TIME

ITEM

9:00

WELCOME

Introductions

9:15

UNIVERSITY UPDATES - Moderator: Tim Gibb

Around the table w/ university representatives (Current and emerging pest issues, Brief pest biology, Need for tools, Update of research and extension programs)

Eileen Buss - University of Florida

Southern Chinch Bug

• Toxicological research
• Rotation strategies based on cross-resistance to insecticides
• Influence of N fertility on survival, fecundity, development in St. Augustinegrass
• Natural enemies in this system

Billbugs

• Five species in Florida
• Adult and larval activity periods on golf courses in Northern and Southern Florida
• Overseeding strategies using endophytic perennial ryegrass
• Entomopathogenic nematodes
• Efficient chemical strategies (preventative and curative)

Greenbugs

• Growing concern

Seashore paspallum

David Held - Mississippi State University

Katrinas impact on the green industry

• Surveyed 800 green industry representatives: only 84 responses
• Many have simply lost business or left the area
• Reported losses of $9.98 million
• Estimated losses of $17-19 million
• Lawn care market is completely gone
• Most of 22 golf courses in coastal Mississippi have re-opened

Lara bicolor (mole cricket parasitoid)

• Dave has confirmed that Lara bicolor survived Katrina
• Lara has been found further inland than expected
• Plans to look at potential of flowering plant in conservation biological control efforts

Earthworms

• Becoming an increasing problem in home lawns
• Confused with mole cricket damage
• Found in association with leaf litter/compost ???

Tom Royer - Oklahoma State University

Grasshoppers

• Control in Fescue

White grubs in bermudagrass (Cyclocephala, Phyllophaga)

• Golf courses

Eriophyid mites

• Zoysiagrass mites on Myer zoysiagrass
• Acaricide screening
• Seasonal life history?
• Seem to disappear during mid-summer and return in fall

Jim Reinert - Texas A&M University

Fall armyworm resistance in Poa hybrids

• non-choice assays
• Mystic KB
• Susceptible Texas bluegrass

Zoysiagrass hybrids

• Fall armyworm, tropical sod webworm, zoysiagrass mite, tawny mole cricket, Hunting billbug, grasshoppers

St. Augustinegrass

• Southern chinch bug has overcome all resistant varieties
• Several new hybrids show promise

Gabriel Towers - University of Arizona

Seasonal activity of many major pests is virtually unknown

• Cyclocephala - likely 2 species
• Pearl scale
• Billbugs
• Chemical timing desperately needs to be worked out

Rick Brandenburg - North Carolina State University

Several emerging pest issues

• Earthworms
• Billbugs and paspallum

Musser Foundation

• Need to encourage more entomology graduate student applications

Turf profiles website

• 40% of hits are on insects

Crop Science Society of America

• Entomologists underrepresented at C-5
• Becoming pre-eminent turfgrass meeting

10:30-10:45

BREAK

Frank Hale - University of Tennessee

Scarab Pests

• Japanese beetle still moving into Middle and Western Tennessee
• Oriental beetle also being noticed, but not a serious pest yet

Mole Crickets

• Usually associated with sod transported from the southern U.S.

Fire Ants

• Mainly black imported fire ant moving slowly northward
• Phorid flies are interesting parasitoids of these ants, but much work is needed

Dan Potter - University of Kentucky

Baculovirus vs. black cutworm on turfgrass

• Multicapsid polyhedrosis virus
• Looking at effects on BCW behavior, transmission, mortality, residual effects

Behavioral toxicology of preventive grub control

• Effects on behavior, oviposition, egg hatch, embryo viability

Mound building ants

• Structure and distribution of colonies around perimeter of greens
• Focus of treatments?

Polyembryonic parasitoid of BCW

Transgenic endophytic grass

Carl Redmond - University of Kentucky (D. Potter)

Augmentation of soil silicon to evaluate turf structural defenses

• Silicon augmentation in creeping bentgrass to resist foliage and root pests

Bob Bauernfeind - Kansas State University

Continued occasional pests

• Winter grain mite
• Fall armyworm
• Greenbug
• Billbugs
• Webworms

Emerging concerns

• Japanese beetles exist in certain pockets and are being watched closely

Fred Baxendale - University of Nebraska

Oak itch mite is an emerging concern

• Like chigger bites
• Related to Pyemotes, the straw itch mite
• Has been around for some time in association with workers in stored products
• This mite is associated with oak gall midge - leaf curl midge
• Mainly red oaks
• Mites feed on midge larvae inside galls until they are depleted
• Then they are left with no food in mid summer when midges leave the galls
• May be able to control mites by controlling midges
• After leaf drop / before leaf emergence

Gwen Stahnke - Washington State University

Crane Fly

• Application timing in the pacific Northwest
• 2 Species, Native and Introduced
• Larvae may not be noticed until November
• Adults may be active in February
• Damage to turf may occur all Winter

Chris Williamson - University of Wisconsin

Pest Update

In a continuing severe drought

• Black turfgrass ataenius (1 gen/yr)
• Phyllophaga
• Japanese beetle still spreading across state
• Oriental beetle is now present
• Chinch bug damage exacerbated by drought
• Fall armyworm in mid- and up-state
• Sod webworms commonly misdiagnosed

Black Cutworm

• Mechanisms of resistance in Kentucky Bluegrass

12:00-1:00

LUNCH

Dave Shetlar - Ohio State University

Updated white grub efficacy data

• Expanding testing of application timing

Encourage formation of working group on billbugs

Should we have a Turf Ent list serve?

Cranberry girdler is an emerging pest

Dog damage confused with insects and disease, grub damage

Encourages formation of a cooperative group for biodiversity in turfgrass

Parwinder Grewal - Ohio State University

Entomopathogenic nematodes

• Better consistency than dylox
• Gene sequencing of HB
• Longevity, persistence, storage
• Aging and stress-related genes

Mowing height and resource allocation hypothesis

• Increased cutting height
• Increased alkaloid content
• Weed invasion facilitated by insect damage
• Implications for thresholds

Home lawns

• social drivers behind lawn management practices
• commercial lawn care IPM inspired by companies
• Involves homeowner in monitoring process

Tim Gibb and Doug Richmond - Purdue University

Billbugs

• Major widespread pests
• Weed invasion

White grubs (JB)

• White grub (JB) adult movement
• Istocheta - parasitic fly of JB
• Mole control with Talprid

Stan Swier - University of New Hampshire

Annual bluegrass weevil

• Traditional 2 pyrethroid applications preventatively
• Extended oviposition period last year
• Yellow Poa from delayed spring green-up-wrong-ABW
• Pyrethroid resistance observed in laboratory

White grubs

• Wet, cold spring delayed JB emergence by almost 2 weeks

Pat Vittum - University of Massachusetts

Annual bluegrass weevil

• Need for alternatives to pyrethroids
• Dylox, Conserve
• Need to nail down timing

White grubs

• Oriental beetle, European chafer, Japanese beetle, Asiatic garden beetle

Emerging pests

• Billbugs, chinch bugs, and wireworms are emerging pests

Dan Peck - Cornell University

Annual bluegrass weevil

• Patterns of variation in population fluctuations
• Overwintering strategy and related factors that effect site selection and success
• Document relationships between overwintering and development sites

Crane flies

• Lot 's of native species, so don't sound alarm
• Goal is to slow spread and reduce impact

Steve Alm - University of Rhode Island

Entomopathogenic nematodes

• HB timing as rescue works (i.e., Grewal)

Milky spore

• 1 year after application = no control
• Doesn't look good, especially the commercial product

Teaching

• Insects imbedded in resin so students don't destroy thm
• Nice teaching tool

Albrecht Koppenhöfer - Rutgers University

Mating disruption of Oriental beetle

• Feasible, but sprayable products not persistent enough
• Granulars may allow longer persistence
• Larger trials planned

Annual bluegrass weevil

Stienernema scrabaei

• highly pathogenic
• good control for up to 2 years following inoculative release

Wendy Gelernter - Pace Turfgrass Research Institute

Billbugs

• Dollar spot, delayed spring green-up
• Kikuyagrass, tunneling through stem
• Problems most pronounced in spring in southern California

Masked Chafers

• Soil moisture and white grubs
• In sandy soils, high soil moisture benefits grubs
• Irrigation is often irregular
• Mapping of irrigation coverage may allow use of stratified sampling

3:00-3:15

BREAK

3:15

INDUSTRY UPDATES - Moderator: Harry Niemczyk

Around the table with industry representatives (Product updates, Efficacy data , Directions, Announcements, Requests)

Nate Royalty - Bayer Environmental Science

Allectus 5:4 ratio of Merit:Talstar

• Flexibility in application timing
• Split applications for grubs
• Mole crickets
• A surface feeder product

Top-choice

• Fire ants
• 6 weeks before control is observed
• Fertilizer speeds-up activity
• Max Force is better product

Dylox label

• Annual bluegrass weevil and chin bug added to label

Doug Spilker - Bayer Crop Science (Bayer Advanced)

Bringing technology of Bayer Environmental Science to home market

• Bilingual labeling new this year
• Season long grub control now being formulated on 6-0-1 fertilizer to reduce P input
• Grub Killer Plus - Dylox - new pests on label; - SWW, CW, mole crix, ticks, scorpions
• Beta cyflutrhin now labeled for fire ants - 30 day residual
• Complete insect killer - imidacloprid + Beta-cyfluthrin rate=2 lbs incase 2 apps are needed

Balancing cost of materials vs. performance

• Granule performance depends on Ai
• Granule composition (organic vs. inorganic)
• Granules tricky to develop for pyrethroids
• Peanut hulls not good for pyrethroids

Mark Beach - Valent Biosciences

Plant Growth Regulators

Microbial products - dipel etc.

Looking for opportunities in turf market, especially with biologicals/biorationals

Doug Houseworth - Arysta Life Science

Arysta just opened doors in Cary North Carolina - North America, Australia, New Zealand

Arena label update

• Annual bluegrass weevil, Masked chafers, Oriental beetle
• Rate-0.2-0.4 lbs. rate range
• Expanded ornamental pest label
• Surface drench or foliar app.
• Curb to foundation capabilities

Grubs results

• June/July window (same as Merit), but effective as low as 0.1 rate
• Spring apps. (April 11 to June 8) 0.2-0.3 rate
• Curative (August 14-September 20) 82% control
• Split apps (May 12 and Aug. 29) effective

Clark Throssell - GCSAA

Clark is Director of Research for GCSAA

• Looking for cutting edge research
• Competitive grants program RFA in August
• Expecting to have $180,000 in '06 for new and continuing research
• Looking to build on Golf Course Environmental Profile dataset

NTEP

• $3,000/yr/trial
• Phase 1 = 3 reps = preliminary /irregular trial
• Phase 2 = focused trial
• Kevin Morris

Teresa Carson - GCSAA

Teresa is the Science Editor

• Consider publishing research in GCM, especially if GCSAA funded
• GCM is #1 by far in terms of circulation to GC supers
• Circulation is 37,000

$65 educator membership in GCSAA