Entomology Senior Gains Top Honors in Agriculture for White Grub Biological Control Research

By Steve Yaninek
April 3, 2008

Terri Hoctor, a Senior in the Department of Entomology

Terri Hoctor, a Senior in the Department of Entomology won top honors in the College of Agriculture for her poster “Comparison of indigenous and commercial strains of the nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ”. Terri independently conducted a series of laboratory and field studies aimed at characterizing and comparing the virulence and reproductive potential of locally collected and commercially available strains of the entomopathogenic nematode H. bacteriophora to determine if these traits predicted efficacy against larvae of the Japanese beetle under field conditions. The poster was presented at the undergraduate research symposium held March 31st at the Purdue Memorial Union. Terri worked with Doug Richmond in the Turfgrass Entomology and Applied Ecology Laboratory in the Department of Entomology.

More on the undergraduate research symposium.