Discover Entomology at Texas A&M University

October 26 - 28, 2004
College Station, Texas

The Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University has a unique situation within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The department is one of the few, if not only, departments with the majority of its personnel located away from the main campus (24 on-campus Research and Extension faculty, 47 off-campus Research and Extension faculty).

This division in locations provides many advantages to the people of Texas since they have scientific expertise virtually in their backyards. However, the physical distances that separate department research and Extension personnel can sometimes hamper communications. Although computers and cell phones have contributed to the minimization of distances, no substitute exists for gathering in one place to discuss current research and issues in entomology.

Rapt attention at EntoSci Conference? The Entomology Science Conference, held annually in the fall, is the one opportunity for on-campus and off-campus entomology personnel to interact with each other about entomology issues. Other departments may get together in January, but administrative issues usually drive the discussion. The other unique aspect is that students are encouraged to attend and participate in the meeting, thus giving students the opportunity to see what is currently happening out in the field.

This year’s conference, held October 26-28th, focused on biological control and urban/ornamental issues the first day. Although the department is justifiably known for biological control of insect pests, a small but active group is working on biological control of weeds. One highlight was the work by Allen Knutson and his graduate student, Jeremy Hudgeons, with their efforts in controlling saltcedar. Saltcedar is a highly invasive, exotic small tree/shrub which infests all of the major rivers and lakes of west Texas. Water use by saltcedar is among the highest of all stream-bank species. Extensive stands of saltcedar along Texas’ rivers and lakes deplete surface and ground water resources, increase soil salinity, eliminate native riparian plants and degrade wildlife resources.

Herbicides are effective but are costly ($200/acre), can kill desirable vegetation and treated areas are subject to re-infestation by saltcedar. Public funds for herbicide control on the Pecos River have total $1 million and $2 million has been allocated for herbicide application to the Upper Colorado River beginning in the fall of 2004.

Dr. Knutson discussed biological control efforts in a cooperative program, scientists at the ARS Laboratory at Temple, Texas A&M at Dallas and the Colorado River Municipal Water District releasing an exotic leaf beetle at Lake Thomas (fall 2003) and Big Spring (2004) for biological control of saltcedar. Saltcedar infestations at these sites are set aside for research and demonstration of biological control and will not be treated with herbicides.

Other talks included Jerry Michels and his work with field bindweed and release of the field bindweed mite. Jerry has been able to implement the spread of this mite from one county to multiple sites throughout the Panhandle of Texas. Graduate student Jeremiah Dye discussed his work with managing Salvinia spp., an invasive weed of lakes in Texas.

On the insect control side, Charles Barr and Forrest Mitchell, discussed their efforts with managing fire ants with biological control. Charles discussed his area wide efforts with releasing Phorid flies. These flies, described as the attack helicopter of the insect world, lay an egg on the head of the fire ant. The egg hatches and the tiny maggot moves into the head of the ant and feeds. When the maggot reaches maturity, the head of the ant falls off and a new fly is ready to start the process again. His work is showing that mound density is being reduced by the flies but more follow-up work is needed. Forrest discussed his efforts with a disease of fire ants caused by Thelohania spp. This disease has a chronic impact on imported fire ants and can reduce the number of ants and allow native ants to be more competitive. Carlos Bogran wrapped up the biological control part of the program with his work on controlling spider mites with insect predators in greenhouses.

The rest of the session was completed by Bart Drees, Scott Ludwig and Mike Merchant providing excellent overviews of new technologies with fire ants, ornamentals and nursery and structural urban problem. The first day of the conference was ended with a retirement get together for James Robinson.

The second day of the meeting focused on the business of reviewing applied research in small grains, corn, grain sorghum and cotton. These reviews are important because most of the entomology work being conducted in field crops is now conducted by off campus scientists. Much of the work being conducted is researching how different components of an IPM program fit together. Work in the grains focused on new seed treatment technologies and their interaction with new transgenic technology. The group also reviewed the emerging issue of stalk borers in rice, corn and grain sorghum. A highlight of the second day were student presentations by Clint Quintana and Brad Hopkins. The second day was topped off by the opportunity to interact and do a little gambling (fortunately not with real money) at a gathering to benefit the Entomology Student Enhancement Fund.

The third day of the meeting finished up work in cotton. Terry Junek showed the results of the resistance monitoring program for bollworm. Resistance ratios continue to rise, especially in the Lower Gulf Coast production region. Strategies need to be developed now to help producers cope with this problem. The highlight of the final day was a discussion led by Robert Lemon, an Extension agronomist with statewide responsibilities in cotton, on the importance of interdisciplinary and focused research. The cotton producers in Texas are now requesting that scientists work together to research their production problems recognizing that one discipline cannot be unaffected by another.

There were many positive comments about this year's conference. Probably the best compliment the meeting received was from Robert Lemon who noted that more departments need to take entomology’s approach and get their on-campus and off-campus people interacting together and appreciating each other’s work.