" .%&'( CORNELL ! $ X 2009 Newsletter • Geneva & Ithaca Greetings from Cornell! Greetings from Cornell! On behalf of the two Entomology departments at Cornell we are very pleased to bring you our third annual bi- departmental newsletter. Our joint effort on this newsletter is symbolic of our continuing efforts to try and bring the two departments closer together, so as to strengthen the voice of Entomology within the College, University, and to our stakeholders worldwide. With your help and support we continue to do great things, many of which are covered in the pages of this newsletter. In 2008, a new award for Applied Research was established in Honor of the late Emeritus Professor George G. Gyrisco, the fi fth annual open house “Insectapalooza 2008” drew a record number of visitors, and we began renovations of the Eickwort lab. (see page 4) The major issue for us (and probably for most of you) has been the state F of the economy. We continue to deal with large budget cuts and have What’s Inside: had to reduce many of our activities. Despite the great diffi culties this presents, we continue to train great students, push back the frontiers New Faculty ....................................... 2 Undergrad Publications ................... 2 of science, publish important research, teach great courses, provide Invasive Arthropods ..........................3 critical information to stakeholders and keep smiling! Entomology Club............................... 4 We hope to see you at this year’s mixer at the ESA meetings in Lab Renovations ............................... 4 Indianapolis (Dec. 13-16). In addition, we would love to hear from you Jugatae .............................................. 4 and know what you are up to. We know you are doing great things Faculty Spotlight: Ping Wang........... 5 News from the Sarkaria Inst. ........... 5 out there. Please let us know. Lastly, we would like to remind you that Cornell Student Focus ......................6 you are welcome to stop by and visit us the next time you have an Cornell Insect Collection ................. 8 opportunity. ISBE Meeting .....................................8 Jeff Scott and Dave Soderlund Award Winners .................................. 9 Alumni Award Winners ..................... 9 Patton Obituary ................................. 9 Opportunities to Give ....................... 9 Mosquito Love Songs ......................10 Aphid Day ..........................................10 Return of the Bed Bugs ...................10 Books by Faculty ..............................10 Gyrisco Student Award ....................11 Alien Empire ..................................... 11 Emeritus Faculty Stay Active .......... 11 Comstock Library .............................11 The evolution of entomology: from microscope to microarray 2009 Calendar .................................12 Learn more about the Cornell Entomology Departments http://www.entomology.cornell.edu Entomology Welcomes New Faculty Member 9 Publications by Angela Douglas Undergraduates Working with Entomology Faculty in 2008 We are thrilled that Dr. Angela Douglas has joined the Ithaca Kozaki, T., *Kimmelblatt, B. A., Hamm, R. Entomology department as the L., and Scott, J. G. 2008. Comparison of two acetylcholinesterase gene cDNAs endowed Daljit S. and Elaine of the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius dia- Sarkaria Professor of Insect perinus, in insecticide susceptible and Physiology and Toxicology. resistant strains. Arch. Insect Biochem. Angela has always known she Physiol. 67: 130-138. would be a biologist. This came Mooney, K.A., *Jones, P., and Agrawal, from her interest in natural his- A.A., 2008. Coexisting congeners: de- tory and wild places as a child. mography, competition, and interactions Angela grew up in the New For- with cardenolides for two milkweed-feed- est, an area of about 14,000 ing aphids. Oikos 117: 450-458. acres in the south of England Pimentel, D., *Williamson, S., *Alexander, that was designated as a royal C.E., *Gonzalez-Pagan, O., *Kontak, C., hunting ground by William the and *Mulkey, S.E. 2008. Reducing ener- Conqueror in 1080. gy inputs in the U.S. food system. Human Ecology 36 (4): 459-471. Angela applied to Oxford Uni- Pimentel, D., *Marklein, A., *Toth, M.A., versity to study Physiological *Karpoff, M., *Paul, G.S., *McCormack, Sciences, following her abiding R., *Kyriazis, J., and *Krueger, T. 2008. interest in how animals work. In Biofuel impacts on world food supply: use those days, students took an of fossil fuel, land and water resources. extra term at school to prepare Energies 1: 41-78. for the Oxford entrance exam. Shelton, A. M., *Hatch, S. L., Zhao, J.-Z., Angela’s parents wanted her to Chen, M., Earle, E. D., and Cao. J. 2008. do a secretarial course. By applying to Oxford, Angela persuaded them to let her enroll Suppression of diamondback moth using for a 6-month secretarial course, instead of a full-year course. Angela did the 6-month Bt transgenic plants as a trap crop. Crop course, but her career as a secretary was put on hold because she was awarded a Protection 27: 403-9. major scholarship by Oxford University. That secretarial career is still on hold. Sirot, L.K. Poulson, R.L, McKenna, M.C., *Girnary, H., Wolfner, M.F., and Har- After one year at Oxford, Angela switched from Physiological Sciences to Zoology. rington, L.C. 2008. Identity and transfer What a fateful decision! She met fellow zoology student and her future husband, Jer- of male reproductive gland proteins of the emy Searle, in the fi rst week and, yes, it was love at fi rst sight. dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti: potential tools for control of female feed- ing and reproduction. Insect Biochem. Angela was infl uenced by Cornell Entomology very early on in her research career. An- Mol. Biol. 38:176-189. gela did her PhD at the University of Aberdeen and was fl ailing around trying to decide exactly what to do. She was in the library thumbing through the journals and found an *Smith, R.A. Mooney, K.A., and Agrawal, article on nitrogen excretion by Jim Nation and our very own Robert L. Patton (Journal A.A. 2008. Coexistence of three special- ist aphids on common milkweed, Ascle- of Insect Physiology (1961) 6, 299). Reading this article gave her the idea to study ni- pias syriaca. Ecology 89: 2187-2196. trogen recycling and uric acid metabolism, and she has been studying the physiology of nitrogen nutrition ever since. It was a very special honor for Angela to introduce the Viswanathan, D.V., *McNickle, G., and Patton lecture in 2008, exactly 30 years later. Thaler, J.S. 2008. Heterogeneity of plant phenotypes caused by herbivore- specifi c induced responses infl uences An important opportunity for Angela happened after 5 years of postdoctoral research, the spatial distribution of herbivores. when she was awarded a 10-year Royal Society Fellowship. By this time, Angela was Ecolog. Entom. 33: 86-94. working on insects and the fellowship gave her the time, without teaching or administra- tion, to develop the tools to study the nutritional physiology of the symbiosis between *Walsh, R.E. and Rayor, L.S. 2008. Kin aphids and their intracellular bacteria. Without this, Angela says that she would never discrimination in the amblypygid, Damon diadema. J. Arachnol. 36: 336 343. have got the system going. Following this fellowship, Angela took up the position of Senior Lecturer at the University of York in England, progressing to a Reader and then a Personal Chair in 2003. Angela’s husband Jeremy will join the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in October 2010. Their two sons are still in Britain. Ken is doing a PhD in politics at Birmingham University and Mark is taking an undergraduate degree in archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. *Undergraduate coauthors are indicated by an asterisk 2 The Threat of Invasive Arthropods 9 Art Agnello, Cornell’s extension fruit entomologist, has been following the It has been estimated that approximately 4,500 Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomor- arthropod species have been introduced into pha halys), an insect native to Eastern the US and of this total approximately 1,000 Asia but fi rst found in Allentown, PA, in insects and mites have become crop pests (Pi- 2001. Adults are able to fl y and often en- mentel et al. 2000). Many others have become ter homes in the late summer and early pests of humans, livestock, households and the fall when they are seeking overwintering general environment. Because New York is a sites. Adults and nymphs feed, often in world center of trade, this facilitates the move- groups, on all tree fruits, especially ap- ment of invasive arthropods that may arrive in ples and peaches, causing depressed, wooden containers, on plants, or even on hu- dimpled, corky or water-soaked areas on mans and companion animals. the skin. It has recently arrived in New York and Agnello is gathering information Cornell entomologists work on invasive arthro- to alert New York fruit growers about ef- pods in many ways including collaborating with fective control strategies. the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) through its Cooperative Agri- Adult Tipula oleracea emerging from its pupal One pest for which we had clear ad- cultural Pest Survey Program (CAPS) and with case on a golf course putting green. vance warning of its arrival was the swede the New York State Department of Agriculture midge, Contarinia nasturtii. This com- and Markets. These federal and state agencies mon European pest of cruciferous crops have the