Entomology Commons^™

Nebline, January 2019

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

2018 Extension highlights

Benefit to people

Teaching, growing and making a difference

36,520 youth engaged in 4-H programs

Extension’s volunteers worth nearly $700,000

New Year, new you: Nutrition tips to a healthier you

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Pesticide applicator 2019 training dates

Ag Estate and Succession Planning workshop, Jan. 23 & March 5

Successful Farmer Series

Upcoming green industry conferences

Extension’s 2019 Master Gardener trainings, two sites available

Garden Guide Things to Do This Month

Sticky situation: Using glue boards to monitor pests

HEART OF 4-H Volunteer Award: Susan Bulling

IT’S TIME TO RE-ENROLL IN 4-H!

Meet 2018–2019 4-H Council …

Abundance And Diversity Of Grasshoppers And Their Ectoparasitic Mites In South Dakota, Erica Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In South Dakota, grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) are sporadic pests that can cause economic injury to rangeland and crops during outbreaks. It is important to know which grasshopper species are present as not all have the same potential to cause damage. USDA-APHIS conducts annual grasshopper surveys in western South Dakota rangelands, but the last published survey was in 1925. Of the potential biological control agents existing, grasshopper mites feed on grasshopper eggs and the larvae are ectoparasites of nymph and adult grasshoppers. Previous studies suggest that mite larvae reduce grasshopper fecundity and mobility, making them useful for integrated pest management of …

A Review Of The Genus Acrisis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) With A New Species From American Licorice And A Survey Of Aphid Parasitoids Of Soybean Fields In Eastern South Dakota, Abigail P. Martens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The diversity of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in South Dakota is largely unexamined despite these wasps providing innumerable important ecological and biological services and being an essential part of natural and agricultural ecosystems. A new species of Acrisis Foerster was reared and is described from the native prairie legume Glycyrrhiza lepidota (Nuttall) Pursh, a plant studied for its potential for conservation and remediation. A large insect guild of seed predators and their associated parasitoids and hyperparasitoids reported from G. lepidota provides a list of potential hosts associated with the new parasitoid species. The agriculturally significant legume soybean, Glycine max (L.) …

Using Insects To Improve Seed Quality And Farming Profitability In Phaseolus Vulgaris, Eduardo Valentín Cruzado

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Phaseolus vulgaris, or dry beans, are generally cultivated for their seeds, which add flavor to the diets of millions of people throughout the world. This crop was originally domesticated in South America more than 7,000 years ago, eventually spreading north through Mexico and across most of the United States (NDBGA, n.d.). Phaseolus vulgaris belongs to the legume family, and like other legumes it can fix nitrogen in the soil from the air through a symbiotic relationship with a bacterium called Rhizobia. In addition to this, P. vulgaris is high in protein, and in many parts of the world, it …

Insect Profiles, Eric Honerlaw

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Profiled species: Aerial Yellow Jacket • American Carrion Beetle • Black Imported Fire Ant • Blue Mud Dauber • Camel Cricket • Case Making Clothes Moth - Done • Colorado Potato Beetle • Dark Eyed Fruit Fly • Downy Yellow Jacket • Eastern Treehole Mosquito • European Hornet • Evergreen Bagworm • Four-Lined Silverfish • Fruit Fly • German Yellow Jacket • Gray Silverfish • Great Golden Digger Wasp2 • Ground Yellow Jacket • Hister Beetle • Kissing Bug • Larder Beetle • Larger Yellow Ant • Lesser House Fly • Margined Blister Beetle • Masked Hunter • Mason Bee …

Teaching Insetcs: A Four Lesson Plan To Introduce Insects To Kids, Heather Wilkins

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

This teaching guide is meant to be flexible for grades, time, and scope. The lesson plan is designed for grades 2 – 3, but with additional materials can be expounded on for higher grades or simplified for lower grades. It can be used by utilizing all the suggested materials, assignments, and supplements, or can be easily pared down if say you can’t find a book or don’t have internet access for videos. It is a compilation of videos, books, printable pages, interactive activities, and experiments to teach children using fun and interesting methods. It approaches insects with methods for kinetic, …

Buggin Out: Entomology 101 For High School Juniors And Seniors, Jonathan Wischmeyer

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Introduction I have been teaching Biology and Environmental Science for the past 20 years here at Summit High School. Over that time I have incorporated insects into some of my teaching practices where it was appropriate. As I have worked my way through the Entomology program at UNL I have found myself wanting to utilize insects more as educational tools.

Materials, Methods and Discussion The purpose of this final project is to design a semester worth of entomology curriculum for high school juniors and seniors attending Summit High School in Breckenridge Colorado. This class would be an elective with the …

Mapping Insect Diversity In An Urban Landscape: Plants By Genus And Attracted Insect Families, Shelley Rekte

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

This project was based on observations at my residence located in the 68510 zip code of Lincoln, Nebraska. Keeping a journal of observations beginning April 26, 2019 and ending on September 28, 2019, I made entries at least twice a week. I often observed the area more than twice a week to check for different insects than what had been journaled. Journal entries were usually made during late morning to mid-afternoon, as this timeframe seemed to provide the most insect activity. Incidental observations were usually made early morning, and late afternoon to evening. In general, populations of insect families were …

Integrated Pest Management Manual For Greenhouses, Evy Z. Santiago

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The original definition of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was introduced by Stern et al. in 1959 as Integrated Control. It was defined as applied pest control which combines and integrates biological and chemical control (Stern et al. 1959). Entomologists began exploring insect management alternatives to reduce reliance on insecticides in the 1950’s after resistance and pest resurgence in agriculture was first noted. Today, the European Union follows a definition of IPM largely inspired from the definition given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (Barzman et al. 2015). Integrated Pest Management means the careful consideration of …

Lesson Plan: Bug Basics, Kelsey Larsen

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Grades: Pre-K & Kindergarten

Time Frame of Instruction: 40-45 minutes

What Skill Are Being Taught? Through hands-on and listening activities, student should be able to: Identify common insects by sight and sound. Recognize difference between an insect and other bugs such as spiders, centipedes, etc. - Differences should include but not limited to the number of body parts & legs (main way to distinguish between an insect, spider, etc.)

Educational Components of Classroom Project: 1. Science: Students will learn the basics about insect biology and how to identify common “bugs” 2. Visual: Students will be able handle plastic bugs in …

Building An Integrated Pest Management Plan For A Unique Urban Farming Program, Jeff Coco

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The summer of 2018 led to an opportunity with a local non-profit called Fleet Farming. This non-profit had different departments available for internships which included greenhouse and farming. I was familiar with the program in that I knew they farmed in people’s front yards, in ‘farmlettes’ that had been converted from lawns. I was most interested in the job description under farming that said “practicing IPM”. I had developed an interest in IPM when I took Dr. Tom Weissling’s class on the Management of horticultural crop insects in the Spring of 2018. I wanted more ‘hands on’ learning and this …

The Effect Of Conspecific Cues And Neighborhood Effects On Bee Foraging Behavior, Eva Sofia Horna Lowell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Foraging bees use social information (e.g. presence of absence of other bees) to assess the quality of flowers when choosing a flower to visit. My research tests how bees choose to visit a particular flower once they have been recruited to a flower patch. I tested if neighborhood effects, or the relative number of bees on neighboring flowers compared to a focal flower, affected to which flower a foraging honey bee visited. I also conducted a meta-analysis to test whether bees in the super-family Apoidae are more likely to visit a flower occupied by a con- or heterospecific bee or …

The Effects Hot Water Kill Time Has On Dna Degradation And Str Profiling From Lucilia Sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Crop Contents, Nicholas Alexander Haas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

he use of entomological specimens as a source of forensic DNA evidence has been studied since the late 20th century. Currently as it stands, to preserve both the minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) and DNA evidence within fly larvae, two standards of preservation exist. For mPMI, the use of hot water kill with near-boiling water is used to fix larvae size for accurate age estimation. For DNA evidence, the standard technique of preservation is submersion in 70% ethanol. To help reduce the number of standard preservation techniques for practitioners, this study assessed the feasibility of the hot water kill preservation technique …

Detecting Balsam Woolly Adelgid Infestations Using Tree Rings, Morgan Lane Leef

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Balsam woolly adelgid (BWA), Adelges piceae(Ratzeburg), is a sap-sucking, exotic invasive insect that arrived in North America from central Europe around 1900. Since then, its range has expanded from New Brunswick, Canada to the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is a threat to all North American true-fir species, but populations can be controlled by cold continental winters. Adelgid feeding leaves noticeable traces on the wood tissue (“rotholz”) and causes a temporary positive radial growth response among affected trees. The purpose of this research was to determine dates of initial outbreaks, balsam fir radial growth change during outbreaks, and the relationship …

Do Saproxylic Curculionids Affect The Fitness Of Co-Occurring Cerambycids?, Sheila R. Heath

Dissertations and Theses

Saproxylic insects sometimes coexist in incredibly high numbers under bark and share common resources. Thus, interactions between species are possible and could even explain their coexistence. This study investigates evidence of negative or positive effects of curculionid beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on cerambycid beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) that coexisted in dead tree branches in Costa Rica. Co-occurrence analysis and generalized regressions were used to test associations between cerambycid and curculionid species. Three cerambycid species that each co-occurred with a curculionid species were selected to measure fitness. Fitness measures of the cerambycid were compared with abundance of the co-occurring curculionid to assess the …

Letter From The Dean, Deacue Fields

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

No abstract provided.

A Message From The Associate Dean Of The Honors College And Co-Chair Of The Service Learning Initiative, Jennie Popp

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 20 2019, Several Authors

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

No abstract provided.

Greenhouse Aquaponics: Custom Aquaponic Systems At Home, Jesse L. Blanchard, David G. Hyatt, Jennie Popp, Leah English

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

Taking advantage of inherent natural systems, aquaponic practices hold the potential to serve as an educational, sustainable, and profitable hobby for home gardeners facing common constraints such as temperature, space, and pests. The goal of this research was to assess the feasibility of implementing a small scale (4,542-liter) home -based aquaponic system in a small (48.768 square meter) greenhouse to produce fresh produce and fish protein. System construction and maintenance costs were compared to the value of crops and fish produced to determine whether this aquaponic system is a feasible option for the home grower. It was hypothesized that this …

Geospatial Analysis Of Rickettsial Species In Arkansas, Amy D. Frank, Ashley P.G. Dowling

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

Rickettsia species are obligate intracellular, arthropod-borne bacteria with a potential to cause multiple diseases including Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Fleas, mites, and ticks serve as vectors for Rickettsia, but ticks are the primary vector of interest. RMSF and other rickettsial diseases have continued to gain importance in both human and veterinary medicine as RMSF is the most common tick-borne disease within the United States according to the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Research Center. A statewide citizen science project was utilized to determine the prevalence of Spotted Fever Group (SFG) Rickettsia in Arkansas. This project yielded results in 64 …