Entomology Commons^™

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. …

Putting Theory Into Practice: Predicting The Invasion And Stability Of Wolbachia Using Simulation Models And Empirical Studies, Philip R. Crain

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

A new strategy to fight mosquito-borne disease is based on infections of the maternally-transmitted, intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis. Estimates predict that Wolbachia infects nearly half of all insect species, as well as other arthropods and some nematodes. Wolbachia manipulates the reproduction of its host to promote infection, most commonly causing a form of conditional sterility known as cytoplasmic incompatibility. Generally, Wolbachia infections are benign and do not inflict significant costs upon its host. However, studies demonstrate that some infections are associated with substantial costs to its host. These same infections can also induce pathogen interference and decrease vector competency …

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 …

Enhancing Beneficial Insect Biodiversity And Biological Control In Turf: Mowing Height, Naturalized Roughs, And Operation Pollinator, Emily Dobbs

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The goal of this study was to evaluate several sustainable turf maintenance techniques for their potential to increase beneficial insect populations, which could then provide ecosystem services including pest suppression and pollination. The three techniques in question were 1) raising mowing height in commercial and residential lawns, 2) establishing naturalized roughs on golf courses, and 3) creating pollinator refuges on golf courses through the program Operation Pollinator. We found that raising mowing heights did increase populations of some predators such as spiders and staphylinids, but did not increase predation, which was ubiquitously high because ant populations were unaffected by mowing …

Endosymbiotic Prevalence And Reproductive Manipulation Of The Spider Mermessus Fradeorum, Meghan M. Curry

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Spiders are host to a plethora of heritable endosymbiotic bacteria. Broad-taxa screening studies indicate that endosymbionts are particularly common among spiders, however, little is known about how these bacteria affect their spider hosts. In insects these bacteria ensure vertical transmission by either conveying a benefit to the host or manipulating host reproduction to eliminate males that serve as evolutionary dead-ends for maternally-inherited bacteria. Common modes of reproductive manipulation include parthenogenesis, male killing, feminization, and cytoplasmic incompatibility. Screening an assemblage of Mermessus genus spiders, I detected a high frequency and diversity of endosymbiont infection. Within a single species, M. fradeorum …

Nebline, November/December 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Co-Parenting For Successful Kids Online Class Has Great Response in First Year

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Nebline, October 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Make Every Drop Count in the Home

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Genetic Characterization Of North American Populations Of The Wheat Curl Mite And Dry Bulb Mite, Gary L. Hein, Roy French, Benjawan Siriwetwiwat, James W. Amrine

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer, transmits at least three harmful viruses, wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), high plains virus (HPV), and Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) throughout the Great Plains. This virus complex is considered to be the most serious disease of winter wheat in the western Great Plains. One component of managing this disease has been developing mite resistance in wheat; however, identification of mite biotypes has complicated deployment and stability of resistance. This biotypic variability in mites and differential virus transmission by different mite populations underscores the need to better understand …

Comparative Mitogenomic Analysis Of Damsel Bugs Representing Three Tribes In The Family Nabidae (Insecta: Hemiptera), Hu Li, Haiyu Liu, Fan Song, Aimin Shi, Xuguo Zhou, Wanzhi Cai

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Nabidae, a family of predatory heteropterans, includes two subfamilies and five tribes. We previously reported the complete mitogenome of Alloeorhynchus bakeri, a representative of the tribe Prostemmatini in the subfamily Prostemmatinae. To gain a better understanding of architecture and evolution of mitogenome in Nabidae, mitogenomes of five species representing two tribes (Gorpini and Nabini) in the subfamily Nabinae were sequenced, and a comparative mitogenomic analysis of three nabid tribes in two subfamilies was carried out.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nabid mitogenomes share a similar nucleotide composition and base bias, except for the control region, where differences are observed at the …

Nebline, September 2012

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Feature: Extend Your Growing Season with a Cold Frame or Hotbed

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Nebline, August 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: 9 Reasons to Shop at Farmers Markets

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Nature's Perfect Food, Geoffrey D. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Nature's Perfect Food is an article that describes the history of local beekeeper Jack Hartman and the benefit of local honey bees to agriculture and honey consumers.

Seasonal Population Dynamics Of The Potato Psyllid (Hemiptera: Triozidae) And Its Associated Pathogen “Candidatus Liberibacter Solanacearum” In Potatoes In The Southern Great Plains Of North America, John A. Goolsby, John J. Adamczyk Jr., J. M. Crosslin, Noel N. Troxclair, J. R. Ancisco, Gerhard G. Bester, J. D. Bradshaw, Edsel D. Bynum Jr., L. A. Carpio, Don C. Henne, Ankush Joshi, Joseph E. Munyaneza, Pat Porter, Phillip E. Sloderbeck, J. R. Supak, C. M. Rush, F. J. Willett, B. J. Zechmann, B. A. Zens

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), and its associated pathogen “Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum” (Ca. L. solanacearum), the putative causal agent of zebra chip (ZC) disease in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), were sampled in commercial potato fields and untreated control plots for 3 yr in multiple locations in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Populations of the potato psyllid varied across years and across potato growing regions. However, the percentage of potato psyllids infected with Ca. L. solanacearum although variable across years, was consistently highest in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (LRGV), the reported overwintering …

Nebline, July 2012

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Feature: 4-H Food Booth at Super Fair Volunteers Have Fun, Rewarding Experience

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Nebline, June 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

No abstract provided.

Nebline, May 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Lincoln’s Biosolids Land Application Program is 20 Years Old

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Insecticidal Control Of Bemisia Tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Transmitting Carlavirus On Soybeans And Detection Of The Virus In Alternate Hosts, Difabachew K. Belay, Randy M. Huckaba, Axel M. Ramirez, Jose C. V. Rodrigues, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

A Carlavirus transmitted by Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an important disease of soybean nurseries in Puerto Rico causing substantial germplasm losses. Insecticide bioassay experiments were conducted at Dow AgroSciences (DAS) Research Station, Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, either by spraying insecticides on B. tabaci infested soybean leaves or introducing B. tabaci adults onto insecticide-sprayed soybean leaves. Moreover, host plants were surveyed to detect the virus in overwintering hosts that serve as a source of inoculums. The direct spray experiment showed that Nuprid 2F (Imidacloprid), Capture 2 EC (Bifenthrin), Thionex (Endosulfan), Lannate LV (Methomyl), and Dimethoate gave good level ( …

Nebline, April 2012

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Feature: Helping New Americans Choose Healthy Foods

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Nebline, March 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: National Agriculture Week is March 4–10: A Time to Celebrate and Reflect About Nebraska’s Leading Industry

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Weed Awareness Special Pullout Section

Genetic Differentiation Of Western Corn Rootworm Populations (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Relative To Insecticide Resistance, Hong Chen, Haichuan Wang, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Abstract

As the single most important pest of field corn, Zea mays L., throughout most of the Corn Belt, the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), has undergone repeated selection for resistance to a variety of insecticides that persist widely among Nebraska populations. In this study, we used 11 microsatellite markers to genotype two populations with high levels of resistance to methyl-parathion and aldrin (Polk and Stromsburg), two populations with low and intermediate levels of resistance (Mead and Clay Center) from Nebraska, and one population from outside the Corn Belt (Safford, Arizona). The genetic diversity measured by …

Rna Interference Of Nadph-Cytochrome P450 Reductase Results In Reduced Insecticide Resistance In The Bed Bug, Cimex Lectularius, Fang Zhu, Sarah Sams, Tim Moural, Kenneth F. Haynes, Michael F. Potter, Subba R. Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) plays a central role in cytochrome P450 action. The genes coding for P450s are not yet fully identified in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius. Hence, we decided to clone cDNA and knockdown the expression of the gene coding for CPR which is suggested to be required for the function of all P450s to determine whether or not P450s are involved in resistance of bed bugs to insecticides.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The full length Cimex lectularius CPR (ClCPR) cDNA was isolated from a deltamethrin resistant bed bug population (CIN-1) using a combined PCR strategy. Bioinformatics and in …

Nebline, February 2012

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Feature: 4-H Diamond Clover Program Helps Youth Plan and Achieve Goals

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Letter From The Dean, Michael Vayda

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Seed Reduction In Prairie Cordgrass, Spartina Pectinata Link., By The Floret-Feeding Caterpillar Aethes Spartinana (Barnes And Mcdunnough), Jarrad R. Prasifka, D. K. Lee, Jeffrey Bradshaw, Allen S. Parrish, Michael E. Gray

Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Insect damage to prairie cordgrass, Spartina pectinata Link., is conspicuously high in Illinois, where attempts to collect native seed show the majority of spikelets damaged with small holes. Dissection of spikes during summer reveals minute caterpillars boring though glumes and feeding on florets inside. In 2009–2010, panicles of prairie cordgrass from across its native range were used to estimate the percentage of insect-related damage and losses to seed production. Collections of caterpillars from panicles and stems were used to identify one floret-feeding species, estimate its distribution in the central USA, and assess its feeding patterns within spikes. Insect feeding damaged …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 13 2012, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Nebline, January 2012

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: UNL Food Processing Center Provides Valuable Assistance to Food Manufacturers

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2011 Annual Report Special Pullout Section

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Enabling Learning And Enhancing Education In Ipm In The Midst Of Dwindling Financial Resources: Why Open Access To Resources And Publishing Could Be A Strategic Step To Support Students Today And Tomorrow?, Ousmane Youm

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

When I was invited to join the editorial board of the journal Entomology, Ornithology & Herpetology (EOH), I read carefully the note coming with the invitation and also looked at the content and scope. Then two things came into my mind as I stopped a few minutes to reflect on a couple of issues: (1) how the new journal links and is relevant to Integrated Pest Management—IPM (for those who understand its definition)—and (2) the issue of open access and relevance in the current situation of an ailing global economy, particularly in the vulnerable developing nations.

In the latter, more …

Larval Survival And Plant Injury Of Cry1ab-Susceptible, -Resistant, And -Heterozygous Genotypes Of The Sugarcane Borer On Transgenic Corn Containing Single Or Pyramided Bt Genes, David S. Wangila, B. Rogers Leonard, Yaoyu Bai, Graham P. Head, Fangneng Huang

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) products expressing multiple Bt proteins targeting a same group of insect pests have become commercially available in the U.S. The first commercialized pyramided Bt corn technologies for managing lepidopteran pests include Genuity® VT Triple Pro™ and Genuity® SmartStax™. In this study, larval survival and plant injury of Cry1Ab-susceptible (Cry1Ab-SS), -resistant (Cry1Ab-RR), and -heterozygous (Cry1Ab-RS) genotypes of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis F., on five commercial corn hybrids were evaluated in a leaf tissue bioassay and two greenhouse trials during 2010–2011. The five hybrids included two non-Bt corn and three Bt corn hybrids representing three …