distances and must nest near crop fields to provide pollination services. After crop bloom, the surrounding landscape must provide sufficient forage to maintain wild bee populations for the remainder of the growing season. Lowbush blueberries in Maine are produced in a mixed-use landscape with two distinct landscape contexts. Here, we document bee communities and habitat resources (nesting and floral) in power line rights-of-way and eight land …

Simpson (Geddes W.) Records, 1920-2001, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

Finding Aids

Geddes Wilson Simpson received an A.B. in zoology from Bucknell University in 1929 and an A.M. in insect morphology from Cornell University in 1931. In 1935 he completed a Ph.D. in economic entomology at Cornell.

In 1931, Simpson joined the staff of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Maine. As a research entomologist, he gained national recognition for his work on aphids, especially those affecting potato plants. In 1952, Simpson was named professor of entomology at UMaine. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1974. For many years he was editor of the Potato Association …