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Newsletter Spring 2003 Entomology@@@ Purdue Food Pest Management How many times have you sat down to Another technology that the food pest eat your morning breakfast cereal and found management program has taken to the com- a bug doing the backstroke in your milk? mercialization phase is ozonation of grain. Rarely? Once? Never? Hopefully, the reason Ozone is a powerful oxidant that has numer- that this is a rare occurrence, is due in part to ous beneficial applications. Ozone has been the food pest management program. used as a water treatment to disinfect, elimi- What’s Inside The food pest management program is nate odors, taste, and color, and to remove one of many programs of study in the Urban pesticides, inorganic and organic com- Center. This program focuses on the biology pounds. Agricultural applications of ozone and management of pests attacking food post include the storage and preservation of veg- Food Pest Management harvest. This is a very broad field ranging etables and fruits, the surface decontamina- from management of insect pests attacking tion of perishable foods, and the disinfec- From the Head Bug: stored grain on the tion of manufacturing Endowed Chair in farm or commer- equipment, water and Urban Entomology cial grain elevators packaging materials. or food processors We wanted to ex- Department News and feed mills, re- amine ozone as a re- tail outlets includ- placement for methyl Development Update ing “superstores,” bromide fumigation and traditional of raw grain com- Outreach Update grocery stores, res- modities. Ozone is at- taurant and com- tractive because its Entomology Students mercial kitchens, breakdown product is and ultimately, oxygen, thus leaving Alumni News into the home and no undesirable resi- your cereal bowl. CONTROLLING FOOD PESTS: Linda Mason due. Ozone can be Calendar I work with uses a chill method to control flour beetles. generated on-site, some very com- eliminating the need mon pantry pests such as Indianmeal moth, to store or dispose of chemical containers. flour beetles, and cigarette beetles. They com- Numerous experiments indicated that monly infest dog food, bird seed, and most ozone was a very effective insecticide grain based products in your pantry, as well against most stored product pests. Our most as those flour based holiday ornaments and recent experiments indicated that treatment wall decorations. of grains with 50 ppm ozone for 30 days had My research program focuses on devel- no detrimental effect on popping volume of opment on non-traditional control strategies popcorn; fatty acid and amino acid compo- to manage stored grain pests. Usually this fo- sition of soybean, wheat; and maize; mill- cuses on changing the environment so it is ing characteristics of wheat and maize; bak- less favorable for insects. The first major em- ing characteristics of wheat; and stickiness phasis of the program was using cold air to of rice. The data indicated that if repeated manage pests. Insects are very susceptible to ozonations were needed, such treatment changes in their environment. Thus, reduc- should not decrease the quality of grain for ing grain temperatures to winter-like condi- end-users. This is important to food proces- tions during the summer has serious effects sors, millers, and feed manufacturers since on population development. We were able to the cleanliness of the final product they put significantly reduce pest problems in chilled forth to the retail market is dependent on the bins and do it at the cost of a traditional chemi- quality of raw ingredients. Ozonation will cal fumigation. allow them to start with pest free raw ingre- (Food Pest Management continued on page 2) Entomology@ Purdue (Food Pest Management continued from page 1) Insect pests are the principle focus of dients without a reduction in taste or qual- the multi-billion dollar urban pest control ity of the finished product. industry. Social insects are the most economi- Another service we provide to the food From the cally important pests of urban landscapes. industry is testing of package design. Many Ants are the single largest source of income food pests are very capable of penetrating Head Bug of most pest control businesses today, while packaging and infesting a finished pack- estimates of the damage caused by termites aged product. Our lab is set up to test new exceed $2 billion annually worldwide. The packaging designs for resistance to insects. Steve Yaninek recent introduction and spread of West Nile This would include testing package seal- Virus transmitted by mosquitoes is a major ing technologies, new types of packaging Endowed Chair in new public health concern sweeping across materials, and the design of the package. Urban Entomology the country. New approaches to managing The perfect package for insect resistance these pests in urban environments are would be a perfectly round ball with no The Department of Entomology has needed. A deeper understanding of the biol- edges for the insects to bite through. Un- initiated a campaign to raise $1.5 million ogy, ecology and evolution of these organ- fortunately, this is not practical for shipping to endow a chair in urban entomology. This isms is essential to develop strategies that go or storing in your cupboard. Thus, food is the number one development priority and beyond current technologies, and which manufacturers are constantly testing new a critical component of the Department’s maintain their utility in a changing regula- designs to deliver fresh tasting, pest-free strategic plan to move to the next level of tory environment. products to the consumer. excellence. This endowed chair would raise The Department of Entomology can im- In summary, food pest management not the stature of an already outstanding pro- mediately add prestige and world-renowned only focuses on pest biology and ways to gram in urban entomology, and signal a expertise to its urban program by endowing eliminate them, we also look at ways to pre- new commitment to excellence between the a chair in urban entomology. An individual vent them from ever becoming a pest in the University and the pest management and with the necessary modern research perspec- first place. So tonight when you bite into related industries. An endowed chair will tive and field experience will be ideally that biscuit at dinner, take time to thank the have an immediate and powerful impact. It suited to develop the tools needed to gain food pest management program at Purdue. will boost Purdue’s already strong reputa- the critical knowledge required to make sig- We are working everyday to keep your food tion in urban entomology and allow the De- nificant advances in the field. The Depart- pest free! partment to attract the brightest students ment will look for an individual whose in- - Linda Mason - and scholars. terests and program will be driven by funda- This endowment would create a dedi- mental aspects of the biology of social and 2002 Provost Recognition cated faculty program focused on urban in- other urban insects, and whose work will sect pests, particularly those of public have significant impact upon the manage- The following Entomology staff health concern. The program would pro- ment of these insects as pests. This person were recognized for years of service at vide industry access to cutting-edge tech- will also have the skills to work with a di- the 2002 Provost Recognition Program nology and its applications in urban pest verse clientele and other disciplines to on January 23rd: control. Other benefits include the synergy achieve the impact expected of a chaired pro- generated by a program with both basic and fessorship. In addition, this individual will Ronald L. Blackwell - 10 years applied research, and interactions with the benefit from and establish long-term signifi- Amanda S. Brandt - 15 years established urban program at Purdue. Per- cance by embracing the well-developed net- Timothy J. Gibb - 15 years haps most importantly, this provides a work of collaborators in industry and at other John L. Obermeyer - 15 years unique opportunity for industry to be a part- academic institutions. Jim W. Pheasant - 20 years ner in establishing a new cutting-edge fac- For more information about this cam- ulty program and develop a sense of own- paign contact Steve Yaninek at New Staff: ership in the process. yaninek@purdue.edu. Jodie Ellis joined the Department in - Steve Yaninek - June 2002 as Gypsy Moth Education Coor- dinator. She works directly with Cliff Sadof Department News on gypsy moth and invasive insect species Births: A son was born to Nagesh Rachael and Josh Hunnicutt welcomed concerns for the State of Indiana. Sardesai and Shubha Subramanyam. the birth of their daughter, Grace LeeAnn, Nichole Kubly, began her duties Janu- Tushar Sardesai was born on October 23, on March 2, 2003. Josh works as a Nema- ary 13th as Business Office Manager. The 2002. Nagesh and Shubha are both post- tology Lab Assistant for Virginia Ferris and Entomology Department will share Nikki docs with Christie Williams. Jamal Faghihi. with Biochemistry, CERIS and the Indiana Elizabeth Marie was born on Decem- Chad Craighill and wife Carrie are the State Chemist Office. ber 8, 2002 to Matt and Jody Pearson. parents of daughter, Carly, born January 20, Dan Harmeson has been working as Elizabeth has two sisters at home, 2003. Carly has a brother at home named a part-time lab technician for Linda Ma- Samantha and Olivia. Jody is an account Camdon. Chad is a Computer Specialist and son since January of 2000 and recently be- clerk in the Business Office. IT Manager. came full-time on December 9, 2002. 2 Departing Staff: 2003 Distinguished Cherise Hall has transferred her du- 2002 Ag Alumnus ties as Business Office Manager in En- Outstanding tomology, Biochemistry, and the State Service Award Chemist Office to work in the Business Office at Ag Administration as Business Manager-Ag Sponsored Research Pro- grams.