Christine Dodge

Tuesday, October 10th

In-Person Meeting
Virtual Zoom Option
7:30 PM EST

Dr. Christine Dodge
Dept. of Entomology, University of California Riverside
USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T Forest Pest Methods Laboratory

Trials, travels, and tribulations: the evolution of a biological control program

ABSTRACT: Biological control, the use of natural enemies to control a pest, can be a highly effective way of controlling pest populations and mitigating damage. However, a tremendous amount of work goes into ensuring that a biocontrol program will be successful, effective, and safe. As a loose average, it takes five to ten years to develop a biocontrol program, from the first detection of a pest of concern to the release and monitoring of its natural enemies. My work focuses on two invasive insects with very different biologies: a species complex of ambrosia beetles known as shot hole borers (Euwallacea fornicatus species complex); and box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis, a newly invasive but fast-spreading ornamental pest. These programs are at different stages in their development, and each poses unique challenges. In this talk, I will discuss the intricacies of each of these systems, share tales from the lab and field, and detail the progress that has been made in building each of these biocontrol programs.

NOTICE: Welcome back to CEC meetings of the 2023-2024 academic year! We will be holding hybrid meetings to accommodate COVID-19 precautions and audience members from around the world.

For those able to attend in person, we will have an informal dinner with the speaker at 6:00 pm at the Cambridge Common Restaurant. Our formal meeting runs from 7:30 – 9:00 pm in the Gilbert Room 101A of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (there will be signs to help direct). The meeting will begin with club announcements, followed by a 60-minute presentation by the invited speaker and Q&A. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.

Lynn S. Adler

Tuesday, April 11th

In-Person Meeting

Virtual Zoom Option

7:30 PM EST

Disease where you dine: The role of floral traits in pollinator-pathogen interactions

Photo credit: George LoCascio

ABSTRACT: Food resources can alter host-pathogen dynamics not only via nutrition, but in some cases via chemical or mechanical traits that reduce infection. Many pollinator species are declining due to a range of factors including parasites and pathogens, but the potential for specific plant species to structure pollinator-pathogen interactions is largely unrecognized. Our previous work discovered that consuming sunflower pollen (Helianthus annuus) dramatically and consistently reduced infection by the gut pathogen Crithidia bombi in the common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens. We have since expanded this work to consider (a) the breadth of this effect, in terms of both the extent of plant species whose pollen reduces Crithidia and the range of bee castes and species that are responsive, (b) the mechanism underlying this effect and (c) the field consequences of sunflower pollen for pollinator health. Our work demonstrates the role that a single key floral resource could play in pollinator-pathogen dynamics. Our current future research goals are to link our understanding of this system across scales from molecular to landscape.

NOTICE: Welcome back to CEC meetings of the 2022-2023 academic year! We will be holding hybrid meetings to accommodate COVID-19 precautions and audience members from around the world.

For those able to attend in person, we will have an informal dinner at 6:00 pm at Cambridge Common Restaurant with the speaker, followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 pm) in the Gilbert Room of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (there will be signs to help direct). The meeting will begin with club announcements, followed by a 60-minute presentation by the invited speaker and Q&A. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.

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