entomology news fall 2011

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From theDepartment Head

Dr. Tim Schowalter

Tis past yearwe have had thegreat honor opaying tribute tosome riends oour department.First we celebratedthe retirement oDr. David Bo-

ethel (ormer aculty member othe department) rom his positionas vice chancellor and director,Louisiana Agricultural ExperimentStation, ater 32 years o service tothe LSU AgCenter. Later this yearwe paid tribute to dear riends oagriculture, Ray and Dorothy Youngas we launched the new Ray andDorothy Young Endowed Assis-

Gul Oil Spill/Efects on Fly RecoveryLane Foil and Claudia Husseneder

In July 2010 a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research (NSF-RAPID) proposal (A Survey o abanid and Ceratopogonid Populations alongCoastal Louisiana to Establish Baseline Data or Measuring the Impact o the BPOil Spill on idal Marsh Communities) developed by Drs. Lane Foil and ClaudiaHusseneder was unded. Ater the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulo Mexico (April 2010) a survey was initiated or insects belonging to the amiliesTabanidae (horse ies)and Ceratopogonidae (bit-ing midges) because theydevelop in tidal marshes

in Louisiana. Te larvaeo both amilies aredependent upon theinvertebrate ood webaround them in the mudo the tidal marshes and the adult reproduction is dependent upon the vertebratehosts above the larval habitats. Tereore, tabanid and ceratopogonid residents o themarsh community will serve as bioindicators or wetland health since they requireboth aquatic and terrestrial habitat or survival. Te studies show which areas o ourtidal marshes have been most aected by the spill and identiy areas needing mitiga-tion and rehabilitation.

Te impact and recovery related to oil contamination are being evaluated at theinsect species level via comparative analyses o baseline data on population abun-dance, species diversity and genetic diversity (determined by microsatellite genotyp-ing) o tabanids and ceratopogonids collected in tidal marsh areas that were con-taminated compared to population abundance and diversity o ies sampled in areasthat were not contaminated. Te sampling periods are rom June 2010 to October2011. Te area targeted or the ceratopogonid survey was not oiled but two o theve tabanid survey locations were acutely aected. Analysis o the population tabanidsurveys to date shows that in the western portion o Louisiana, where oil did notmake landall, tabanid populations were high. Incontrast, in the eastern portion o the state at sitesclose to oiled areas o Barataria Bay and GrandIsle, tabanid catches were extremely low. Tese lo-cations historically have high tabanid populations.

Te researchers intend to continue the survey oranother year to determine i tabanid populationsrebound(indicatingthat larvalpopula-tionswere notdevastated)or remaindepressed.

Locations o the ceratopogonid (red square) and tabanid (yellow pins) surveys.

tantship in Field Crop Integrated

Pest Management (provided by theLouisiana Agricultural ConsultantsAssociation). Tis endowment willprovide a graduate assistantshipor a student in entomology, plantpathology or weed science. Giventhe high caliber o our graduate

Fall 2011

www.lsuagcenter.com or http://entomology.lsu.edu/index.htm

Horse fy traps (Grand Bayou, PlaqueminesParish, Louisiana) are baited with dr y ice (CO2to attract horse fies. The tent hosts the bait.

Professor of Entomology and J. Ham-ilton Regents Chair in Cotton Pro-duction B. Rogers Leonard, Dorothyand Ray Young and LSU College ofAgriculture Dean Ken Koonce.



Soybean EntomologyJef Davis

In November 2007, Dr. Jerey A.Davis was hired to do research thatocuses on establishing and maintaining

a sustainable soybean integrated pestmanagement (IPM) program to reducesoybean grower costs and improveyields. Tis is done by utilizing biologi-cal, cultural, physical and chemical toolsto regulate insect pest populations whileminimizing environmental risks. Hisresearch is generating the necessarydata on soybean insect pest density,distribution and biology that are criticalto improving the overall soybean IPMprogram. Tese eorts have ocused ona new, emerging insect soybean pest,

the redbanded stink bug, Piezodorusguildinii (Westwood), and a re-emergingpest, the soybean looper, Chrysodeixisincludens (Walker).

Prior to 2000, the redbanded stinkbug had not been an economic threatto soybean production in the U. S.Consequently, little is known about itsdamage potential, biology, movementand population dynamics. Te rst stepwas to establish the damage potential oredbanded stink bug and an economicthreshold. Yields were not signicantly

reduced at redbanded stink bug actionthresholds o zero, one and three stinkbugs per 25 sweeps (50 to 64 bush-els per acre). Yields were signicantlyreduced at six and nine per 25 sweeps(28 bushels per acre) and at 12 per 25sweeps (10 bushels per acre). Seed qual-ity was signicantly reduced at six, nine

and 12 stink bugs per 25 sweeps. Dataindicates that redbanded thresholdswill need to be lowered to less than therecommended six per 25 sweeps.

Field colonization behavior o stinkbugs is known to be aggregated. I stinkbugs demonstrate aggregated distribu-tions within eld margins, site-specictargeting o insecticide applications ispossible. Tus, part o Davis researcheorts have ocused on mapping and

analyzing stink bug population densi-ties and distributions within soybeanelds and testing site-specic targetingo insecticide. Results rom small scaleplots (. 5 acre) indicate that stink bugsare aggregated along eld edges early(R1) in the season. Applications alongeld edges reduced eld colonization

by two weeks and reduced overall stinkbug populations when soybeans hadreached R6; 14 per 25 sweeps on eldedges compared to 0 per 25 sweeps ineld interior. Results rom large scaleplots (10 acre) conrmed stink bug eldcolonization along eld edges. Davislab then explored the use o a MaturityGroup III soybean (MGIII) trap cropplanted around a Maturity Group Vsoybean (MGV). Te MGIII trap crop

attracted stink bugs and held them allyear. Te MGIII trap crop was sprayedthree times or stink bug control whilethe MGV never reached stink bug eco-nomic threshold and was never sprayed.

New management tactics are need-ed to combat changing stink bug assem-blages without destabilizing the system

Redbanded stink bugResearch

Produced by LSU AgCenter Communications

The LSU Agricultural Center provides equal opportunities in pro-

grams and employment. The Louisiana State University and A&M

College is an equal opportunity/equal access employer.

Louisiana State University Agricultural CenterWilliam B. Richardson, ChancellorJohn S. Russin, Vice Chancellor

and Director o ResearchPaul D. Coreil, Vice Chancellor

and Director o Ex tension

Louisiana State University and A&M CollegeMike Martin, Chancellor College of Agriculture

Kenneth L. Koonce, Dean

Department of Entomology

Timothy D. Schowalter, Head404 Lie Sciences BuildingLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA [email protected]

Tel (225) 578-1634Fax (225) 578-2257

www.lsuagcenter.comorhttp://entomology.lsu.edu/index.htm



Sweet Potato ResearchRick Story and Tara Smith

ConAgras Lamb Weston division,which is based in Washington, has builta state-o-the-art processing plant nearDelhi to take advantage o Louisianassweet potato crop. Company ofcialssaid they also chose the location to bein close collaboration with the research-ers and extension specialists at thenearby Sweet Potato Research Station

in Chase, La. Tese include Drs. araSmith and Arthur Villordan (research-ers at the Sweet Potato Research Sta-tion), Donnie Miller (weed scientist atNortheast Research Station), and DavidPicha (postharvest physiologist), DonLaBonte (horticulturalist and plantbreeder), Chris Clark (plant patholo-gist) and Rick Story (entomologist)all located on the LSU main campus.Te extension component includesDrs. Donald Ferrin, Myrl Sistrunk andVincent Deshotel.

Louisiana has about 14,000 acreso sweet potatoes. North Carolina,Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, exasand Caliornia also produce sweetpotatoes. Te ConAgra Lamb Westonacility expects to source more than halo their product needs rom Louisianaproducers but will also work closelywith producers in other states. LambWeston markets rozen sweet potatoproducts (wedges, pus and mashed)to restaurants through its Sweet Tings

brand and to grocery stores through itsAlexia brand. It operates rozen-oodprocessing plants in the Pacic North-west, Minnesota and Canada.

Sweet potatoes are aected bymany insect pests, both oliar eedingand root eeding. Root eeding insectssuch as the sweet potato weevil, root-worms, white grubs, sugarcane beetleand wireworms impact the marketedportion o the crop directly. oleranceor minor blemishes (eeding scars) onroots is quite strict (U. S. No. 1 grade

urther with insecticide use. With thisin mind, the Davis Lab has, or thelast two years, screened commerciallyavailable, high yielding soybean varietiesand has identied several which diersignicantly in their susceptibility tostink bugs. Teir research indicates thatthe resistance ound in these varieties, incombination with biological control or

reduced insecticide use, should providesubstantial control, reducing reliance onpesticides and saving producers money.Simulation models indicate that or amoderately resistant soybean variety,insecticide applications or stink bugcontrol could be cut by two-thirds com-pared to that required or a susceptiblevariety.

Biological control is an importantcomponent o IPM, reducing the costo chemical control while decreas-ing pest populations through natural

means. Previous to Davis work, therewas no inormation on which biologi-cal control agents currently inect orimpact redbanded stink bug in the U. S.Miyanda Moonga (doctoral candidate),a Fulbright Scholar rom Zambia whostarted in the all o 2010, is workingunder Davis to identiy egg parasitoido redbanded stink bug. She has oundthat, overall, 49 percent o redbandedstink bug egg masses were parasitized.Eighty percent o all parasitoids are asingle species. Te soybean looper is an

important pest o soybean in southeast-ern U. S. and is highly resistant to mostinsecticides, with ew products exist-ing or control. Early planted soybeanscan escape damaging levels, however,double-cropping wheat and soybean isleading to increased insecticide applica-tions or this pest. In 2008, we receivedthe rst reports o unsatisactory con-trol or soybean looper with methoxy-enozide. Davis lab began a monitoringprogram in 2009. Sebe Brown (masterscandidate) started in the spring o 2010and is conducting methoxyenozideresistance research using a diet incorpo-rated technique. Brown has ound thatmethoxyenozide resistance exists inLouisiana soybean looper populations,resulting in longer survivorship, greaterdeoliation and reduced residual efcacy.

Other members o the Davis Labinclude Arthur Richter (research as-sociate), who provides valuable researchsupport to all ongoing projects, andthree undergraduate student work-

ers: Renee Dale, Daniel Nelson andMatthew Nelson. In the all o 2011,Kukuh Hernowo (doctoral candidate),a Fulbright Scholar rom Indonesia, has

joined the Davis Lab to work on aspectso below ground mediated host plant re-sistance to above ground soybean pestsand its impact on biological control.

Accomplishments romESA-EPA Liaison PositionGene Reagan

Te Entomological Society oAmerica (ESA) has established a liaisonposition with the U.S.-EnvironmentalProtection Agency Ofce o PesticidePrograms (OPP) or the purpose oencouraging more practical perspectivesin the labeling and re-labeling processo pesticides and acilitating networkingcontacts to scientists rom the vari-

ous ESA sections. Also, this positionprovides useul access to practitionersand stakeholders, assists with EPA di-rected meetings where appropriate, andacilitates use o technical inormationto clariy scientic issues and enhancepublic understanding o the pesticideregulation process by EPA. Te un-damental goal o the liaison positionwith OPP has been to provide objective,unbiased inormation to assist EPA inmaking inormed decisions regardingpesticide registration and regulation.

Dr. Gene Reagan was selected toll this position in 2010. Tis work hasbeen very rewarding and exciting andhas provided him an opportunity toutilize his background and experiencesin eld crops, IPM research and class-room instruction. Reagan appreciates agroup o very hard working and dedi-cated scientists at EPA who take theirresponsibilities seriously, with a ocuson meeting timelines. Tese individualsare oten overworked, but have shown acommitment to those who use pesti-

News

potatoes are allowed to have no morethan ve percent o the roots with oneor more minor blemishes). Lower gradepotatoes sell at a lower price, hence,growers try to minimize soil insectdamage. Processed products such asthose which ConAgra is producing havea higher tolerance or insect damage toroots. Te plant will provide a mar-

ket or our growers which will acceptjumbos, canners and light to moderateinsect damaged roots. It is hoped thatthe increased demand or sweet potatoroots will enable growers in Louisianato expand their acreage and increasetheir productivity.



Major Competitive Grantsand Contracts

Dr. Gene Reagan and colleagues re-

ceived a highly competitive and covetedgrant on Managing insect pests anddiseases in multi-use landscapeso bioenergy andconventional crop-ping systems inthe Gul Coastrom the USDAAgriculture andFood ResearchInstitute (AFRI)Sustainable Bio-energy Program.Te grant provides

just under one million dollars or veyears to Drs. Reagan (Entomology), JeHoy (Plant Pathology), ed Wilson,Yubin Yang and Mo Way (exas A&MUniversity) and Allan Showler (USDALab, Weslaco, exas) to support multi-discipline, multistate rescources amongseveral crops systems in interaction withconventional crops in the Gul Coasto the United States. Tis grant is a

model or how to acquire unds romthe new AFRI structure that divertedmost o the competitive unding toa ew new programs that emphasizemulti-disciplinary projects.

Dr. Linda Hooper-Bi is a membero a multi-institutional consortium thatreceived a total o about $12 millionrom the GulResearch Initia-tive or Gul oilspill research.

Bis portion o$1. 1 million overthree years willsupport researchon responses omarsh insects tooil contamination.

Dr. Dale Pollet

Dr. Claudia Husseneder

Dr. Linda Hooper-Bi

Faculty ChangesDr. Dorothy Prowell retired in

January 2011 ater 30 years o service.

Dr. Wayne Kramer departed in No-vember 2010 ater ve years o service.

Honors and AwardsDr. Dale

Pollet (retired)received the 2011College o Agri-culture Outstand-ing Alumnus othe Year Award.

Dr. Clau-dia Hussenederreceived the Ento-mological Soci-ety o America,

SoutheasternBranch Recogni-tion Award in Ur-ban Entomology.Tis award recog-nizes outstandingcontributions tomanagement ourban insects.Husseneder re-ceived this awardat the branchmeeting in San

Juan, Puerto Ricoin March.

Dr. Jim Otteareceived the 2011iger AthleticFoundation Out-standing eachingAward.

Dr. SethJohnson receivedthe Louisiana

Agriculture 2010Article o the YearAward or hispaper Zombiere ants: biologi-cal control o thered imported reant in Louisianawith decapitat-ing phorid ies,which appearedin volume 53,

Dr. Gene Reagan

cides while protecting the environment.It is also Dr. Reagans experience thatthose involved in pesticide registrationwork have an interest in the practicalperspective, but sometimes do not havethe specic inormation to achieve a

practical perspective. Each branch atOPP has one or more senior scientistswho have some level o entomologi-cal training. Some have doctorates andmany o the younger scientists are welltrained in various areas o biology;others are American Phytopathologi-cal Society (APS) and Weed ScienceSociety o America (WSSA) members.One o the rst actions Reagan was ableto accomplish with EPA was to provideselected non-entomologists open-accessto ESA publications. Tey plan to

adjust this list annually (currently 13)based on changes in entomology-related

job tasks. Te personnel at OPP havebeen gracious and accommodating tohis eorts serving ESA. Depending onthe particular subject and need, Reaganhas various responsibilities, which hasincluded presenting seminars, lead-ing discussions, asking issue-relatedquestions or serving as a resource andidentiying experts on entomologicaltopics. A very positive experience hasbeen collaborating with the WSSA liai-son Jill Schroeder and the APS liaisonFrank Wong prior to his move to in-dustry. Extensive interactions involvingthe Benets and Economics AnalysisDivision (BEAD) helped in the devel-opment o a multi-disciplinary pesticideresistance glossary, where each liaisonobtained input rom our respectivesocieties. Collaborations also providedinput toward mode o action labelingand resistance management issues. Telong-term values rom establishing the

glossary are starting to be realized, alsoimpacting other branches.Detailed descriptions o this work

can be ound in quarterly reports andattachments on the ESA website (www.entsoc. org/about_esa/governance/other/sections/pie). Feedback romthe proessional societies regarding theliaison work has been positive. Anotheropportunity o the EPA liaison posi-tion also might be to develop a potentialoundation or a platorm to accomplishthe ESA vision o substantially inu-

encing public policy. Many also believethat the liaison position as an experi-ment has the potential to increase thereach and impact o ESA to advance thescience o entomology.

Dr. James Ottea

Dr. Seth JohnsonVisit our website at

http://entomology.lsu.edu/index.htm

News



Dr. David Boethel

Distinguished LecturersRichard A. RedakProessor o Entomology andDepartment ChairUniversity o Caliornia-Riverside

James F. A. ranielloProessor o Biology

Boston University

Entomology Graduate SymposiumTe department hosted an Entomology graduate symposium, held in the Lie

Sciences Building in November 2010. Student paper and poster presentationswere judged using the criteria established by the Entomological Society o Amer-ica or student presentation awards. Tis symposium provided an opportunity orESA-bound students to practice their presentations or the ESA student compe-

tition. Judges or student presentations were Dr. Lane Foil, Dr. im Schowalterand Dr. Melissa Willrich-Siebert and or posters were Dr. Je Davis, Dr. ScottMartin, Dr. Rick Story and Hunter Fie. Te symposium was sponsored by Ben-gal Products Inc. , Dow AgroSciences and Syngenta Crop Protection.

Oral presentation award recipients were Matthew Gimmel (doctoral studentunder Dr. Chris Carlton) in the Integrative Physiology and Molecular InsectSystems and Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity Section, and rst placewinner Julien Beuzelin (doctoral student under Dr. Gene Reagan) and honorablemention winner Joshua emple (doctoral student under Dr. Roger Leonard) inthe Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section.

Poster award recipients were Mike Ferro (doctoral student under Dr. ChrisCarlton) in the Integrative Physiology & Molecular Insect Systems and Sys-tematics, Evolution and Biodiversity Section and Jessica Moore Parker (masters

student under Dr. Roger Leonard) in the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Section.

Hank Jones, M. S. 2004under Dr. Roger Leonard, waselected president o the LouisianaAgricultural Consultants Associa-tion (LACA). Te departmenthas maintained a strong workingrelationship with this organizationand a number o members andseveral past presidents are alumso our department.

number 4. Tis award was presentedat the AgCenter Awards Ceremony inDecember 2010.

Victoria Bayless, curator o theLouisiana State Arthropod Museum,was elected president o the Coleopter-ists Society at the ESA meeting in SanDiego in December 2010 and will servesix years as president-elect, presidentand past president. Te society is aproessional organization devoted to thestudy o beetles and is the largest suchsociety in the world. Responsibilitiesinclude promotion o the society to thescientic community at large, oversighto committee assignments, organizingannual meetings and development onew program initiatives.

Dr. DavidBoethel was

inducted intothe LouisianaAgriculture Hallo Fame by theLouisiana Agri-cultural Consul-tants Association.

Te 2013 Southeastern Branch,

Entomological Society o Americameeting will be held March 3-5 at theBaton Rouge Capitol Center HiltonHotel, a beautiully renovated historicluxury hotel overlooking the MississippiRiver in the heart o downtown BatonRouge (see www. hiltoncapitolcenter.com). Te hotel is on the National Reg-ister o Historic Places.

Downtown attractions withinwalking distance include the historic oldand new Capitol buildings, LouisianaMuseum o Science and echnology,

River Center Convention Center, USSKidd Veterans Memorial and Museumand riverboat casinos. Also available area variety o downtown restaurants rang-ing rom Creole/Cajun to the rootopsunami sushi restaurant. Nearby at-tractions include the Audubon Insec-tarium and historic French Quarter inNew Orleans, an hours drive southeast,an egret and spoonbill rookery at LakeMartin, an hour west, and the OakleyHouse (Audubon State Historic Site),

2013 Annual Meeting to Be Held in Baton Rouge

where Audubon worked and paintedmany o his Birds o America, in St.Francisville, about an hour north.

Attendees can y into either BatonRouge or New Orleans. Complimentaryshuttle service is available to the BatonRouge airport. A crawsh boil will bearranged or the welcome reception.We also are making arrangements withthe Audubon Insectarium to provideopportunities or guests to visit thisoutstanding entomological museum.

Entomological Society of America,Southeastern Branch

Alumni News

Graduate Students

The Baton Rouge Capitol Center Hilton Hotel is on theNational Register o Historic Places.



Entomology Club ActivitiesSebe Brown

Masters student and Entomology Club president

Te LSU Entomology Club participated in a wide varietyo events this past year.

Te 2010 all cookout was held at Dr. Natalie Hummeland husband Chaz Hummels home on Oct. 30. Tis un so-cial event was complete with a costume contest, great ood anda variety o entertainment. Special thanks to Chaz Hummeland Paul Schweineus or manning the grill.

Te Entomology Club had a great showing at the annualEntomological Society o America national meeting held inSan Diego, Cali. , Dec. 12-15. Club members volunteeredtheir time at a booth promoting the Department o Entomol-ogy. Water bottles, -shirts, mugs and calendars were distrib-uted. Many thanks to all who helped with the booth and to allthe visitors who stopped by.

Also in December, the book Dragonfies and Damselfies

o Louisiana was released or purchase by Entomology Clubmembers and editors Mike Ferro, Katherine Parys and MattGimmel. Photography was provided by Gayle and JeanellStrickland. Tis ull-color, highly detailed, eld guide is a mustor any amateur or serious Odonate watcher and isnt limitedto just Louisiana. It retails or $35, and can be purchased atwww. amazon. com or www. createspace. com.

On Feb. 25, the Entomology Club held a departmentalchili cooko in the Lie Sciences Building on the LSU campus.Six teams competed or the prestigious rst place award andthe Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM) team ledby Dr. Chris Carlton and Victoria Bayless emerged victorious.Along with great ood and conversation, this event helped raiseunds or the Entomology Club.

Te last weekend o March, Miyanda Moonga, DavidWangila, Ben Jorion, Matt Gimmel, Mike Ferro, JessicaParker, Katherine Parys, Bryce Blackman, Matt Van Weeldenand Sebe Brown volunteered in the Kid Zone at the annualBaton Rouge Spring Garden Show. Tis was a great oppor-tunity or club members to interact with local gardeners andto educate children about insects. Special thanks to Dr. GreggHenderson or his termite display and Dr. Bob Danka or theobservation bee hive.

In April, Dr. Chris Carlton, Mike Ferro, Matt Gimmel,Jong-Seok Park and the ENM 4005 insect taxonomy class

presented a nighttime light trapping demonstration to morethan 60 Girl Scouts at the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Centerin Baton Rouge. It was an excellent night or the Girl Scoutsto use homemade aspirators and receive hands-on entomologi-cal training. Many thanks to Dr. Carlton or providing thelight traps and Mike Ferro and Matt Gimmel or making theaspirators.

In April 2011, Stephanie Gil and Mike Ferro taught 15kids and ve ascinated adults about insect biology at the

Junior Master Gardener Summer Camp hosted by the HilltopArboretum.

During the rst week o May, Entomology Club membershelped work and set up the entomology section o the annual

Student Awards Received this Past YearJulien Beuzelin (Ph. D. 2011 under Dr. Gene Reagan)was selected to receive the ESA John Henry Comstock Awardrom the Southeastern Branch; earlier in the year, Beuzelinreceived the 2011 L. D. Newsom Graduate Student Awardrom the Entomology Department. Tis award is conerred oroutstanding accomplishment by a doctoral student during theprevious calendar year.

Julien Beuzelin (doctoral student with Dr. Gene Reagan)received rst place and Jarrod Hardke (doctoral student withDr. Roger Leonard) received second place awards in the doc-toral paper competition at the Southeastern Branch, Entomo-logical Society o America Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico,

in March 2011. Jessica Moore Parker (masters student withDr. Roger Leonard) received rst place in the masters oralpaper competition at this meeting. Tese were the top threeawards and three o the eight graduate student awards con-erred at this meeting.

Jarrod Hardke (doctoral student with Dr. Roger Leonard)received rst place and Josh emple (doctoral student with Dr.Roger Leonard) received second place awards in the gradu-ate student paper competition in the Plant-Insect EcosystemsSection at the Entomological Society o America meeting inSan Diego in December 2010. Hardkes paper was Charac-terizing the activity o Vip3A against all armyworm (Lepidop-

Entomology Club LSU AgCenters AgMagic. Tis was a antastic opportunityor club members and the department to educate local schoolchildren and their parents on the importance o entomology inood and ber production. Shrieks could be heard rom acrossthe arena as children were able to hold hissing cock roachesand get very close to an emperor scorpion. Special thanks to allthe members o the department who donated teaching materi-als and interacted with more than 10,000 children and adults.

In June 2011, the third annual Mad Dog Marathon was

held on the LSU campus. Matt Gimmel and Mike Ferro bothorganized and participated in this 24- hour, bio-blitz-styleinsect collection and curation event. Te competition this yeareatured eight participants, including the ormer undergradu-ate student Dmitry Mad Dog Chouljenko or whom theevent is named. Matt Gimmel, or the third year, has been theofcial winner o the competition with 111 amilies; however,seven other winners were also recognized, because to survivethe Mad Dog Marathon is to win it. Many thanks to theparticipants and to Dr. Chris Carlton and Victoria Baylessor judging the collections. Te participants this year, bravinga high o 96F, collected 26 new amilies and one new order.Tis event also raised more than $400 or the Louisiana State

Arthropod Museum Foundation.Entomology Club ofcers or the 2010-2011 year are

Blake Wilson (president), Ben Jorion (vice president), BryceBlackman (treasurer) and Max Adams (secretary). For moreinormation, visit our Te Entomology Club at LSU Face-book page.

Students



tera: Noctuidae) in eld corn and cotton and emples paperwas Oviposition preerence and sex ratio o redbanded stinkbug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood) in Louisiana soybean.

Jong-Seok Park (doctoral student with Dr. Chris Carl-ton) received the second place award in the student papercompetition in the Young Korean Entomologists Symposium.His paper was axonomic review o the genus Sagola Sharp(Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae: Faronitae).

Yunlong Yang (doctoral student with Dr. Fangneng

Huang) received the rst place award in the student papercompetition rom the Overseas Chinese Entomologists Asso-ciation during the Entomological Society o America meetingin San Diego in December 2010.

Te departmental Student Debate eam received hon-orable mention or its pro position on the topic Increasingnatural enemy diversity among arthropods is compatible withthe goals o biological control and IPM at the EntomologicalSociety o America meeting in San Diego in December 2010.eam members were Sebe Brown (masters student with Dr.

Je Davis), Jennier Gordon (masters student with Dr. JimOttea), Kat Parys (doctoral student with Dr. Seth Johnson)

and Blake Wilson (masters student with Dr. Gene Reagan).Te pro and con positions are assigned by the debate organiz-ers and do not necessarily reect the views o the participants.Six teams debated three topics related to biodiversity.

From the Department Head(Continued rom page 1)

recruits, we expect to compete well orthis assistantship.

I recently compiled award dataor the department. I am pleased toreport that in the past eight years, 17aculty and sta have been nominatedor 55 institutional and proessionalawards and received 25 institutional

awards, including ve competitiveproessorships, and eight proessionalawards. Tese awards reect signi-cant aculty accomplishments, includ-ing highly competitive NSF, NIH andDOD grants, as well as corporate andcommodity contracts and exemplaryteaching and extension activities asdescribed below.

Te LSU AgCenter and LSUA&M have scrutinized departmentprograms or cuts based on graduaterates and other criteria. Our mas-

ters program was identied as a lowcompleter program ater the criteriawere changed rom ve graduates peryear on a ve-year sliding average toa three-year sliding average. We areworking to increase our recruitingeorts and to move students throughtheir programs more quickly. Ourmasters program has been critical

to providing well-trained entomologygraduates to meet employment needs opest management and chemical indus-tries, agricultural consulting services,public health organizations and vari-ous state agencies, as well as preparingstudents or doctoral programs. I youknow prospective masters or doctoralstudents, please encourage them to ap-ply to our program. Our award winning

aculty and I would love to meet themto discuss opportunities. We appreciateany help with recruiting good studentsto our programs, which contributes toour mission of training the next genera-tion of great entomologists.

We have relied on strong exter-nal support in grants and contracts tomaintain research and extension activi-ties. However, our portion o the U. S.Department o Agricultures FrenchQuarter Formosan subterranean termiteprogram was among the earmarks cut

by Congress this year. Tis programsupported two aculty and six sta posi-tions that will be phased out over its lastyear. Furthermore, our departmentalbudget has declined 25 percent in thepast two years and our starting budgetor this year was reduced another 10percent. We are expecting additionalmid-year cuts in our state budget.

Tese cuts and restrictions on spend-ing rom state unds have limited ourability to invite distinguished lectur-ers and other outside speakers (whoaugment the value o our graduateeducation), to support student travelto scientic meetings and to increasestipends or exceptional graduatestudents.

We would like to initiate an LSU

mixer at the national ESA meeting toacilitate collaboration and recruiting.,but we can use only unds donated tothe LSU Foundation or this and otherentertainment activities. We urgentlyneed your support or these and otherdepartmental programs. Please contactme at 225-578-1634 or tschowalter@agcenter. lsu. edu i you would like tosupport these programs.

A orm is included at the end othis newsletter with options or you tocheck i you would like to contribute

to the department. Please update yourcontact inormation on the same page.We appreciate the support o all ourdonors and supporters, always enjoyhearing rom you and welcome anopportunity to see you i you visit ourcampus.

Sincerely,im Schowalter,Proessor and Head

Recent GraduatesJennier Gordon (M. S. 2010 under Dr. Ottea)

Julien Beuzelin (Ph. D. 2011 under Dr. Reagan)

Matthew Gimmel (Ph. D. 2011 under Dr. Carlton)

Jarrod Hardke (Ph. D. 2011 under Dr. Leonard)

Erich Schoeller (M. S. 2011 under Dr. Allison)

Blake Wilson (M. S. 2011 under Dr. Reagan)

Cole Younger (Ph. D. 2011 under Dr. Foil)



Support for the Department of Entomology

___ Yes, I want to support the Entomology Department. I would like my donation of $________ to be used for:__Austin Thompson Endowed Assistantship__Jeffery P. La Fage Memorial Assistantship__L.D. Newsom Memorial Graduate Student Award__Ray & Dorothy Young Endowed Assistantship in Field Crop IPM__D. Michael Chambers Endowed Scholarship__David J. Boethel Scholarship__John & Grace Roussel Graduate Fellowship__Dr. Jerry Graves Distinguished Lecturer Fund__Extension Entomology Development Fund__4-H Entomology Awards Account__Louisiana State Arthropod Museum Fund__Entomology Development Fund__Other______________________________________________

__Please contact me at _____________________ to discuss giving options.

Make checks payable to LSU Foundation and indicate the Entomolgy Department on the memo line.

For credit card contributions:

Type of credit card ___ Visa ___MC ___AmEx___Discover

Expiration Date__________ Card#____________________

Mail to: LSU AgCenter Department of Entomology404 Life Sciences BuildingLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803

Contact Department Head Tim Schowalter for

more information concerning contributions to theDepartment of Entomology at 225-578-1628 or

[email protected].

Please update your contact information:

Name______________________________________

Address____________________________________

___________________________________________

Address 2__________________________________

___________________________________________

Phone ( )______________________________

Cell ( )________________________________

E-mail______________________________________

Mail to: LSU AgCenter Department of Entomology404 Life Sciences BuildingLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803

Or

E-mail: Dr. Tim Schowalter

[email protected]

entomology news fall 2011

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