Insects Scientists and Children Meeting in Las Cruces, NM

1,200 elementary school students are expected to attend an INSECT EXPO at New Mexico State University from 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM on Monday, February 25 at the start of the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), which will be held February 25-28 in the Ramada Palms Hotel in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

This free educational event will reinforce students' science skills with hands-on activities and a live insect zoo, and it will allow students to enjoy opportunities to interact with professional insect scientists as they participate in a wide variety of presentations and activities designed to educate people about the most numerous, widespread, and diverse group of organisms on earth: Insects!

The ESA Southwestern Branch meeting will be attended by hundreds of entomologists, who will present their research on mosquitoes, West Nile virus, ticks, bed bugs, agricultural insect pests, pollinators, and much more. In addition, students from southwestern universities will face off during the Linnaean Games, a lively question-and-answer, college bowl-style competition on entomological facts.

Journalists who would like to attend the meeting and/or the INSECT EXPO should contact Andrine Shufran at (405) 743-9311 or andrine@okstate.edu, or Carol Sutherland at (575) 635-3413 or CSutherl@nmda.nmsu.edu.

For more information, including the program and how to register, visit the ESA website at http://www.entsoc.org/southwestern/2013-SWBAnnualMeeting.

The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, and hobbyists. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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From “Predatory Publishing” to “Predatory Meetings”

This article by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at Auraria Library, University of Colorado Denver, describes how a company "has been 1) using the names of scientists, oftentimes without their permission, to invite participants to their meetings, 2) promoting their meetings by giving them names that are deceptively similar to other well-established meetings that have been held for years by scientific societies, and 3) refusing to refund registration fees, even if their meetings are cancelled." Click here for the full article.

Insects Found in Nearly 50% of Retail Firewood

A new study published in the Journal of Economic Entomology reports that live insects were found in 47% of firewood bundles purchased from big box stores, gas stations and grocery stores in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Untreated firewood can harbor pathogens and destructive insects such as the emerald ash borer, the Asian longhorned beetle, bark beetles and others, and transport them to uninfested areas. Furthermore, the risk of moving insects in untreated firewood is high, the authors found, because insects emerged up to 558 days from the purchase date of the wood.

There are currently no national regulations on the commercial firewood industry that require firewood to be treated before use or sale to reduce the possibility of live insects or pathogens on or in the wood. Several state and federal agencies are attempting to reduce the risk of introducing invasive native or exotic species by restricting the distance firewood can move from its origin and by enacting outreach programs to educate the public.

However, the authors conclude that heat-treating firewood before it is shipped so that insects or pathogens are killed would be prudent and would not restrict firewood commerce as much as bans on firewood movement across state borders.

Click here for the full article, "Retail Firewood Can Transport Live Tree Pests."

The Journal of Economic Entomology is published by the Entomological Society of America, the largest organization serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines in the world. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, consultants, and hobbyists. For more information, please visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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Apple Flea Weevil: An Old Pest Reemerges in Organic Orchards

The apple flea weevil, a sporadic insect pest in the early 1900s, has reemerged as a severe pest in organic apple orchards in Michigan, where outbreak population levels have been observed since 2008, and damage has resulted in up to 90% losses for apple growers.

According to the authors of "The Reemergence of an Old Pest, Orchestes pallicornis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)," an open-access article appearing in the lastest issue of the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, the weevil can be managed by broad-spectrum insecticides used in conventional agriculture, but there are currently no proven management options for use in organic production. And, as broad-spectrum materials are replaced by reduced-risk compounds, it is possible that the apple flea weevil will increasingly become an important pest in apple production.

The apple flea weevil is a small, 2-3 millimeter black weevil with enlarged high legs for jumping. Adults feed on buds and leaves, and the larvae are leaf miners.

In the article, the authors discuss the apple flea weevil's biology and the damage it does to plants, as well as methods for growers to monitor and manage them.

Click here for the full article.

The Journal of Integrated Pest Management is an open-access, peer-reviewed, extension journal covering the field of integrated pest management. The intended readership for the journal is any professional who is engaged in any aspect of integrated pest management, including, but not limited to, crop producers, individuals working in crop protection, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers of pest management products, educators, and pest control operators.

JIPM is published by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, and hobbyists. For more information, please visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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Tadpole shrimp are pests of rice production systems in California and have recently been found impacting Missouri and Arkansas rice fields. The shrimp feed on rice seedlings and uproot them during foraging, and their foraging behavior causes water to become muddy, which reduces light penetration to submerged seedlings and delays the development of the rice plant.

In "Review of a New Pest of Rice, Tadpole Shrimp (Notostraca: Triopsidae), in the Midsouthern United States and a Winter Scouting Method of Rice Fields for Preplanting Detection," a new open-access article appearing in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management, the authors provide information on the life cycle of tadpole shrimp, describe a new method for scouting for tadpole shrimp in rice fields, and provide scouting results and management implications.

In the article, the authors discuss the tadpole shrimp's biology, life cycle, and distribution range, as well as options for controlling it. The authors also note that after the rice seedling stage, tadpole shrimp can be beneficial because they also eat weed seedlings and small insects.

Click here for the full article.

The Journal of Integrated Pest Management is an open-access, peer-reviewed, extension journal covering the field of integrated pest management. The intended readership for the journal is any professional who is engaged in any aspect of integrated pest management, including, but not limited to, crop producers, individuals working in crop protection, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers of pest management products, educators, and pest control operators.

JIPM is published by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, and hobbyists. For more information, please visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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Sonny Ramaswamy to Speak at Entomology 2012

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is honored to announce that Sonny Ramaswamy, Director of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), will be speaking twice at Entomology 2012, ESA's 60th Annual Meeting to be held November 11-14, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Dr. Ramaswamy, who became an ESA Fellow in 2005 (see http://entsoc.org/fellows/sonny-b-ramaswamy-esa-fellow-2005) and has been an ESA member for more than 30 years, will address ESA members on November 13 at 12:15 during a "Lunch and Learn" session in which he will talk about grant opportunities at NIFA, and again at 2:30 at a special student session.

His appointment as the Director of NIFA was announced in March, 2012.

According to ESA President Grayson Brown, “His appointment is a recognition of the outstanding record of leadership that he has established over the years, and I can think of no one better equipped to lead this important institute. While we realize that NIFA supports many programs, we in entomology are especially proud that one of 'us' is in this high post.”

Dr. Ramaswamy received his M.S. in entomology from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India (1976) and his Ph.D. in entomology from Rutgers University (1980). He was a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University (1979-82); an assistant, associate, and full professor at Mississippi State University (1982-97); a professor, university distinguished professor and head of the Kansas State University Department of Entomology (1997-2004); associate dean of Purdue’s College of Agriculture, where he directed the University’s agricultural research programs from 2006 to 2009; and dean of Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences.

His research areas have included the integrative reproductive biology of insects, encompassing endocrine and ovarian physiology, chemical ecology, pheromones and sexual behavior and their regulation by hormones, structure and function of sensory receptors as related to host finding and mating in insects, and modification of insect behavior using natural products. He has published more than 100 journal papers.

Entomology 2012 will be attended by 3,000 entomologists and will feature 98 symposia and more than 2,500 presentations, plus entomological excursions, social events, student competitions, the Linnaean Games, and more. For more information, visit http://www.entsoc.org/entomology2012.

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, and hobbyists. For more information, please visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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Press Invitation to Attend World's Largest Entomology Meeting

WHEN: November 11-14, 2012

WHERE: The Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee

WHAT: Entomology 2012 is the 60th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. More than 3,000 insect scientists are expected to attend. The theme is "A Global Society for a Global Science," and there will be 98 symposia and more than 2,500 presentations on subjects such as bed bugs, honey bees, genetically modified crops, household insect pests, agriculture and more. In addition, a number of social events will also take place.

HOW TO ATTEND: Journalists from accredited news organizations will be given complimentary press passes. Members of the media who would like to attend can contact ESA at sro@entsoc.org or (301) 731-4535, ext. 3009 for a press pass.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://entsoc.org/entomology2012

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT: http://esa.confex.com/esa/2012/webprogram/start.html

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. Founded in 1889, ESA today has more than 6,000 members affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are students, researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, and hobbyists. For more information, please visit http://www.entsoc.org.

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