A few department highlights:
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Several mobile pest management apps and tools have been developed for producers: 1) BugSpot (www.thebugspot.org) a free trapping network to monitor arthropod activity. (2) A website (iwheat.org) to help field-specific management of key insect pests, weeds, and pathogens. (3) SoyPod DSS (www.soypod.info) to aid treatment decisions for soybean aphid.
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Numerous studies evaluated novel pesticides and rates against alfalfa insect pests, against wheat pests (Hessian fly and aphids), and against pests of corn, sorghum, soybeans, and sunflowers. These included foliar and seed treatments, as well as Bt-transgenic varieties in corn.
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Developed and published the first and only extension publication available on horticultural pesticide mixtures and use.
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A biodiversity Web portal for the entomology museum and herbarium is online at http://biodis.k-state.edu. The database includes more than 237,000 insect specimens.
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Collaborative efforts with USDA, the University of Nebraska, and the University of North Texas provide important insights into how aphids and Hessian flies feed, and how feeding affects soybean and wheat plants.
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Continued research on fumigation alternatives comparable to methyl bromide in efficacy for storage pests. Nonchemical protectants and IPM monitoring tools have been developed for ham mite, a serious pest of dried meats and cheeses. Co-edited a new book, “Stored Product Protection,” that will be the standard reference for the grain, food, and pest control industries.
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Collaborative international and multidisciplinary work has developed molecular methods of identifying resistance to wheat curl mite, as well as wheat streak mosaic virus. Similar work has been done with Dectes stem borer in soybeans. This will facilitate resistance screening and cultivar development. Early barley planting coupled with use of resistant cultivars can yield Russian wheat aphid reductions comparable to use of insecticides on susceptible cultivars.
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Continued studies into the role of bacteria in manure and feces for growth of immature house and stable flies and in transmission of human and animal pathogens, with the intention to develop novel control strategies for these flies.
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A gall mite introduced to the state 20 years ago to control field bindweed is now established, but spottily distributed. Infestations are most frequent, and possibly have greatest impact, in areas with low rainfall, suggesting that mites may have an impact in western Kansas, but be of less value in the wetter eastern region.
