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In this episode, Matt and Erin break down a recent ruling to vacate the unconditional registration of sulfoxaflor. In other words, the EPA registration for sulfoxaflor, in products like Transform and Seeker, was overruled in U.S. court. 

Read more about the court decision here: http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/sulfoxaflor-opinion.pdf

Read more about why EPA approved the registration of sulfoxaflor here: http://pesticides.supportportal.com/link/portal/23002/23008/Article/35618/Why-did-EPA-register-sulfoxaflor-I-heard-it-harms-bees

Learn more about insecticide groups here: http://www.irac-online.org/documents/moa-classification/

Today, Matt and Erin comment on a recent letter to the editor about too many "bees" on the ISU campus (see letter here: http://bit.ly/1LNbQGS). They talk about the real culprit, yellowjacket wasps, and why they may seem more abundant this year. Matt and Erin review the differences between bees and wasps, and why we probably don't have too many bees. 

Today, Matt breaks down a technical publication to Erin. This study evaluated the effect a lady beetle had on diamondback moth  in Bt broccoli. Turns out, the presence of natural enemies can slow down the rate of Bt resistance. They talk about implications for this research in Iowa, specifically for corn rootworm in corn. Read the full article here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090366. 

Today, Matt and Erin talk about the recent EPA proposal to revoke all tolerances to chlorpyrifos. This insecticide is an option in corn and soybean in Iowa and restricting or removing the use could have potential implications for field crop pest management. Matt shares a paper that shows a decrease of chlorpyrifos in corn but relatively steady use in soybean (doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/9/094016). He isn't sure if revoking the use would have an immediate impact, but Erin offers a Coke analogy to say otherwise. To learn more about the EPA proposal and leave a comment, go here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-11-06/pdf/2015-28083.pdf. 

Matt and Erin recap a presentation made at ICM Conference this week. Bob Koch (University of Minnesota) talked about bifenthrin failures to soybean aphid in southern Minnesota in 2015. He performed bioassays and detected resistance. The level of resistance was low, but provides the first example of this pest overcoming a pyrethroid in the field. Bob's ICM proceedings article summarizes highlights how resistance happens and strategies for prolonging insecticide efficacy. Find the proceedings free here: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/ (search for publication AEP 0302 - 2015, pages 75-76).