A Department of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University

Personnel

• Paul A. Weston, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, 150 Insectary, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, (607) 255-0165, paw23@cornell.edu.
• Gaylord Desurmont. Master's student in the Department of Entomology.

Current Projects

• Viburnum leaf beetle - Evaluating biorational insecticides and biological control, assessing susceptibility of viburnum accessions, characterizing factors associated with resistance and susceptibility, determining degree-day thresholds for larval and adult emergence, and charting geographical range in the U.S. (click here to see fact sheet, or here for revised listing of susceptible viburnums).
• Degree-day predictors for insect emergence - Degree-days are useful tools for predicting appearance of insects and timing application of insecticides, but the commonly used methods for calculating degree-days are crude. We are comparing exact methods of degree-day calculation with more the commonly used methods to see if the more exact methods yield improved estimates of insect emergence.
• Developing IPM thresholds for managment of arthropod pests of woody ornamentals - Very few treatment thresholds exist for arthropod pests of wood plants. We are starting to correct this shortcoming by scouring the literature for existing values and using knowledge of pest biology and damage potential to prioritize which pests can be tolerated in nurseries and landscape and which have very low tolerance. Given the vast number of woody plant pests, this will be a long-term project, and will likely require involvement by a number of researchers.
• Management of arthropod pests by application of resistance-enhancing substances to woody plants - In an effort to develop environmentally friendly control strategies, we are beginning to evaluate products that enhance the production of defensive compounds by woody plants. This exciting new research area has been studied to a limited extent in annual crops, but has barely been touched in woody plants. Ultimately, we hope the research will result in products that have minimal environmental consequences while offering acceptable control of arthropod pests.

Last updated 1/17/2005