2003 — 2004 Entomology Newsletter Table of Contents Department of Entomology Message from the Head 1 Ross Award 3 Building Feature 5 Faculty 7 Awards and Recognition 15 David Denlinger 16 For the Love of Insects 17 Staff 19 Affiliates and Other Academics 20 Illinois Entomologist in the News 25 Bee and Beekeeping Short Course 27 Midwest Institute for Biological Control 27 The 2004 Emergence of the Periodical Cicadas and Press of Brood X 28 Colloquium Speakers in 2003-2004 29 Graduate Students 30 Recent Graduates 38 Entomology Graduate Student Association 39 20th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival 40 21st Annual Insect Fear Film Festival 41 Alumni 44 Obituaries 55 Births 56 Donors to Entomology 2003-2004 56 Keep our Data Base Current 57 Message from the Head Page 1 Department of Entomology Academic year 2003-2004 was an eventful one (as they all seem to be). The biggest news involves the faculty—after facing a historic low a few years ago, with 8 FTEs (University-speak for fulltime teaching equivalents), we’re now facing a historic high. Assistant Professor Andy Suarez joined us from University of California at Berkeley in the fall (or, I should say, rejoined us, given that he graduated from UIUC with a master’s degree back in 1994), and has already improved our quality of life, among other things offering a seminar with Carla Cáceres in invasion biology and bringing the second-largest ant species in the world (Dinoponera australis) to the Insect Fear Film Festival. In the spring, after a nationwide search, Charlie Whitfield, a postdoctoral associate in Gene Robinson’s lab, accepted our offer of a position in insect sociogenomoics (for the record, probably the first hire nationwide with that particular job description); he joined us as a faculty member at the beginning of fall semester 2004. And the Kearns, Metcalf and Flint Chair in Toxicology was offered to Dr. Michael Adams. While he is deciding, in our tradition of recruiting from UC-Riverside, I note that wildfires have been raging out of control year-round in Riverside County, contributing to the already poor air quality there. We’ve benefited from two retention offers as well; our alumna Marianne Alleyne, current postdoctoral associate in Rob Wiedenmann’s lab, received an offer for a position as a research assistant professor in connection with a retention offer for her husband, and Sam Beshers, for years an unofficial associate of our department, now has an official 25% research position in the Department, part of a retention package for his wife. On the debit side, though, Susan Fahrbach, who joined the faculty here in 1990, left for an endowed chair at Wake Forest University. She’ll be much missed and I don’t envy her successor in insect physiology, trying to match her stratospherically high course ratings. So, all told, by August 2005 we could be 12.75 FTE in size, the biggest we’ve been in at least 24 years. In fact, we may lose our status as the second-smallest department in LAS, a distinction I’ll happily surrender. We’ve also expanded our network across the campus and continued to build strength and diversity in our graduate program through out affiliate appointments. Brenda Molano-Flores, from the Illinois Natural History Survey, is a new affiliate and is already advising a graduate student (Adam Wallner). Steve Taylor, also from the Illinois Natural History Survey, is a welcome addition as well. Not inappropriately, a larger faculty requires a larger staff and I’m ecstatically happy to report that, after academic year 2003’s devastating budget cuts, which reduced our secretarial staff by 30%, we regained a secretarial line—Leta Nugent, who was a secretary in our office a few years ago, has rejoined our office staff. And we’ve also hired Alissa Eisenstein as a course support hourly—she’s creating a database of teaching specimens and will be straightening out our historic teaching collection (probably the first to do so since Sewall Wright was a graduate student here). As for teaching, 2003-2004 was a transition year, in which the entomology rubric was co-listed with the IB rubric for the last time; and for those who have not yet learned the new IB rubrics, don’t bother because they were supplanted by other new rubrics in fall 2004, due to a campus-wide expansion of course numbers from 100-400 to 100-700. Along with new course numbers are new Banner account numbers to tax our brains—it’s not enough I guess, to have to remember insect Latin binomials to succeed these days. I’d like to meet the committee, by the way, who decided that 27 digits was the ideal size to designate an account number. Message from the Head Page 2 Department of Entomology 2003-2004 was also our last year with an official entomology option—two undergraduates graduated in May (Lori Kae Schwab and Ulises Atilano). Ulises (Joe) is attending UIC to obtain a master’s degree in public health; Lori Kae is pursuing a master’s degree in NRES. May 2004 also happened to be the month in which the undergraduate Independent Program of Study in Entomology was approved; we have one student, Lynn Fennema, who is pursuing her degree under this rubric. The IPS will allow us to continue to accommodate the handful of undergraduates (the few, the brave) who are passionate about insects. Construction has proceeded apace, in concert with recruitments and retentions. A new bee research facility is under construction out by the new fish ponds on South Lincoln. And a new insectary in the Morrill Hall basement is being built in connection with efforts to centralize Animal Care campus-wide (no, insects aren’t covered under animal care regulations—it’s just that SIB owns the space and made it available with the proviso that we could move our animal Photo courtesy of care operation from the fifth floor to the basement). Won Young Choi Some entomologists may also be moving into brand-new digs at the IGB, the Institute for Genomic Biology—two of five themes involve Entomology faculty; Genomics of Neural and Behavioral Plasticity, with Gene Robinson at the helm and Hugh, Andy, Sydney, and May involved, and Genomic Ecology of Global Change, headed by Don Ort and with May involved. Each theme is assigned 10,000 square feet of space; while no one will be abandoning Morrill space altogether, there should be some consolidation such that space opens up for new faculty. Although I receive an overwhelming amount of email (which as many of you may have noticed isn’t always processed in a timely manner) in amongst the advertisements for laser printer toner cartridges and antidepressants was a note that caught my eye. It was a greeting from the University archivist, who wanted to alert departments about the campus facility. According to the University archivist, “The Entomology Department deals with the study of insect control, classes of insects, the life of insects and immunization problems. In 1899, a complete four-year course in entomology was proposed. By 1900, entomology was a separate department under the College of Science. In 1913, through reorganization of the colleges, it became part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In 1959, it was included in the School of Life Sciences, established within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.” This information caught my attention because it isn’t entirely consistent with what I’ve heard of our department’s history—in particular, the fact that Stephen A. Forbes wasn’t appointed first head of the Department of Entomology until 1909. I suppose it’s conceivable that the department existed without a head for 9 years (after all, cockroaches can live for a substantial amount of time without one). In any case, one way or another a centennial celebration seems both imminent and appropriate. Planning will begin in earnest and we’re hoping to bring back many of you for a celebration. Photo courtesy of Won Young Choi Ross Award Page 3 Department of Entomology The Charles A. Ross and June R.P. Ross Fund in honor of Herbert Holdsworth Ross and Jean Alexander Ross remembers Herbert Holdsworth Ross and Jean Alexander Ross for their many accomplishments in education and research, he in entomology and she in zoology. Herbert Holdsworth Ross, born near Leeds, England in 1908, spent most of his childhood in British Columbia where he became interested in the natural world, especially insects, which he collected and identified. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1927 and earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D., both in entomology, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1929 and 1933, respectively. Dr. Ross had a long and distinguished career at the U of I, including 42 years with the Illinois Natural History Survey and 23 years as professor of entomology. He began his career with the survey as assistant entomologist in 1927 and advanced to systematic entomologist, section head of faunistic surveys and insect identification, principal scientist, assistant chief, and acting chief. He retired from UIUC in 1969 and accepted an appointment as professor of entomology at the University of Georgia, retiring in 1975. Dr. Ross was one of the most productive entomologists in North America. He published about 220 scientific publications, including six books and chapters in seven others. Among his works was the widely used Textbook of Entomology, which underwent several editions. He was widely recognized in many diverse fields, such as evolutionary theory, community ecology, biogeography and systematic entomology for which he received numerous awards during his career.