Texas A&M Entomology Research Network

Rob Williams

AgriLife Research, Extension Personnel Receive Awards at Statewide Meetings

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Blayne-Reed-Photoshop
Blayne Reed. Submitted Photo.

Three Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension personnel had a great summer as they received top awards during two statewide meetings held in July.

Extension Agent-IPM Blayne Reed received the Texas Corn Producers’ Outstanding Corn Agent award at the Texas County Agricultural Agents Association’s annual meeting on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Reed covers Hale, Swisher and Floyd Counties.

The award honored Reed’s outstanding work in educating producers in the areas of pre-plant decisions, hybrid selection, insect management and fertility of crops. Reed also was a part of a team of agents and specialists that worked to determine economic thresholds and control measures that were specifically for the Texas High Plains.

Some of the educational events Reed conducted included presentations on water management, insect management, drift issues and IPM strategies in corn and other crops affecting his area. Post-survey results showed that Reed’s programs have helped increase producers knowledge by 36% with face-to-face programs and 79% of producers indicated in the survey said they would adopt the practices taught.

“He is a tremendous team player and assists in mentoring agents in agriculture in his three counties,” Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service North Region program director Danny Nusser said. “Blayne does an outstanding job of utilizing resources and partnering with individuals such as seed companies, chemical companies, producer associations, Extension specialists, AgriLife researchers, local businesses, consultants, and many others to make programs successful.”

Reed was very excited about the award and appreciated all the people that helped him to get where he is today.

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Kerry Siders. Photo by Rob Williams.

“It is certainly a surprise and a great honor.  The Texas Corn Producers is the corn producer representative organization in Texas that promotes the improvement and production of corn from IPM and agronomic standpoints but is just as active on the legislative fronts,” Reed said.  “The Corn Producers are one of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s key cooperating commodity partners in the field for the improvement and protection of corn production and other crops for our joint customer base.”

Extension Agent – IPM Kerry Siders also received the Outstanding Grain Sorghum Agent Award from the Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Association during the meeting for his hard work and dedication in educating producers about pests and other issues with sorghum crops.

Siders was instrumental in helping producers raise awareness and educate sorghum producers about sugarcane aphids, pest management, as well as sorghum production issues. He has produced 28 radio program presentations, 22 newsletter articles related to sorghum issues, and conducted 13 producer meetings.

“Because of these efforts of Kerry Siders and his committee, Extension programs are making a difference in sorghum education for producers and increasing opportunities to improve their economic bottom line,” Nusser said. “Kerry does an outstanding job with Extension specialists, AgriLife researchers, local businesses, consultants, and many others to make programs successful.”

“It is great to receive any award in Extension. Sometimes the “thank you” and an occasional award is what lets us know we are appreciated and needed by our clientele. I consider myself a “cotton agent” but I service many other crops and clientele needs,” Siders said. “Sorghum is an important commodity in my service area. Production issues we have addressed through the years, and then particularly last year with the advent of the sugarcane aphid, have been made simply to help grain producers be productive and sustainable. I think this recognition really speaks to the team effort of our Entomologists on the High Plains.”

Mo Way with the Honorary Lone Star FFA Degree he received at the State FFA Convention in July.
Mo Way with the Honorary Lone Star FFA Degree plaque he received at the State FFA Convention in July. Submitted Photo.

Texas AgriLife Research professor M.O. Way was honored with the 2016 Honorary Lone Star FFA Degree during the statewide FFA Convention on July 11-15.

Way received the award for his work on coordinating the Texas Rice Education Contest that is held annually at the Rice Festival in Beaumont for youths active in either 4-H club or FFA chapter.

For nine years, Way had been working the contest. During the contest, youths take a comprehensive written test that covers topics such as rice plant identification, pests, management, and weeds.

Way said the contest is a tool to teach youths on rice and rice production in the state with an emphasis on science and math, as well as agriculture.

“I am really honored about receiving the award,” Way said. “It’s all about the kids and trying to get them interested in entomology and other STEM disciplines. Some of the winners have gone on to A&M and other good universities and majored in ag-related subjects.”

Grad Student Assists In Rediscovery of Grasshopper Species Not Seen in Almost 60 Years

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Melanoplus foxi - live male
A live Melanoplus foxi grasshopper on a leaf. Photo by Derek Woller

For almost 60 years, scientists thought that Melanoplus foxi Hebard, 1923, a flightless grasshopper endemic to Georgia, was possibly extinct until Ph.D. student Derek Woller and Assistant Research Professor JoVonn Hill at Mississippi State University recently re-discovered the species in May of 2015 after nine years of active searching.

Woller became aware of the species in the first place because, for his dissertation, he is examining the evolutionary history of the 24 species that make up the Puer Group (Acrididae: Melanoplinae), which includes M. foxi. He said that inroads towards finally rediscovering the species came about when he needed to collect fresh specimens to extract DNA from in order to finish reconstructing a phylogenetic tree for the group.

Members of the Puer Group are very small and have tiny wings, but are flightless. The grasshoppers are mainly located in the southeastern United States and are associated with xeric habitats, which are habitats that lack moisture.

“There are many reasons why this species flew under the radar for so long, the primary reason being that they are quite difficult to find unless you’re actively looking for them. But, habitat degradation also played a significant role,” Woller said.

A modern county map of Georgia overlaid with historical and current georeferenced data of the <em>Melanoplus foxi <em>species. Photo by Derek Woller.
A modern county map of Georgia overlaid with historical and current georeferenced data of the Melanoplus foxi species. Photo by Derek Woller.

According to the publication, much of Georgia’s habitat has been changed from historically large areas of longleaf pine forests to mostly agricultural and urban landscapes, which has possibly led to the decline of the species over the years.

Woller said they searched for any sign of the species at more than 101 unique sites across Georgia with no luck, including four that contained M. foxi in the past according to the locality data from museum specimens.

Additionally, prior to its rediscovery, only four U.S. collections (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s Insect Division, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the Florida State Collection of Arthropods, and the North Carolina State University Insect Museum) possessed specimens of the species, and only 35 specimens in total.

During his dissertation research, Woller discovered that there were actually 71 more specimens of M. foxi hidden away in a drawer of unidentified grasshoppers in Michigan’s museum collection. The locality data on the specimens were linked to the field notes of three scientists from Michigan who collected grasshoppers, along with many other insects, in Georgia in the fifties.

Woller said most of the detailed notes described all new locations to search in within a single county in Georgia near the Spring Creek area, but he and Hill had a difficult time relating these locations with modern-day maps.

However, the breakthrough came when a historical map loaned from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources helped them translate the original sites into modern locations. The dates on the notes also suggested that searching within June and July might yield the best results.

Once they knew where to look specifically and when, they headed into the field in May of 2015 and were finally successful, finding many nymphs and a few young adults.

“As it turns out, the main reason this species is so hard to find is that it appears to be mainly active in late spring and summer, and then it dies out quickly,” Woller said. “This is an excellent reason why it pays to try to understand the life history of organisms of interest and why it’s important to have good specimen representation of a species in a museum.”

The new label data from the museum specimens and field notes led to two other re-discoveries, both further northeast from the first point of rediscovery (and on the same trip): one within a state park and one in roadside habitat  that was seemingly left untouched for almost 60 years.

“Other difficult-to-find and possibly-extinct species benefit from a success such as ours because, first and foremost, it brings hope for more successes,” Woller said. “Also, our rediscovery truly demonstrates the importance of museum specimens and their associated field locality data because, without them, we may have been still out there searching for M. foxi, just like the classic needle in a haystack.”

The publication can be found at the ResearchGate website at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292722433_Melanoplus_foxi_Hebard_1923_Orthoptera_Acrididae_Melanoplinae_Rediscovered_After_Almost_60_Years_Using_Historical_Field_Notes_Connected_to_Curated_Specimens

Department Welcomes Joel Webb As New Extension Agent-IPM

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Joel Webb against a colorful wall
Joel Webb. Submitted Photo

The Department of Entomology and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service would like to welcome Mr. Joel Webb as the new Extension Agent-IPM for the area covering Tom Green and Runnels Counties.

Webb joined the IPM Program on June 1 where he replaced the position that was formerly held by Rick Minzenmayer who retired in 2015.

Before joining Extension, Webb worked for three years as a Research Associate in Weed Science and Crop Systems and 3 years as a Research Technician in the Vegetable Department at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock.

While at Lubbock, he worked both Drs. Wayne Keeling and Russ Wallace on weed control in field crops and vegetable production, where he gained valuable experience working with various crop production and research techniques.

“Joel was raised at Bronte, so he will literally be at home working in Tom Green, Runnels and Concho Counties,” said Associate Professor of Extension Entomology programs and IPM Coordinator, Charles Allen. “We expect he will hit the ground running, and that he will be able to quickly develop a strong integrated pest management program helping farmers in Tom Green, Runnels and Concho counties.”

Webb received his Master of Science in Crop Science from Texas Tech University in August 2015 and his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Services and Developments in May 2007.

New discovery may improve future mosquito control

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AgriLife Research scientist’s paper outlines a new mechanism of sugar feeding aversion

By: Steve Byrns, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

Aedes aegypti females reject the sucrose solution containing the synthetic peptide. The sugary solution contained a blue dye to trace the meal in their gut. (Photo courtesy Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Fellow)
Aedes aegypti females reject the sucrose solution containing the synthetic peptide. The sugary solution contained a blue dye to trace the meal in their gut. (Photo courtesy Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Fellow)

COLLEGE STATION – Major rainfall across most of Texas triggering hordes of mosquitoes coupled with seemingly constant mosquito-related Zika virus media reports from around the globe may have set the stage perfectly for what one researcher deems as a very significant discovery in man’s war against earth’s leading human disease carrier.

Dr. David Ragsdale, head of the entomology department at Texas A&M University, College Station, credits Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research Fellow in the entomology department at College Station, along with her students and colleagues from other institutions, with discovering a receptor on the legs of mosquitoes that when activated, keeps female mosquitoes from taking a sugar meal and makes them fly away.

“This finding could lead to novel mosquito repellents,” Ragsdale said. “This is really a big deal, a major achievement.”

Ragsdale said Pietrantonio has just had the article, “Leucokinin mimetic elicits aversive behavior in mosquito Aedes aegypti (L.) and inhibits the sugar taste neuron,” on the work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To view the work and its authors go to http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/06/01/1520404113.abstract.

“What makes this even more compelling is the work was with Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading Zika, dengue, yellow fever and Chikungunya viruses,” Ragsdale said. “This work is the culmination of over five years of study by Dr. Pietrantonio, her students and collaborators. With Zika a looming threat, this is a timely discovery.”

Pietrantonio said after mating, Aedes aegypti females immediately search for a blood meal from a human host.

“They are highly anthropophilic, meaning they are attracted to humans,” Pietrantonio said. “They may even follow people indoors. If female mosquitoes are infected with viruses they may transmit them to humans when they acquire a blood meal.”

The blood meal supplies the protein source female mosquitoes require to produce eggs, she said.

“However, in the field, if human hosts are not present, females will feed on sucrose solutions such as nectar from flowers, though they prefer a blood meal to a sugar meal but male mosquitoes feed only on nectar. Certainly sugar feeding is one of the two feeding modalities for adults of this species.”

“We found that a synthetic peptide that was designed to mimic a peptide naturally present in mosquitoes triggers an aversive fly away, walk away or jump away behavior in female mosquitoes.”

If the same aversion could be tied to a blood meal, she said a totally new and effective mosquito feeding deterrent may be in the offing, one that perhaps would cause the mosquito to pass up the required blood meal needed to lay eggs. Doing so would either disrupt the life cycle and/or reduce disease transmission.

However, this is far from being accomplished, she said.

“One of our team designed a peptide mimetic of the kinin peptides, which are diuretic hormones in mosquitoes, to be resistant to enzymatic degradation,” Pietrantonio said. “These mimetics are more potent than those found naturally, because they take longer to be degraded by the insect. These diuretic hormones make mosquitoes lose water after a blood meal, but we also found the peptidomimetic blocked sugar perception. This is a completely new and unexpected discovery.”

The research team localized these receptors in the feet and mouthparts of mosquitoes. What is really new, they said, is that this type of receptor proteins known as GPCRs, were not previously considered to be important for “taste” in insects and further, contact with the peptidomimetic made the mosquitoes fly away.

“In sum, we unequivocally verified this kinin receptor is present in the taste organs of the legs and labella, the pair of lobes at the tip of the proboscis.”

Pietrantonio said their observation that the peptide blocks sugar perception is interesting because the peptide is insect-specific, therefore, the receptor represents a target for further applied research to find ways to diminish the ability of female mosquitoes to feed. Doing so would likely reduce their lifespan or reproductive capacity.

“We had a lot of fun doing this research within the frame of an international, multi-institutional and multidisciplinary collaboration,” she said.

Institutions involved along with Texas A&M were the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service, Iowa State University and Université Paris-Saclay, France.

Pietrantonio said the team will continue to study the system in the hope of developing an effective mosquito feeding deterrent in order to stop what is arguably the greatest foe to mankind on earth.

 

Harris Receives Ta-que-ne-whap Award for Leadership and Service

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Marvin Harris for WordPress
Dr. Marvin Harris. Submitted photo

TYLER, Texas–The Department of Entomology would like to congratulate professor emeritus Dr. Marvin Harris as he received the Ta-que-ne-whap Award from the Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America during its annual meeting in February.

Established in 1977 by the branch’s Executive Committee, the award honors members who have contributed exceptional leadership and service to the Branch over their lifetimes. Harris, a Professor Emeritus of Entomology at Texas A&M University, received the award for his outstanding efforts in the organization.

A joint research (Texas A&M AgriLife Research) and teaching (TAMU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) appointment during most of his career allowed participation that focused on basic and applied entomology primarily involving pecan insects and teaching and mentoring students at all levels.

This program facilitated developing and applying new knowledge in the classroom, scientific forums and the pecan agroecosystem, serving as major professor for 40 students who received degrees to date, teaching 2-4 courses annually that reached 800+ students in all, and interacting with colleagues and pecan producers to bring science to agriculture.  Dr. Harris also served as an advocate for students, particularly undergraduates, on using professional societies to “Transition Their Educations Into Careers” as preparation for life after graduation.

Harris served as the ESA Chairman of Section F in 1984, Chairman and organizer for 1st and 2nd Robert H. Nelson Symposia, and Chairman of Publications Council in 1985. Harris also served as the Governing Council Representative of the American Registry of Professional Entomologists (ARPE) from 1985-1988, the Southwestern Branch Representative to the Governing Board in 2003-2009, and the Chairman of the editorial board of Insecticide and Acaracide Tests of ESA in 1986. Harris was the Chairman for the Continuing Education Committee of the ARPE in 1987, and the Examiner for Pest Management Category of Certification for ARPE from 1986-1988.

Harris received numerous awards, including an honorary member of the Entomological Society of America, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Superior Service Award in 2011, and the IPM Teacher Award in 2008.

The name of the award (Ta-que-ne-whap) comes from the southern Comanche dialect and means “Chief’ or “Captain”. The Comanche tribe dominated the heart of the Branch area prior to the arrival of the Europeans. They were fiercely independent but willing to defend their “society”, its interests and values regardless of personal risks.

The old chief symbolizes one who has lead and cared for his “society” over a long period, through good times and bad; giving of himself for the betterment of others. His long service is etched in the wrinkles of his face and brow, but his eyes look unblinkingly into the future. His full headdress depicts the many leadership roles, recognitions and honors that he has earned over the years which validate his sage words of counsel and guidance.

It should be noted that such worthy individuals as these recipients are rare and do not pass our way frequently. Therefore, it is the in- tent of the Executive Committee that this award will not be given on an annual basis but only as justified by an exceptional record of leadership and service to the Branch. The 2016 recipient is only the 10th individual recognized for the Award since its inception in 1977.