Entomology Commons^™

Nebline, January/February 2024

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

2023 Extension Highlights

4-H Programs Engaged 39,421 Youth

Nebraska Extension’s Strategic Direction

Enjoy a Comforting Bowl of Soup in January & Beyond by Kayla Colgrove

Recipe of the Month: Multi-Cooker Tuscan Soup by Kayla Colgrove

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Extension’s 2024 Master Gardener Volunteer Training Begins Soon

Upcoming Green Industry Conferences

ProHort Lawn & Landscape Update

2024 Pesticide Applicator Trainings

Crop Production Clinics

Extension Workshop Planned on Managing Farmland and Transition Planning

Water Quality: Nebraska On-Farm Research by John Nelson

House Centipedes by Kait Chapman

Early Childhood Prep Academy: Leaders Today, Learners Tomorrow by Hayley Jackson

Heart …

An Assessment Of Functional Characteristics In Macroinvertebrates And Fishes In The Lower Ogeechee River, Molly A. Mckeon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The southeastern United States is a hotspot for aquatic biodiversity; yet this region is also considered vulnerable to climate and land–use changes. The Ogeechee River is an unimpeded blackwater river in Georgia that drains into the Atlantic Ocean and a unique ecosystem due to the preservation of its natural state; Historically, research conducted in the river establishes a baseline for long-term ecological studies. The aim of this study is to compare aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish community composition data collected in 2014 to 2017 to a recently collected dataset from 2023 and document temporal changes. Water quality monitoring was performed throughout …

Rescue From Hybrid Mortality In Nasonia Wasps Through An Interspecific Introgression, Samantha K. Mcginn

Honors College Theses

Nasonia vitripennis and Nasonia giraulti are parasitoid wasps that use fly pupae as hosts to lay their eggs. These two species can produce hybrids when crossed together. However, hybrids are only partially viable and suffer 50-80% mortality from egg to adult development. The highest mortality occurs when N. giraulti females are used in the cross. Previous research shows that hybrids with an N. vitripennis allele of a mitochondrial-targeted gene within a specific locus on chromosome 5 have incompatible interactions with the N. giraulti mitochondria, which are maternally inherited. Collaborators at the University of Rochester have generated an introgression strain of …

Contents, Discovery Editors

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

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Dean, Jeff Edwards

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

No abstract provided.

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 25 2024, Several Authors

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.

Indoor Pests And Human Health: Characterizing Contaminants And Improving Mitigation, Johnalyn Gordon

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Much of the United States population spends the majority of their time indoors and within the home. Not only are indoor arthropod pests an unsightly nuisance in our homes, but they can have serious impacts on human health, especially with chronic exposure. In addition to negative health impacts, costs associated with these medical impacts can be tremendous. For these reasons, it is critical to develop comprehensive strategies for pest reduction and mitigation of associated health impacts. The work outlined in this dissertation represent examination of the distribution of a hypothesized bed bug allergen within the indoor environment, identification of a …

Addressing The Trade-Offs Of Pest Protective Row Covers For Integrated Pest Management In Vegetable Production, Kathleen Fiske

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The success of many integrated pest management (IPM) strategies is limited by trade-offs with economic, cultural, and environmental factors. While some IPM strategies reduce pests, they may harm pollinators, reduce the efficiency of weed or disease management, or may increase costs relative to revenue. Pest protective row covers, in the form of fine-mesh netting (referred to as mesotunnels), are an effective alternative to pesticide use, but they are not without their challenges. While row covers exclude insect pests and the pathogens they vector, it is unknown how well non-vectored diseases can be managed underneath the row cover. The exclusion of …

Practical Challenges In Delivering Dsrna For Woody Plant Protection, Zachary Bragg

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Unprecedented weather events associated with climate change, coupled with extensive anthropogenic stresses, have reduced the effectiveness of traditional forest pest management approaches, which can no longer keep pace with invasive species overwhelming naïve landscapes and native pests experiencing eruptive and expansive outbreaks. Double-stranded RNA-(dsRNA) mediated gene silencing, a type of RNA interference (RNAi), has been coopted for use as a biopesticide against a multitude of agricultural and horticultural pests and could serve as a powerful tool for woody plant protection. While effective initiation of gene silencing and subsequent mortality have been demonstrated in multiple tree pests, effective and efficient methods …

Consequences Of Abiotic And Anthropogenic Stressors In The Antarctic Midge, Belgica Antarctica, Jack J. Devlin

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The ability to tolerate stress is key to maintaining fitness in extreme environments such as the polar regions. Subject to a myriad of extreme year-round abiotic conditions, invertebrates inhabiting the terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica provide an excellent system to investigate adaptations to stress. Understanding the response of these species to abiotic and novel stressors is crucial in a world with rapidly occurring climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity. In this dissertation, I investigated physiological and molecular responses to naturally occurring and human-derived stresses in the midge Belgica antarctica, which is Antarctica’s only endemic insect.

In my first research chapter, I …

Evaluation Of Ten Alternative Treatments For The Management Of Harlequin Bug (Murgantia Histrionica) On Brassica Crops, Sarah Clark

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

This thesis investigates the efficacy of exclusion netting and selected biopesticides in controlling the common brassica pest harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica); it assesses the phytotoxic effects caused by selected essential oil products; and it evaluates whether selected treatments caused mortality in common beneficial insects. This is one of the first studies to investigate the potential pest controlling properties of commercially produced bokashi fermented composting products as well as their effect on natural enemies.

During both the first and second year of the study, none of the commercially produced essential oil products or bokashi products were effective in controlling …

Weed Management Impacts On Wild Bees In Agroecosystems, Amanda Denny

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

In agricultural landscapes, bee communities are shaped by factors including the plant community, land management, and pesticides. These factors are critical in the late winter and early spring (LWES) when floral resources are scarce and many bee species are becoming active. In this dissertation, I characterize the flowering weed community of Central Kentucky agroecosystems in the LWES, examine the response of wild bee communities to the total cover and diversity of these flowering plants, and assess the risks of glyphosate exposure on developing ground nesting bees. I found that the flowering plant community was similar across land cover types and …

Assessing Endophyte Frequency Distributions And The Effect Of Epichloë Brachyelytri In The Chemotypic And Genotypic Diversity Of Brachyelytrum Erectum, Rachel Ann Sneed

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

Seed-transmissible epichloid fungal endophytes are best known for their roles as defensive mutualists in cool-season grasses. Historically, the discovery of fungal endophytes was driven by investigations of plant toxicity to livestock, followed by extensive study of their alkaloids and protection against insects and nematodes. Epichloae can produce four classes of alkaloids: ergot alkaloids, lolines (saturated aminopyrrolizidines), indole–diterpenes, and peramine. It is increasingly evident that these hereditary symbionts have much more diverse chemical profiles both in individual populations and between them. To this end, differences in chemotypic profiles of these symbionts may translate to different evolutionary and environmental advantages across plant …

Silphid And Carabid Beetles In An Experimental Forest Trial: Idna And Diets, And Insect-Human Relationships Can Better Inform Forest Management, Katherine E. Higdon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Insect conservation, primarily focused on pollinators, is a growing issue amid concerns of climate change and the purported sixth mass extinction of Earth’s biodiversity. However, the focus on charismatic pollinators ignores a large portion of ecologically important and beneficial species. Having broader knowledge of insect diets and the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on diets can better inform more comprehensive management approaches while also providing valuable knowledge with regards to trophic relationships between multiple species within ecosystems. This ensures the health and stability of ecosystems beyond pollination services. This research started by establishing the utility of Silphid beetles for invertebrate DNA …

Wa Insecticide Guide 2024 - Winter Spring, Svetlana Micic, Alan Lord

PestFacts WA

The insecticides listed in the tables within this guide can be used on any crop appearing on the chemical label, if the rate used does not exceed the highest rate that is registered for use on that crop.

There are many products with different trade names that contain the same active ingredient. This list is not exhaustive and does not imply any specific recommendations of brand names.

Cyp6g2 Is The Major P450 Epoxidase Responsible For Juvenile Hormone Biosynthesis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Qiangqiang Jia, Liu Yang, Jiamin Wen, Suning Liu, Di Wen, Wei Luo, Weihua Wang, Subba R. Palli, Li Sheng

Entomology Faculty Publications

Background Juvenile hormones (JH) play crucial role in regulating development and reproduction in insects. The most common form of JH is JH III, derived from MF through epoxidation by CYP15 enzymes. However, in the higher dipterans, such as the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, a bis-epoxide form of JHB3, accounted most of the JH detected. Moreover, these higher dipterans have lost the CYP15 gene from their genomes. As a result, the identity of the P450 epoxidase in the JH biosynthesis pathway in higher dipterans remains unknown.

Results In this study, we show that Cyp6g2 serves as the major JH epoxidase responsible for …

Endosymbiont Diversity Across Native And Invasive Brown Widow Spider Populations, Monica A. Mowery, Laura Cecilia Rosenwald, Eric G. Chapman, Yael Lubin, Michal Segoli, Thembile Khoza, Robin Lyle, Jennifer A. White

Entomology Faculty Publications

The invasive brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae: Theridiidae), has spread in multiple locations around the world and, along with it, brought associated organisms such as endosymbionts. We investigated endosymbiont diversity and prevalence across putative native and invasive populations of this spider, predicting lower endosymbiont diversity across the invasive range compared to the native range. First, we characterized the microbial community in the putative native (South Africa) and invasive (Israel and the United States) ranges via high throughput 16S sequencing of 103 adult females. All specimens were dominated by reads from only 1–3 amplicon sequence variants (ASV), and most individuals …

Go West: Population Genomics Reveals Unexpected Population Fluctuations And Little Gene Flow In Western Hemisphere Populations Of The Predatory Lady Beetle, Hippodamia Convergens, Arun Sethuraman, Schyler O. Nunziata, Angela Jones, John J. Obrycki, David W. Weisrock

Entomology Faculty Publications

Hippodamia convergens—the convergent lady beetle, has been used extensively in aug- mentative biological control of aphids, thrips, and whiteflies across its native range in North America, and was introduced into South America in the 1950s. Overwintering H. convergens populations from its native western range in the United States are com- mercially collected and released across its current range in the eastern USA, with little knowledge of the effectiveness of its augmentative biological control. Here we use a novel ddRADseq-based SNP/haplotype discovery approach to estimate its range- wide population diversity, differentiation, and recent evolutionary history. Our results indicate (1) significant population …

N(Alpha)-Acetyltransferase 40-Mediated Histone Acetylation Plays An Important Role In Ecdysone Regulation Of Metamorphosis In The Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium Castaneum, Sharath Chandra Gaddelapati, Smitha George, Anilkumar Moola, Karthi Sengodan, Subba Reddy Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

Histone acetylation, a crucial epigenetic modification, is governed by histone acetyltransferases (HATs), that regulate many biological processes. Functions of HATs in insects are not well understood. We identified 27 HATs and determined their functions using RNA interference (RNAi) in the model insect, Tribolium castaneum. Among HATs studied, N-alpha-acetyltransferase 40 (NAA40) knockdown caused a severe phenotype of arrested larval development. The steroid hormone, ecdysone induced NAA40 expression through its receptor, EcR (ecdysone receptor). Interestingly, ecdysone-induced NAA40 regulates EcR expression. NAA40 acetylates histone H4 protein, associated with the promoters of ecdysone response genes: EcR, E74, E75, and HR3, and causes an increase …

The Mechanoreceptor Piezo Is Required For Spermatogenesis In Bombyx Mori, Zhongjie Zhang, Xiaojing Liu, Bo Hu, Kai Chen, Ye Yu, Chenxin Sun, Dalin Zhu, Hua Bai, Subba Reddy Palli, Anjiang Tan

Entomology Faculty Publications

Background The animal sperm shows high diversity in morphology, components, and motility. In the lepidopteran model insect, the silkworm Bombyx mori, two types of sperm, including nucleate fertile eupyrene sperm and anucleate unfertile apyrene sperm, are generated. Apyrene sperm assists fertilization by facilitating the migration of eupyrene spermatozoa from the bursa copulatrix to the spermatheca. During spermatogenesis, eupyrene sperm bundles extrude the cytoplasm by peristaltic squeezing, while the nuclei of the apyrene sperm bundles are discarded with the same process, forming matured sperm.

Results In this study, we describe that a mechanoreceptor BmPiezo, the sole Piezo ortholog in B. mori, …

Tree Species Richness And Ash Density Have Variable Effects On Emerald Ash Borer Biological Control By Woodpeckers And Parasitoid Wasps In Post-Invasion White Ash Stands, Caleb J. Wilson, Toby R. Petrice, Therese M. Poland, Deborah G. Mccullough

Entomology Faculty Publications

Emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is the most destructive insect to invade North American forests. Identifying habitat features that support EAB natural enemies is necessary to enhance EAB biological control. In many forest ecosystems, tree species diversity has been linked with reduced pest abundance and increases in natural enemy abundance. We assessed the influence of tree species richness, ash density, and proportion of total ash basal area on ash canopy condition, EAB larval densities, and biocontrol by woodpeckers and parasitoids in pairs of healthy and declining overstory (DBH > 10 cm) and recruit-sized ash (DBH 2–10 cm) …

Risk Of Parasiticides To Dung-Associated Beetles In West Virginia, Haylie J. Brown

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ecosystem services provided by dung-associated beetles, such as reducing pasture fouling, parasite suppression, supporting nutrient recycling, and increasing water infiltration, contribute to animal and pasture health. However, parasiticides used to manage cattle parasites, particularly flies and helminths, in West Virginia, can adversely affect these non-target beetles. We assessed the exposure and impact of some parasiticides used in WV including Clarifly^® (active ingredient [a.i.] diflubenzuron), Cydectin^® (a.i. moxidectin), LongRange^® (a.i. eprinomectin), and Safe-guard^® (a.i. fenbendazole). In Chapter 1, we review the use of parasiticides in the US and their non-target effects on beneficial dung-associated beetles. In Chapter …

Aggressive And Non-Aggressive Behaviors In Mixed And Non-Mixed Dorymyrmex Smithi And Dorymyrmex Bureni Colonies Of Southeastern Georgia, Usa, Renee K. Nowicki

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Dorymyrmex species, ‘pyramid’ or ‘cone’ ants, are Dolichoderines distributed across North America. Two relatively well-studied species, Dorymyrmex smithi and Dorymyrmex bureni, are commonly found throughout southeastern Georgia. These species are part of a socially parasitic relationship while simultaneously having starkly different colony structures. Dorymyrmex smithi is a polydomous, polygynous species with colonies that are often expansive, at times having hundreds to thousands of nests per colony. Dorymyrmex smithi is a temporary social parasite of D. bureni, a monodomous, monogynous species. The specific mechanism of this parasitism is currently unknown. Preliminary behavioral assay data from a limited number of …

Cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Affecting Crops On The Canadian Prairies, Jeremy Hummel

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

There is a complex of cutworm species that are pests in western Canada, with important species including Agrotis orthogonia (pale western cutworm), Euxoa auxiliaris (army cutworm), and Euxoa ochrogaster (redbacked cutworm). Cutworm damage is sporadic and patchy, and as a result is difficult to predict. During outbreak years, insecticide applications and/or reseeding are necessary and yield losses can be significant. Recently, field-collected cutworm larvae were reared in the lab to estimate levels of parasitism, which ranged from 2% to 25%, depending on the province and the year of sampling, and to identify the parasitoid complex attacking cutworms. The parasitoid Cotesia …

A Balancing Act: Microrna Mediated Insect-Bacterial Homeostasis And The Tsetse Fly, Mason Hubbard Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microbial symbioses are ubiquitous across all kingdoms of life with broad and diverse impacts on the evolution of species. The sum of all microbes living in, on, or otherwise in close association with a host form the microbiota. In some cases, the development of a stable microbial association seems to have been necessary for the specialization of diet, as can be observed in numerous insect species, especially wood-eating, sap-feeding, and blood-feeding organisms. For the medically and economically tsetse fly (family Glossinidae), the mutualistic bacteria Wigglesworthia glossinidia is required for proper reproduction and supplementation of nutrients that the fly does not …

The Effect Of Light Intensity On Wolf Spider Foraging, Julia Amoroso

Scripps Senior Theses

Light is of primary importance to most living organisms and most of the Earth’s natural processes. However, with rapidly expanding urbanization, humans have substantially impacted light metrics through the increase of artificial light. Artificial light pollution has been found to have a variety of behavioral and physiological effects on different organisms. However, less is understood about how light impacts community-scale interactions between different trophic levels. Here, we examined the influence of light exposure on nocturnal wolf spider (Schizocosa myccooki) foraging and interaction with red runner cockroach prey (Blatta lateralis). Of equal interest as the study …

Concepts In Animal Parasitology, Chapter 07: Biostatistics For Parasitologists: A Painless Introduction [Parascript Approaches], Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, Lajos Rózsa

Concepts in Animal Parasitology

Covers biostatistics for parasitologists and includes discussion of taking samples, frequency distribution of host individuals across infection classes, sample size, prevalence, mean intesity, median intensity, stochasic equality of intensities, abundance, crowding, levels of aggregation, parasite sex ratio, parasite species richness, interactions between parasite species, and the tool Quantitative Parasitology on the Web (QPweb).

Chapter 7 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology on biostatistics for parasitologists by Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, and Lajos Rózsa. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap007

Concepts In Animal Parasitology, Chapter 58: Acanthocephala Rudolphi, 1808 (Phylum), Scott Monks

Concepts in Animal Parasitology

An overview of the phylum Acanthocephala Rudolphi, 1808, also called the thorny-headed or spiny-headed worms, including discussion of their general morphology, life cycles, classification, and phylogenetic relationships.

Chapter 58 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology, by Scott Monks. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap058

Interdisciplinary Learning: How Different Ways Of Thinking Can Fuel Passion And Expand Understanding., Allison Amy Peschek

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This Capstone project was created to show the profound experience resulting from an extended range of interdisciplinary learning, and how different methods, when paired together, can enhance a learning experience. This was a personal project of exploration into those different angles, and primarily focused on avenues of logical and creating learning, respectively. These methods have been implemented by this author often in the past, but this capstone will explore this concept further, as there is a lot of potential in combining these different methods and biases in learning, to both further passion and understanding as a learner, but to also …