RESUMO
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) Student Debates is an annual student competition at the ESA Annual Meeting organized by Student Debates Subcommittee (SDS) members of the ESA Student Affairs Committee. In conjunction with the 2023 ESA Annual Meeting theme, 'Insects and influence: Advancing entomology's impact on people and policy', the theme of this year's student debate was 'Addressing emerging issues in entomology'. With the aid of ESA membership, the SDS selected the following debate topics: (1) Should disclosure of artificial intelligence large language models in scientific writing always be required? and (2) Is it more important to prioritize honey bee or native pollinator health for long-term food security within North America? Four student teams from across the nation, composed of 3-5 student members and a professional advisor, were assigned a topic and stance. Over the course of 5 months, all team members researched and prepared for their assigned topic before debating live with an opposing team at the 2023 ESA Annual Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland. SDS members additionally prepared and presented introductions for each debate topic to provide unbiased backgrounds to the judges and audience for context in assessing teams' arguments. The result was an engaging discussion between our teams, judges, and audience members on emerging issues facing entomology and its impact on people and policy, such as scientific communication and food security, that brought attention to the complexities involved when debating topics concerning insects and influence.
Assuntos
Entomologia , Entomologia/métodos , Estudantes , Animais , Sociedades Científicas , Inteligência ArtificialRESUMO
Ligustrum spp. (Oleaceae) have become invasive species in the US and negatively affect native plant diversity and richness in forests. Ochyromera ligustri (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is considered a potential biological control agent in the US because adults feed on the foliage and larvae are seed-feeders of Ligustrum spp. To discover the relationships between O. ligustri and Ligustrum spp., fruit dissections or rearing and field observations are required. In the current research project, novel PCR primers were developed to rapidly detect the DNA of O. ligustri in molecular analyses without rearing and observation. The developed PCR primers worked even with 0.01 ng of DNA and did not amplify the DNA of the other five curculionid species tested. When the novel primers were tested with three Ligustrum spp. species common in the southeastern US, the DNA of O. ligustri was detected from all three species. We expect that the novel primers will be utilized to find out the presence and impact of O. ligustri on Ligustrum spp rapidly and accurately.
RESUMO
Two Bemisia tabaci populations from Georgia and Florida, USA, were tested for their response to insecticides across different toxicological bioassay methods. Five insecticides in four Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) groups (imidacloprid (4A), dinotefuran (4A), flupyradifurone (4D), pyriproxyfen (7C) and cyantraniliprole (28)), were evaluated against a water check. The routes of application to the plant used were either leaf drench or (systemic) root drench. The four different whitefly bioassay methodologies tested were two published IRAC methods, a clip cage method, and a new tube method. A split-split experimental design was used to assess any interactions between application route, bioassay method and insecticide treatment. Application route had no significant effect on efficacy. However, bioassay method affected overall whitefly mortality, with the dish method having reduced mortality compared to other methods, except for the clip cage method. High rates of cyantraniliprole, dinotefuran and flupyradifurone insecticides resulted in the highest incidence of adult whitefly mortality. Significant interactions relative to percent adult mortality were found between the insecticide and bioassay method for both populations assayed. The clip cage method was more sensitive in terms of dose mortality response followed by the cup and tube methods. The dish method was the least responsive to insecticide dose. Other interactions are discussed.
