Welcome to the Iowa State University Soybean Entomology Website. Drs. Matt O'Neal and Erin Hodgson jointly manage this lab to learn more about insect ecology, biology and integrated pest management.
In this podcasting episode, Matt and Erin talk about a disagreement in insect ID. The false Japanese beetle often emerges before the true Japanese beetles and people mistakenly confuse the two species. Erin recently wrote about the timing of adult emergence of JB in ICM News and how to tell the difference between the two species in an ICM Blog post. By the way, we think Erin was right on this one even though Matt was super confident! Matt gives a quick summary of hexapods used as college team mascots (Thanks to fellow podcaster, Jonathan Larson at UNL, for the list!). Pollinator Fest is next weekend at Reiman Gardens.
In Episode 2, Matt and Erin cover a range of topics. First, they summarize planting conditions for 2017 - most places in the state are too wet and and cold to plant. The weather also affects insect activity as well. Matt expands on a recent ICM News article by Erin regarding "green bridges." Both had students graduating this semester - congrats to Eric Clifton and Shelby Pritchard on all your hard work and efforts during your time at Iowa State! Finally, Matt updates us on the recent legislative activity to close the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
Matt and Erin wrap up a few loose ends before the holiday week. First, Matt shares DowAgroSciences sulfoxaflor insecticide got a renewed registration. This insecticide targets fluid-feeding insects and was an option for soybean aphid before it was canceled in 2015. Now, sulfoxaflor can be used in a number of crops, but not for corn or soybean; cotton and sorghum have emergency labels in some U.S. states. Over the weekend, a soybean aphid Biotype-2 colony died due to a bad compressor in a growth chamber. Aphids don't tend to do well in temperatures over 100 degrees, and these ladies got cooked. Our labs host all four soybean aphid biotypes plus a few other aphid colonies. Colony management is really important and the maintenance is ongoing to keep plants and aphids healthy. Iowa State University features a 3MT (Three-minute thesis) oral competition this week. Three people featured insect-related presentations (a long video of all the speakers can be found here).
Upcoming extension events:
ICM Conference (30 Nov, 1 Dec) in Ames
Crop Advantage Series (January 2017) in Iowa
CCA Online Review Course, (on demand)
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Due to technical difficulty, this is a second take at the podcast today. Matt and Erin start by sharing highlights from the recent International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting in Orlando last week. Erin talks about pest resistance issues for corn rootworm and western bean cutworm. Matt summarizes some work on rapid resistance development in agro-ecology systems. Fall nuisance invaders were also briefly discussed, including minute pirate bugs, boxelder bugs and lady beetles. Matt got excited by a recent aphid find on ISU campus this week - aphids and parasitized aphids were on collected from buckthorn. They don't understand the implications for these finds yet, but it is certainly not a common find. Lastly, Matt and Erin are speaking at the upcoming ICM Conference in Ames. Registration details will be posted soon.
Minute pirate bug adult feeding on white fly nymphs. Photo at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocoridae.
Don't drought this episode was a good one. Matt shares an update on the Iowa drought and encourages people to use the U.S. Drought Monitor as a tool to measure landscape moisture levels. Matt and Erin transition and talk about pest activity around the state, starting with twospotted spider mite. Erin wrote a recent ICM News article that talks about scouting and managing this pest that favors hot and dry conditions. Spider mites can be first detected around field perimeters and then eventually infest the field interior. Discoloration, webbing and stunted plants are often the result of heavy spider mite feeding. Erin mentioned a new miticide, AgriMek, that has promise for suppressing mites in corn and soybean; find the label here. The conversation switched gears to talk about some corn silk clipping pests, like Japanese beetle and corn rootworm adults. Scouting to determine pest densities and potential interference with pollination is important. Learn more about Japanese beetle ID, scouting and management with an ICM News article.
Twospotted spider mite. Photo by Frank Peairs, www.ipmimages.org.
Bean leaf beetle. Photo by Marlin Rice.
Today, Matt and Erin are in Cleveland, OH for the 2016 Annual North Central Branch Meeting of the ESA (Entomological Society of America). They have a conversation with special guest, David Gammel, Executive Director of ESA since 2011. They learn more about David's "origin story" and how he got connected with the ESA. He also shares some of the most exciting things happening with the organization, including new Policy Fellows, a fun blog, and the upcoming international meeting. The Policy Fellows program will support and develop scientists as visible and effective advocates for entomology and entomological research. The Entomology Today Blog helps translate insect-related news to a wide audience; recent articles include topics like a Zika symposium, emerald ash borer control, and tick-borne diseases. They also talk about our upcoming ICE (International Congress of Entomology) Meeting in Orlando this September. In addition to a lot of scientific content with over 6,000 expected participants, there will be informal chances to learn more about insects.
As the tagline for the new movie, Popstar, says: Never Stop Never Stopping!
Today, Erin gives a short note to announce the new podcasting widget. It will be located on their Soybean Entomology Lab website, where other resources are available. You can still subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Stitcher or Pocket Casts. Thanks for listening!
Today, Matt and Erin talk about the upcoming ESA meeting (Entomological Society of America) in Minneapolis next month. Matt also highlights an upcoming seminar about monarch butterflies in the ISU entomology department. Dr. Meron Zalucki, University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, Australia, is presenting on November 9. Come to listen in person or watch at your convenience here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJpsN5fR8Ia2WJNllyvB1Q.
The ISU Monarch Consortium is hosting Dr. Zalucki and have other research and outreach projects: http://monarch.ent.iastate.edu/.
In this episode, Matt and Erin transition from providing weekly field crop pest updates to other topics of interest. They discuss the new assessment form provided by the Xerces Society to help farmers understand the value of beneficial insect conservation. Find the form here: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HAG_BeneficialInsects_June2015_web.pdf
