Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Rhode Island has many potential pest problems - including both well established and new exotic invasive species. Our goal is to reduce the impact of these species through improved IPM practices in Rhode Island and regionally. We address critical needs of growers of specialty crops (fruits and nursery), managers of recreational and natural areas, and citizens throughout the state by assessing.potential pest problems and recommending, implementing, and evaluating pest management practices. Our primary programming objective is IPM Implementation for Specialty Crops - fruits and nursery/landscapes in Rhode Island. Our Secondary Emphasis Areas include: 1) IPM support for Pest Diagnostics Facilities -managing and operating a Plant Protection Clinic for diagnosing pest problems and making recommendations, and 2) IPM on Recreational lands -addressing pest management and biological control needs and opportunities in natural areas, open spaces, parklands, and other recreational areas. Changes/Problems:The only major change to the activities over the course of this program were related tothe retirement of Dick Casagrande in 2017 and the loss of Andrew Radin to another position in 2021. The specific impacts were related to the volcano mulch education program (Dr. Casagrande) and from 2021-2022 vegetable programs (Andrew Radin). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The IPM team has participated in the following training and professional development activities: 9/13/17 Kingston, RI URI Agronomy twilight meeting/Faubert 10/24-25/17 Burlington, VT New England, NY, Canadian Fruit Meetings/Faubert 11/1-3/17 Quebec City, Quebec NE American Phytopathological Society meeting/ Faubert 11/5/17 Denver, CO National ESA Meeting/Tewksbury 1/29-30/17 Boston, MA New England Grows/Faubert, Tewksbury 12/12-14/17 Manchester, NH New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference/ Faubert 1/8/18 South Windsor, CT CT Vegetable & Small Fruit Conference/ Faubert 1/9/18 Annapolis, MD Invasive species forum/Tewksbury 3/19/18 Annapolis, MD ESA Eastern Branch Mtg and NE Biocontrol Mtg/Tewksbury 3/20/18 Baltimore, MD International IPM Symposium/Tewksbury, Faubert 5/16/18 Ithaca, NY NE Plant Diagnostic Network meeting/Faubert 6/12/18 Cranston, RI Irrigation workshop/Faubert 7/10/18 Belchertown, MA UMass Summer Fruit Meeting/Tewksbury 7/16/18 Reading, PA Spotted Lanternfly Working Group/Tewksbury 7/17-18/18 Portland, ME NE SARE Summer Meeting 10/4/18 Storrs, CT Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group Meeting/Tewksbury 10/23-24/18 Burlington, VT New England, NY, Canadian Fruit Meeting/Faubert 11/7-8/18 Boxborough, MA Northeast Greenhouse Conf./Tewksbury/Faubert/Radin 11/10-14/18 Vancouver, BC, CA ESA National Meeting/Tewksbury 12/17-18/18 Fairlee, VT Small Fruit and Vegetable Extension Working Group/Faubert 2/7-8/19 Baltimore, MD NE SARE Winter Meeting/Faubert 2/26-28/19 Charlotte,NC Spotted Lanternfly Green Industry Summit/Tewksbury 3/10-12/19 Blacksburg, VA ESA Eastern Branch Meeting/Tewksbury 4/4-5/19 State College, PA NE American Phytopathology Association Meeting/Faubert 4/15-17/19 Indianapolis, IN National Plant Diagnostic Network meeting/Faubert 7/11/19 Westport, MA UMASS Grape Grower Twilight Meeting/Faubert 7/23-24/19 Northhampton, MA NE SARE Summer Meeting/Faubert 9/11/19 Kingston, RI URI Vegetable Twilight Meeting/Faubert 9/30-10/2/19 Saratoga Springs, NY NAISMA Annual Meeting/Tewksbury 10/22-23/19 Burlington, VT New England and Canadian Fruit Pest Workshop/Faubert 10/29/19 Biglerville, PA Spotted lanternfly working group meeting in Biglerville, PA/Tewksbury 1/29/20 Warwick, RI Nursery and Landscape Association winter meeting 2/20/20 Beltsville, MD Boxwood blight webinar in Beltsville, MD (participated online)/Faubert 3/11/20 Amherst, MA NEPDN Nematode workshop in Amherst, MA//Faubert 3/12-13/20 Northampton, MA Northeast American Phytopathology Association meeting/Faubert During the pandemic,there was limited travel to meetings but there have been opportunities to attend online webinars. Heather Faubert has attended fruit grower and fruit research meetings as well as NPDN meetings. Lisa Tewksbury has attended invasive species meetings such as the spotted lanternfly research meetings, NAISMA biocontrol summit, and RI meetings such as the CAPS meetings and the spotted lanternfly response planning meetings. In 2022 we began to attend in person meetings, including the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape winter meeting in March, 2022.and the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference in Dec. 2022. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?RI IPM information is disseminated to communities of interest through regular emails (RIAgnotes or the winter moth updates which include other pests). There have also been regular online meetings of grower groups where URI IPM personnel provide pest and IPM updates. The URI biocontrol lab keeps its website updated with invasive species and biocontrol information, and highlights this on its Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Presentations provided by IPM personnel during the course of this project: IPM Presentations by Heather Faubert 9/1/2017 Kingston, RI Organic apple production Audience: 12 10/24/17 Burlington, VT Fruit production in RI. Audience: 50 11/1/17 Quebec City 2017 Highlights in URI Plant Clinic. Audience: 30 11/30/17 Boston, MA Gypsy moth epizootic event in NE Audience: 60 1/18/18 Kingston, RI Role of Cooperative Extension and IPM Audience: 400 1/24/18 Warwick, RI Current Insect and plant disease problems Audience: 70 1/30/18 Kingston, RI Ideal Plant Clinic. Audience: 15 2/13/18 Kingston, RI RINLA Apprenticeship Audience: 30 2/14/18 Taunton, MA Insects attacking trees. Audience: 50 2/15/18 Westford, MA Diseases of Trees. Audience: 70 3/22/18 West Greenwich, RI Preparing for apple season. Audience: 18 4/4/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 4/12/18 Greenville, RI Apple insects IPM. Audience: 35 4/13/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener advanced fruit training. Audience: 40 4/14/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener fruit training. Audience:30 4/16/18 Westerly, RI Master Gardener landscape IPM. Audience: 30 4/19/18 Providence, RI Preventing insect and disease problems Audience: 30 5/10/18 Sutton, MA Apple insects IPM. Audience: 50 5/21/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 5/24/18 Sharon, MA Small fruit IPM. Audience: 35 6/11/18 Providence, RI Identifying vegetable problems. Audience: 12 1/30/18 Kingston, RI Ideal Plant Clinic. Audience: 15 2/13/18 Kingston, RI RINLA Apprenticeship Audience: 30 2/14/18 Taunton, MA Insects attacking trees. Audience: 50 2/15/18 Westford, MA Diseases of Trees. Audience: 70 3/22/18 West Greenwich, RI Preparing for apple season. Audience: 18 4/4/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 4/12/18 Greenville, RI Apple insects IPM. Audience: 35 4/13/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener advanced fruit training. Audience: 40 4/14/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener fruit training. Audience:30 4/16/18 Westerly, RI Master Gardener landscape IPM. Audience: 30 4/19/18 Providence, RI Preventing insect and disease problems Audience: 30 5/10/18 Sutton, MA Apple insects IPM. Audience: 50 5/21/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 5/24/18 Sharon, MA Small fruit IPM. Audience: 35 6/11/18 Providence, RI Identifying vegetable problems. Audience: 12 1/30/18 Kingston, RI Ideal Plant Clinic. Audience: 15 2/13/18 Kingston, RI RINLA Apprenticeship Audience: 30 2/14/18 Taunton, MA Insects attacking trees. Audience: 50 2/15/18 Westford, MA Diseases of Trees. Audience: 70 3/22/18 West Greenwich, RI Preparing for apple season. Audience: 18 4/4/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 4/12/18 Greenville, RI Apple insects IPM. Audience: 35 4/13/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener advanced fruit training. Audience: 40 4/14/18 Kingston, RI Master Gardener fruit training. Audience:30 4/16/18 Westerly, RI Master Gardener landscape IPM. Audience: 30 4/19/18 Providence, RI Preventing insect and disease problems Audience: 30 5/10/18 Sutton, MA Apple insects IPM. Audience: 50 5/21/18 Kingston, RI Diagnosing plant problems. Audience: 120 5/24/18 Sharon, MA Small fruit IPM. Audience: 35 6/11/18 Providence, RI Identifying vegetable problems. Audience: 12 6/14/18 Scituate, RI Apple IPM. North Scituate Audience: 55 7/9/18 Providence, RI Identifying vegetable problems. Audience: 10 IPM Presentations by Lisa Tewksbury 11/2/17 Kingston, RI Invasive pestsfor pesticide certification Audience: 20 11/6/17 ESA Mtg. Potential for Biotic interference between L. lilii parasitoids and L. cheni Audience: 50 11/17/17 Kingston Biological control to Plant Protection Class Audience: 12 11/30/17 New England Grows: Biological Control of Swallow-worts Audience: 40 1/24/18 RINLA Meeting Update on invasive pests Audience: 50 2/10/18 Wild Ones Update on swallow-wort biocontrol Audience: 50 2/13/18 Introduction to Entomology/RINLA Apprenticeship program Audience: 30 2/17/18 Master Gardener Greenhouse IPM Audience: 160 3/1/18 IPM for two HS AP Environmental Science Classes Audience: 30 3/8/18 ELA panel on Biological Control Audience: 20 3/19/18 Swallow-wort biocontrol at ESA EB Audience: 45 3/20/18 Swallow-wort biocontrol at International IPM meeting Audience: 40 4/10/18 Invasive pests for pesticide certification class Audience: 15 5/15/1 Tour of Biological control lab for Future Farmers of America Audience: 25 5/30/18 Spotted Lanternfly and Exotic Insect Survey for Grape Growers Audience: 16 6/20/18 Hot Topics (Biocontrol) CT Master Gardeners Audience: 200 6/29/18 Master Gardener Biocontrol Lab Tour Audience: 42 7/18/18 Invasive Plant Management Training (Biocontrol Overview) Audience: 25 8/3/18 Master Gardener Insect ID: Pests and Beneficials Information is also disseminated to communities of interest through an online newsletter, and through the University of Rhode Island's Cooperative Extension website: https://web.uri.edu/coopext/ Integrated Pest Management https://web.uri.edu/ipm/ Plant Protection Clinic https://web.uri.edu/coopext/ppc/ Biological Control Lab https://web.uri.edu/biocontrol/ The following news articles/press releases also provided information to RI communities: Oct. 6, 2017 Biological Control Approved for Invasive Black and Pale Swallow-wort. By Jil Sweringen, Center for Invasive Species Prevention Blog Feb. 24, 2018 Region is Getting a Break from the Winter Moth Scourge this Year, Westerly Sun http://www.thewesterlysun.com/News/State/Winter-moth-population-declines.html Spring 2018 Biological Control of Swallow-worts Wildflora RI (RI Wild Plant Society) June 17, 2018 RI Prepares for Beetle Attack, Providence Journal http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180617/riprepares-for-pine-beetle-attack June 22, 2018 Southern Pine Beetle Makes its Way to RI, http://www.ripr.org/people/talia-blake#stream/0 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1)Our objective in landscape IPM programming is to assure that our clients are aware of current issues and management techniques for new and existing pests. Winter moth, gypsy moths, and forest tent caterpillars have been defoliating trees and causing extensive damage in Rhode Island for the past several years. In 2017 we experienced an epizootic event that returned gypsy moth population to normal levels. Since releasing the winter moth parasitioid, Cyzenis albicans, and monitoring winter moth egg laying, egg hatch, and larval development, we were able to document winter moth caterpillar population decline.We spread the message to not spray for gypsy moths at RI Nursery and Landscape meetings, fruit grower meetings, Master Gardener presentations, and email messages to hundreds of recipients, as well as newspaper articles. This no-spray message resulted in thousands of dollars of savings to farmers and plant owners. An email message was sent March 18, 2018 and posted on the Fruit IPM website.As predicted winter moth and gypsy moths populations were much lower in 2018. And according to egg monitoring and scouting for caterpillars, some RI orchards did not need any winter moth treatments this year and those that did need treatment reduced the number of applications from 3 -4 in previous years, to one insecticide treatment in 2018.We are extremely pleased that our efforts to monitor, manage, and alert our stakeholders about gypsy moths and winter moths have been so successful. In 2019 a significant portion of Heather Faubert's time was spent visiting landscapes and nurseries concerning boxwood blight. Even more time was spent in the URI Plant Clinic with boxwood samples looking for blight from nurseries and landscapes. Over 200 boxwood samples were examined for boxwood blight and approximately 35% of tested samples were positive for boxwood blight. Heather trained landscapers and nursery growers through two RI Nursery and Landscape (RINLA) newsletter articles and ten speaking events in the fall of 2019 and winter of 2020. These talks were delivered to tree wardens, Master Gardeners, and RINLA apprenticeship participants. Beech leaf disease (BLD) found in forests in RI in 2020. Heather Faubert diagnosed a sample at the URI Plant Protection Clinic, surveyed RI for BLD with RI DEM and continues to educate RINLA members and the public about beech leaf disease. Heather has joined the beech leaf disease working group organized at the Ohio State University. Results: Beech leaf disease has been found in 3 out of RI's 5 counties. URI has set up 6 long-term monitoring plots in beech forests in collaboration with the US Forest Service.Researchers from URI and the CT Ag Experiment Station startedpesticide research trials in 2021 in RI. Spotted lanternfly is an important new pest and we have been monitoring for this in fruits and in Tree of Heaven stands throughout the state. Lisa Tewksbury is a participant in the SLF Working group and Stakeholder partnership group, both groups organized by Penn State. Members of the SLF working group collaborate in a specialty crops grant (SCRI) to conduct research to develop management tactics for SLF. URI is contributing to SLF biocontrol research. The URI biocontrol website (https://web.uri.edu/biocontrol/) is a source of regular SLF updates and weuse google analytics to analyze use of our website and there is always a spike in pageviews after an outreach event. 2) The objective of the anti-volcano mulching initiative is to educate consumers and thereby reduce the incidence of this practice, which is detrimental to the health of trees. This was Dr. Richard Casagrande's initiative, and with his retirement this objective was no longer a focus. 3) Our objective in biocontrol programming is to inform our clients and colleagues of new opportunities in Classical Biological Control and to facilitate the process ofproper implementation of biological control. We have successfully recoveredCyzenis albicans in Rhode Island,a biological control agent of winter moth. This program is being run in collaboration with Joe Elkinton of UMASS. Cyzenis albicans was released in eight locations in RI from 2011 to 2017, and flies have now been recovered in three of these release sites. • URI released the first Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts in the US in August and September, 2017. Releases were made in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The lily leaf beetle biological project collaborated with New York, Connecticut, and Washington State to release lily leaf beetle parasitoids. This program receives many emails from stakeholders indicating an interest in participation in this project. Since the beginning of the mile-a-minute biological control program over 78,000Rhinoncomimus latipesweevils have been released in Rhode Island. The weevils have established in every release site and there has been a reduction in seed production in most release sites. Emerald ash borer (EAB) Emerald ash borer was found in RI for the first time in 2018 and is beginning to cause mortality to ash trees in the northern part of the state. Since 2019 the URI biocontrol lab has been setting up Lindgren funnel traps throughout RI, in collaboration with RI DEM to identify appropriate sites in RI with EAB for release of EAB biocontrol agents. The USDA has deregulated EAB and the primary focus of management for this pest is biological control.Rhode Island has released 3 species of EAB parasitoids in one site in Washington county and five sites in Providence County. Monitoring for recovery and establishment will began in 2021 in one site and one Spathius galinae was recovered.The establishment of the three parasitoids will protect continued development of regenerating ash in RI forests. The URI biocontrol lab is collaborating with Fritzi Grevstad from Oregon State University to release and evaluate a new biocontrol agent of Japanese knotweed. Aphalara itadori was released in 3 locations near the University of Rhode Island in 2020 and 2021. We will evaluate overwintering, establishment and impact of A. itadori in the release sites in 2022. No establishment of thisbiocontrol agent has been confirmed. ?4)The objective of our fruit IPM program is to provide bothexperiencedand newgrowers with knowledge of IPM techniques for traditional and new pests as well as timely assistance in pest management decision making. Tree Fruit grower twilight meetings wereoffered annuallyand providedgrowers with appropriate IPM techniques. Growers learned about managing current insect and disease problems. Fruit grower farm visits focused on winter moth, European red mites, apple scab, fire blight, and spotted wing drosophila.Educational programs were also conducted for vegetable growers, grape growers, Christmas tree growers, and small fruit growers. Andy Radin, agricultural extension agent, specializes in vegetable crops production, including soil fertility management, irrigation, cultural practices, and insect pest and plant disease management and assists growers with these issues. Results: Andy produces a newsletter for the grower community, twice per month during the growing season months, and once per month in the winter. Every issue features pest alerts, and often at least one article focuses on specific pests, diseases, or the ailments of a particular crop. This newsletter is emailed to 500 subscribers. 5) The objective of the IPM Diagnostic Clinic is to identify samples for individuals and organizations involved in pest management and to utilize this information in IPM Programming. The URI Plant Clinic receives approximately 500 plant and insect samples annually and about 60% are from landscapes or nurseries. The director of the plant clinic, Heather Faubert, annually makes over 150 nursery, landscape and farm visits, many of which result in diagnostic samples for the URI Plant Clinic.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Richard A. Casagrande, Patrick Häfliger, Hariet L. Hinz, Lisa Tewksbury, Bernd Blossey. Grasses as appropriate targets in weed biocontrol: is the common reed, Phragmites australis an anomaly? Biocontrol, 63(3), 391-403
DOI 10,1007/s10526-018-9871-y
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-018-9871-y?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorAssignedToIssue
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Bernd Blossey, Patrick Häfliger, Lisa Tewksbury, Andrea Dávalos, Richard Casagrande, Host specificity and risk assessment of Archanara geminipuncta and
Archanara neurica, two potential biocontrol agents for invasive Phragmites
australis in North America. Biological Control 125 98-112
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ellen C. Lakea, Lisa Tewksbury, Melissa C. Smitha, F. Allen Dray Jr., Alana D. Russell, Paul T. Madeiraa, Min B. Rayamajhia, and Richard A. Casagrande. 2020. Potential for negative interactions between successful arthropod and weed biological control programs: a case study with Lilioceris species. Biological Control. Vol:44 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104218
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
J.S. Elkinton, T.D. Bittner, V.J. Pasquarella, G.H. Boettner, A.W. Liebhold, J.R. Gould, H. Faubert, L. Tewksbury, H.J. Broadley, N.P. Havill, and A.E. Hajek. Relating Aerial Deposition of Entomophaga maimaiga conidia (Zoopagomycota: Entomophthorales) to Mortality of Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) Larvae and Nearby Defoliation. Environmental Entomology 2019 1-9
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Robert S. Bourchier, Naomi Cappuccino, Alicia Rochette, Jim des Rivières,
Sandy M. Smith, Lisa Tewksbury & Richard Casagrande (2019) Establishment of Hypenaopulenta
(Lepidoptera: Erebidae) on Vincetoxicumrossicum in Ontario, Canada, Biocontrol Science and Technology, 29:9, 917-923, DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2019.1608511
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2019.1608511
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Richard A. Casagrande, Lisa Tewksbury, and Naomi Cappuccino. 2022. Successful Biological Control of the Lily Leaf Beetle, Lilioceris lilii in:Contributions of CLASSICAL BIOLOGICAL CONTRO L to the U.S. Food Security, Forestry, and Biodiversity, Editors: Roy G. Van Driesche, Rachel L. Winston, Thomas M. Perring, and Vanessa M. Lopez. Forest Health Assessment and Applied Sciences Team FHAAST-2019-05 June 2022.
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The IPM program in Rhode Island addresses the needs of growers, landscapers, and homeowners. We work closely with the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association (RINLA), which represents the nursery, turf and landscape industries of RI. We provide IPM education for both the MA and RI Master Gardeners Associations. We work with RI DEM Divisions of Agriculture, Forestry and Fish and Wildlife. We collaborate with the RI CAPs committee. We provide workshops, twilight meetings, newsletters and email updates for fruit, vegetable, greenhouse and other grower organizations. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Due to the pandemic there was limited travel to meetings but there have been opportunities to attend online webinars. Heather Faubert has attended fruit grower and fruit research meetings as well as NPDN meetings. Lisa Tewksbury has attended invasive species meetings such as the spotted lanternfly research meetings, NAISMA biocontrol summit, and RI meetings such as the CAPS meetings and the spotted lanternfly response planning meetings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?RI IPM information is disseminated to communities of interest through regular emails (RIAgnotes or the winter moth updates whichinclude other pests) and vegetable newsletters. There have also been regular online meetings of grower groups where URI IPM personnel provide pest and IPM updates. The URI biocontrol lab keeps its website updated with invasive species and biocontrol information, and highlights this on its Facebook and Instagram pages. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our major goal with this project is to reduce pest pressure locally and regionally by identifying and assessing pest problems and assisting growers in implementing and evaluating pest management practices. In the next reporting period we intend to continue our regular activities of conductingorchard, small fruit, vegetable and nursery scouting, grower meetings, implementation and outreach relating to IPM programs, conducting grower and other stakeholder educational programs, and managing theURI Plant Diagnostic clinic.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Situation: Beech leaf disease (BLD) found in forests in RI in 2020 Response: Heather Faubert diagnosed a sample at the URI Plant Protection Clinic, surveyed RI for BLD with RI DEM and continues to educate RINLA members and the public about beech leaf disease. Heather has joined the beech leaf disease working group organized at the Ohio State University. Results: Beech leaf disease has been found in 3 out of RI's 5 counties. URI has set up 6 long-term monitoring plots in beech forests in collaboration with the US Forest Service. Situation: Invasive insect - Spotted lanternfly (SLF) SLF is an important new pest and we have been monitoring for this in fruits and in Tree of Heaven stands throughout the state. Response: Lisa Tewksbury is a participant in the SLF Working group and Stakeholder partnership group, both groups organized by Penn State. Members of the SLF working group collaborate in a specialty crops grant (SCRI) to conduct research to develop management tactics for SLF. URI is contributing to SLF biocontrol research. The URI biocontrol website (https://web.uri.edu/biocontrol/) is a source of regular SLF updates. We also have Instagram and Facebook pages (uri biocontrol) which we use to highlight our activities during the year. When three individual SLF adults were found in RI during the summer of 2021 RI DEM issued a press release and we followed up with updates on our website and social media pages. Results: Rhode Islanders are educated about SLF. When we have held Master Gardener training sessions, we have used a zoom poll format to identify prior knowledge of SLF and it is often over 80%. We also use google analytics to analyze use of our website and there is always a spike in pageviews after an outreach event. When SLF is introduced into RI, growers and gardeners in RI will be aware of these invasive species and informed about management techniques. Situation: Vegetable growers with production issues Response: Andy Radin, agricultural extension agent, specializes in vegetable crops production, including soil fertility management, irrigation, cultural practices, and insect pest and plant disease management and assists growers with these issues. Results: Andy produces a newsletter for the grower community, twice per month during the growing season months, and once per month in the winter. Every issue features pest alerts, and often at least one article focuses on specific pests, diseases, or the ailments of a particular crop. This newsletter is emailed to 500 subscribers. Andy also participates in a weekly tele-conference with vegetable crops extension professionals throughout New England and NY State. IPM plant protection is the dominant topic of discussion across all crops. Situation: Fruit growers with production issues Response: Heather Faubert conducts farm visits, newsletters, and grower meetings. Results: In collaboration with UMass, Heather Faubert participated in two virtual fruit grower twilight meetings in 2021. These meetings provide growers with appropriate IPM techniques on managing current insect and disease problems and potential future problems. Situation: invasive insect - winter moth Response: Heather Faubert monitors winter moth populations in RI and advises fruit growers, landscapers, and plant owners about winter moth management via email newsletters and grower meetings. Biocontrol agent, Cyzenis albicans, was released throughout Rhode Island from 2011-2017 and their establishment continues to be monitored. Results: Winter moth population monitoring results in fewer pesticide applications to fruit farms and landscapes than in recent years. Cyzenis albicans has been recovered at most release sites. Situation: Invasive insect - Emerald ash borer (EAB) Emerald ash borer was found in RI for the first time in 2018 and is beginning to cause mortality to ash trees in the northern part of the state. Response: Since 2019 the URI biocontrol lab has been setting up Lindgren funnel traps throughout RI, in collaboration with RI DEM to identify appropriate sites in RI with EAB for release of EAB biocontrol agents. The USDA has deregulated EAB and the primary focus of management for this pest is biological control. Results: Rhode Island has released 3 species of EAB parasitoids in one site in Washington county and five sites in Providence County. The three parasitoids are: Oobius agrili, Spathius galinae, and Tetrastichus planipennisi. Monitoring for recovery and establishment will began in 2021 in one site and one Spathius galinae was recovered. There are more potential recoveries that need to be confirmed. The establishment of the three parasitoids will protect continued development of regenerating ash in RI forests. Situation: Invasive plant - Swallow-worts Response: Since 2017 the URI biocontrol lab has released Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts in a total of 13 sites in RI, CT, and MA. Results: Successful overwintering has been documented in one site in RI, but establishment has not yet been confirmed. Situation: Invasive insect - Lily leaf beetle (LLB) Response: URI continues to monitor lily leaf beetle larvae for LLB parasitoids as part of a citizen science project. We have received larvae from New England and New York. Results: LLB parasitoids are established in RI, MA, CT, NH, and Maine, NY and parts of Canada, and are managing LLB on cultivated lilies. We conducted a follow-up survey asking questions about lily leaf beetle pest pressure of lily growers throughout the US and Canada and the results will be included in a book chapter. Areas of the northeast that had significant releases of the three lily leaf beetle parasitoids received responses from the survey indicating that lily leaf beetle pressure is at a low level in these areas. In RI and MA we were also able to confirm continued presence of the parasitoids Lemophagus errabundus and Diaparsis jucunda. Situation: invasive plant - Japanese knotweed The URI biocontrol lab is collaborating with Fritzi Grevstad from Oregon State University to release an evaluate a new biocontrol agent of Japanese knotweed. Response: Aphalara itadori was released in 3 locations near the University of Rhode Island in 2020 and 2021. We will evaluate overwintering, establishment and impact of A. itadori in the release sites in 2022. Results: No establishment of the biocontrol agent has been confirmed.
Publications
|
Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our IPM training efforts includes grower groups (such as the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association), the RI farm bureau, and the Rhode Island tree fruit growers, Master Gardeners, environmental groups, URI students, pesticide applicators, and fellow educators. We also work directly with fruit growers, vegetable growers, nursery growers and homeowners who submitplant and insect samples for diagnosis/identification to the URI plant protection clinic. We also collaborate with RI DEM Division of Agriculture Cooperative Survey Program and RI DEM Division of Forestry Forest Health Program to educate stakeholders aboutinvasive species. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The IPM team has participated in the following training and professional development activities: 1. Northeastern Division of APS meeting in State College, PA 4/3-5/2019 2. Mycology training at NPDN National Meeting in Indianapolis, IN, 4/15/2019. 3. NPDN National Meeting in Indianapolis, IN, 4/16-17/2019. 4. Berry Call-in weekly Extension Small Fruit conference call, April-July 5. UMass summer fruit meeting in Leominster, MA, 7/10/19 6. UMass grape twilight meeting in Westport, MA, 7/11/19 7. SARE summer meeting in Northampton, MA, 7/23-24/19 8. URI vegetable twilight meeting in Kingston, RI, 9/11/19 9. NAISMA meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY 9/30-10/2/19 10. New England, New York, Canadian Fruit Pest Workshop in Burlington, VT, 10/22-23/19 11. Spotted lanternfly working group meeting in Biglerville, PA, 10/29/19 12. RI Nursery and Landscape Association winter meeting in Warwick, RI, 1/29/20 13. Boxwood blight webinar in Beltsville, MD (participated online), 2/20/20 14. NEPDN Nematode workshop in Amherst, MA, 3/11/20 15. Northeast American Phytopathology Association meeting in Northampton, MA, 3/12-13/20 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through various channels to our stakeholders: presentations, newsletters, Zoom meetings, television reports, conference calls, emails, text messages, phone calls and one-on-one meetings. Our stakeholders include growers, landscapers, land trust members, professional organizations, Master Gardeners and the general public. 1. 9/18/19 Apple IPM at RI Nursery and Landscape (RINLA) twilight meeting, Hope, RI, 30 attendees (Faubert) 2. 9/25/19 Radio Interview about Hypena opulenta as a biocontrol of swallow-worts for WESU Wesleyan University (Tewksbury) 3. 10/1/19 Mile-a-minute talk for Biocontrol Session at NAISMA, 50 attendees (Tewksbury) 4. 10/2/19 Hypena opulenta talk at NAISMA conference - swallow-wort, 60 attendees (Tewksbury) 5. 10/2/19 Weed biocontrol for Sogkonate Garden Club, Little Compton, RI, 50 attendees (Russell) 6. 10/15/19 Biological control of weeds for Invasive Species Class, 20 attendees (Tewksbury) 7. 10/16/19 Organic apple production at Sustainable Ag class, Kingston, RI, 19 attendees (Faubert) 8. 10/16/19 Boxwood blight at RINLA twilight meeting, Kingston, RI, 40 attendees (Faubert) 9. 10/22/19 RI fruit IPM highlights at New England, NY, Canadian fruit meetings, Burlington, VT, 36 attendees (Faubert) 10. 10/28/19 Biological control of swallow-wort with Hypena opulenta , webinar for Swallow-wort collaborative, 10 attendees (Tewksbury) 11. 10/30/19 IPM online symposium: Biological control of swallow-wort with Hypena opulenta, 20 attendees (Tewksbury) 12. 11/4/19 Plant Clinic update at RI Tree Council meeting, North Kingstown, RI, 40 attendees (Faubert) 13. 11/5/19 Vegetable diseases at NOFA RI vegetable IPM seminar, Kingston, RI, 33 attendees (Faubert) 14. 11/8/19 Invasive species for Pesticide Certification Class, 10 attendees (Tewksbury) 15. 11/12/19 Spotted lanternfly, emerald ash borer for Jamestown Tree Preservation and Protection Committee, Jamestown, RI, 20 attendees (Russell) 16. 12/12/19 Blueberry varieties for New England at New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference, Manchester, NH, 60 attendees (Faubert) 17.1/29/20 Boxwood blight in RI at RINLA winter meeting, Warwick, RI, 350 attendees (Faubert) 18. 2/6/20 Landscape IPM at RINLA Apprenticeship Program, Kingston, RI, 22 attendees (Faubert) 19. 2/8/20Wild Ones @ CT College: Biocontrol of weeds (SW), 43 attendees (Tewksbury) 20. 2/11/20 Boxwood blight diagnosis and management at SiteOne, Westford, MA, 60 attendees (Faubert) 21. 2/12/20 Boxwood blight diagnosis and management at SiteOne, Foxboro, MA, 250 attendees (Faubert) 22. 2/13/20 Insect ID and management at RINLA Apprenticeship Program, Kingston, RI, 22 attendees (Faubert and Tewksbury) 23. 2/18/20 Backyard fruit production & Plant Clinic Update for Master Gardeners, Kingston, RI, 40 attendees (Faubert) 24. 2/19/20 Master Gardener core training, First Detector and highlights, Kingston, RI, 135 attendees (Faubert) 25. 2/20/20 Boxwood blight in RI for Boxwood blight webinar, Beltsville, MD, 70 attendees. Remote. (Faubert) 26. 2/20/20 Plant Diseases at RINLA Apprenticeship Program, Kingston, RI, 22 attendees (Faubert) 27. 2/21/20 Weed IPM Webinar: Biological Control of Weeds, 52 attendees (Tewksbury) 28. 3/4/20 Master Gardener Training (Insects and IPM), 135 attendees (Tewksbury) 29. 3/12/20 URI Plant Clinic Highlights at NEAPS meeting, Northampton, MA, 40 attendees (Faubert) 30. 4/22/20 Master Gardener Training Panel, 60 attendees (Tewksbury) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Landscape IPM program in Rhode Island. Our pest management program will continue to include regular nursery visits and educational programs, though educational programs will most likely be online for the foreseeable future. We will provide stakeholders with current recommendations for IPM through websites, fact sheets, online grower meetings, and news media. Between April and September, we regularly visit all commercial nurseries in Rhode Island to scout with the growers and look for insect, disease, and weed infestations and growing conditions that favor these pests. Our intent is to educate growers about their pest problems so that they will be able to identify, evaluate, and hopefully prevent these problems in the future. Farm, nursery, and landscape visits are supplemented by grower inquiries directed to our Plant Protection Clinic, run by Heather Faubert. This program is described under a separate priority, but through it, we remain "on call" so that growers can contact us and request an emergency visit by IPM program staff or other URI faculty members. Our goal is to identify new or unusual pest problems and to educate professionals (on site when necessary) so that they can help themselves in the future. Our other major activity in this priority area is presenting education programming to landscape managers including homeowners and professional. These programs, planned through stakeholder processes described above, are offered by URI IPM staff supplemented by faculty from URI and other institutions, as needed. Each year Heather Faubert and Lisa Tewksbury will provide updates at the RI Nursery and Landscape Association meetings on new invasive pests and update recommendations for managing these and other insects, diseases, and weeds. The annual winter meeting is attended by over 300 nursery producers and landscapers, and monthly twilight meetings are generally attended by 40-50 nursery and landscapers. Since Covid 19, in-person meetings are being postponed and probably conducted online. Lisa and Heather often speak at the twilight meetings in addition to the annual meeting. We will continue to give entomology, plant pathology, and IPM presentations to 130 Master Gardeners, 40 Advanced Master Gardeners, and out-of-state associations that request us to present. Here we discuss the concepts of pest management, give an overview of tactics and address new and particularly serious pests. We provide them with the most useful IPM websites, including our own list of sustainable trees and shrubs. RI Master Gardeners are also provided with continuing education programs for those involved in volunteer projects. These include programs like "Garden Insect Pests and Beneficials", "First Detector Training" and "Insect Identification". The tree fruit and small fruit IPM program will continue. Through decades of IPM programming, our growers have learned and adopted key IPM concepts so that we are now able to maintain a high level of grower performance with minimal scouting, diagnostic, and educational support.Over the next two seasons we will continue to provide up-to-date information on the URI Apple IPM website (http://web.uri.edu/ipm/). Grower Meetings. Grower meetings have changed to an online format for 2020. Through these avenues we disseminate the most recent information on pest management. New orchard pests. In addition to routine insect pests and diseases in orchards, there is the constant threat of new pests. New invasive pests have recently had a substantial impact on these production systems with even greater impacts on the horizon. Though winter moth populations are greatly reduced, we continue to monitor winter moth activity by setting up tree wraps and monitoring eggs for hatching, and then scout trees in the spring for caterpillars. This will keep us up-to-date with winter moth in case populations build to damaging levels once again. With the arrival of the spotted wing drosophila in RI in late summer of 2011, IPM of blueberries and raspberries has become very challenging. This pest is devastating and requires extensive resources to properly monitor and advise grape, berry and stone fruit growers. Heather Faubert will continue to participate in the spotted wing drosophila working group, devising and communicating control strategies for Northeast growers. Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), which has completely disrupted fruit and vegetable IPM programs in the Mid-Atlantic States, is now impacting southern New England, recently arriving in Rhode Island. Spotted Lanternfly is another new pest which we began monitoring for in grapes and stone fruits. Lisa Tewksbury attended the first Spotted Lanternfly working group meeting. Alana Russell worked with Penn State to collect Spotted Lanternfly specimens and create educational displays, as well as modify outreach materials to be specific to Rhode Island. She provided these materials and gave educational presentations on spotted lanternfly to grower groups and URI Master Gardeners. The information to Master Gardeners will be further distributed around the state as they travel with an educational display called the "Master Gardener Kiosk". The URI IPM program will have to work very closely with fruit and vegetable growers over the next few years to modify IPM practices to deal with these new exotic pests. Our goal will be to implement the best IPM practices available and attempt to keep growers in business as new IPM programs are developed and refined. We will collect records of individual growers' pest management efforts to determine outcomes of our programming. Andrew Radin will again send out the newsletter The Week in Vegetablesvia email: twice monthly from May through October, and once monthly from November through April. Each publication covers seasonally prescient issues in vegetable crop production, including a current alert on pests and diseases of concern, as well as two feature articles, one of which usually deals with a vegetable pest problem in detail. Readership is estimated at 150. Biological Control Programs We will continue to monitor winter moth populations for Cyzenis albicans, the biological control agent of winter moth in collaboration with Dr. Joe Elkinton of UMASS. We have established one site in Rhode Island for biological control of Emerald ash borer. Additional releases will be made at this site, and in five new sites in 2020. We will assist collaborators in Connecticut, New York and Washington in determining parasitism of lily leaf beetle larvae. We plan to continue our release and monitoring program for Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts. The URI biocontrol lab will continue to monitor for establishment and impact of Rhinoncomimus latipes weevils, the biological control agents of Mile-a-minute. Since the beginning of the mile-a-minute biological control program over 78,000 weevils have been released. The weevils have established in every release site and there has been a reduction in seed production in most release sites. We will conduct pre-release monitoring for insects in Phragmites, prior to making releases once a permit is approved for biological control of Phragmites. The technical advisory group (TAG) approved the petition for release of two Archanara species for control of Phragmites, and now we wait for the petition to move through the remaining steps of approval through USDA APHIS PPQ and Fish and Wildlife. There are two additional biological control of weeds that are in the early stages in Rhode Island. These are for invasive knapweeds and Japanese knotweed. We have released Larinus obtusus in RI and will continue to monitor release sites for establishment and impact. We plan to collaborate with Fritzi Grevstad and others to release Aphalara itadori for management of Japanese knotweed.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We continue to monitor winter moth populations by setting up tree wraps in early November to congregate winter moth eggs and then record egg hatch in the spring. Tree wraps were set up in three locations in November and removed in February. Ample winter moth eggs were deposited at all three locations, supplying eggs for monitoring. Fruit growers and landscapers were notified and advised about winter moth populations through email updates. In late May, 4th and 5th instar winter moth larvae will be collected and reared to pupation. Pupae will then be sent to UMass to be dissected and checked for Cyzenis albicans parasitoids. Cyzenis albicans was released in Rhode Island from 2011-2017 for biological control of winter moth. In collaboration with UMass, three Zoom twilight meetings have been conducted so far this season for tree fruit growers, providing growers with appropriate IPM techniques. Growers learned about managing current insect and disease problems and potential problems to watch out for such as spotted lanternfly. Zoom meetings have been well attended. There were 62 participants for the first Zoom meeting, 86 for the second meeting, and 63 for the third meeting. Fruit grower farm visits so far this year have focused on winter moth, European red mites, and apple scab. Boxwood blight continues to be a problem in nurseries and landscapes in Rhode Island. Through the fall, Heather Faubert diagnosed boxwood samples at the URI Plant Clinic. In 2019, 221 boxwood samples were evaluated and 74 tested positive for boxwood blight. Heather trained landscapers and nursery growers through two RI Nursery and Landscape (RINLA) newsletter articles and ten speaking events in the fall of 2019 and winter of 2020. Five of the ten talks were exclusively about boxwood blight. The other five talks contained information about boxwood blight and other disease and insect problems. These talks were delivered to tree wardens, Master Gardeners, and RINLA apprenticeship participants. Andrew Radin continues to send out a 5-page newsletter entitled The Week in Vegetablesvia email twice monthly from May through October, and once monthly from November through April. Each publication covers seasonally prescient issues in vegetable crop production, including a current alert on pests and diseases of concern, as well as two feature articles, one of which usually deals with a vegetable pest problem in detail. Readership is estimated at 150, though 500 on email list. Rearing of Hypena opulenta for releases to manage invasive swallow-worts continued into early November when we set up overwintering pupae in 4°C incubators and began again in March with the removal of pupae for adult emergence. The goal of the rearing is to provide an on-going colony used by the URI lab for releases in RI, MA, and CT and to also provide to other researchers and biocontrol labs that will continue to rear them in the future. In the fall we visited potential EAB parasitoid release sites and submitted these as potential sites to the USDA for approval. We also began our pre-release monitoring of Phragmites at potential Archanara release sites. This was for insects that overwinter inside stems. This spring we will continue this with insects that feed on the outside of the stems, or cause visible damage to the stems.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Robert S. Bourchier, Naomi Cappuccino, Alicia Rochette, Jim des Rivi�res,
Sandy M. Smith, Lisa Tewksbury & Richard Casagrande (2019) Establishment of Hypenaopulenta
(Lepidoptera: Erebidae) on Vincetoxicumrossicum in Ontario, Canada, Biocontrol Science and
Technology, 29:9, 917-923, DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2019.1608511
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2019.1608511
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our training efforts includes grower groups, i.e. members of RINLA (RI Nursery and Landscape Association), RIFGA (RI Fruit Growers Association), RIGGA (RI Greenhouse Growers Association), URI Master Gardeners, Environmental Groups, URI students, Pesticide Applicators, and fellow educators. We also work directly with fruit growers, vegetable growers, nursery growers, and homeowners who submit plant and insect samples for diagnosis/identification to the plant protection clinic. We also work with farmers and landowners who have invasive weed problems and are interested in utilizing biological control of weeds. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The IPM team has participated in the following training and professional development activities: 10/4/18 Storrs, CT Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group Meeting/Tewksbury 10/23-24/18 Burlington, VT New England, NY, Canadian Fruit Meeting/Faubert 11/7-8/18 Boxborough, MA Northeast Greenhouse Conf./Tewksbury/Faubert/Radin 11/10-14/18 Vancouver, BC, CA ESA National Meeting/Tewksbury 12/17-18/18 Fairlee, VT Small Fruit and Vegetable Extension Working Group/Faubert 2/7-8/19 Baltimore, MD NE SARE Winter Meeting/Faubert 2/26-28/19 Charlotte,NC Spotted Lanternfly Green Industry Summit/Tewksbury 3/10-12/19 Blacksburg, VA ESA Eastern Branch Meeting/Tewksbury 4/4-5/19 State College, PA NE American Phytopathology Association Meeting/Faubert 4/15-17/19 Indianapolis, IN National Plant Diagnostic Network meeting/Faubert 7/11/19 Westport, MA UMASS Grape Grower Twilight Meeting/Faubert 7/23-24/19 Northhampton, MA NE SARE Summer Meeting/Faubert How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations by IPM team: IPM Presentations by Heather Faubert 9/1/18 - 8/31/19: Attend 9/27/18 EAB and other insects attacking trees. Jamestown, RI 18 10/4/19 Common vegetable insects and diseases. West Kingston, RI 18 10/10/18 Insects and diseases in the landscape. Kingston, RI44 10/17/18 Organic apple production. Kingston, RI 14 10/23/18 RI fruit production highlights. Burlington, VT 45 1/31/19 URI Update: Insect and diseases in the landscape. Warwick, RI 325 2/7/19 Challenges of working with urban, immigrant farmers, Baltimore, MD 20 2/12/19 Insects and diseases attacking trees. Westford, MA 35 2/13/19 Insects and diseases attacking trees. Foxborough, MA 200 2/14/19 Landscape insects IPM. Kingston, RI26 2/15/19 Master Gardeners landscape update. Kingston, RI 35 2/19/19 Landscape diseases IPM. Kingston, RI26 2/20/19 Diagnosing plant diseases. Kingston, RI115 2/26/19 Insects and diseases attacking trees. Hyannis, MA 40 3/12/19 Preventing insect and disease problems. Providence, RI 35 3/19/19 Organic apple production. Kingston, RI15 4/3/19 Interesting plant diseases in 2018. State College, PA 55 4/11/19 Winter moth predictions for 2019. East Bridgewater, MA 45 4/17/19 RI insect and disease highlights for 2018. Indianapolis, IN 30 4/27/19 Pruning tree fruit and small fruit. Kingston, RI30 7/13/19 Insects and disease in the vegetable garden. Providence, RI 5 7/27/19 Insects and diseases in the vegetable garden. Providence, RI 3 IPM Presentations by Lisa Tewksbury 9/1/18 - 8/31/19 9/2/18 NBC10 plant pro "Emerald ash borer" (Tewksbury) Audience: 26,000 9/9/18 NBC10 plant pro "Spotted lanternfly" (Tewksbury) Audience: 26,000 9/19/18 Invasive pests of trees and ornamentals for RINLA twilight meeting Audience: 25 11/2/17 Invasive pests of trees and ornamentals for pesticide certification Audience: 20 11/11/18 Release of Hypena opulenta for swallow-worts - National ESA mtg Audience: 50 11/27/18 Biological Control of Weeds, CT Audubon Audience: 20 1/30/19 RINLA winter meeting - URI update Audience: 300 2/2/19 New England Entomological SocietyAudience: 25 2/14/19 RINLA apprenticeship training -General Entomology Audience: 24 3/2/19 CT Christmas Tree Growers (Swallow-wort Biocontrol) Audience: 66 3/10/19 Eastern Branch ESA meeting - Swallow-wort Biocontrol Audience: 50 3/22/19 Pesticide Certification - Invasive species updateAudience: 6 4/3/19 Maine Invasive Species meeting (Swallow-wort Biocontrol) Audience: 100 4/11/19 SMILE (Elementary School) - Greenhouse tourAudience: 90 4/16/19 Pesticides and the Environment class (Biological Control) Audience: 20 5/14/19 FFA program - Overview of Biological Control LabAudience: 60 5/16/19 Fruit Growers Twilight Meeting - Stone Fruit Survey (&SLF) Audience: 20 7/10/19 URI Biological Control Lab UpdateAudience: 20 8/25/19 Master Gardeners Insect IDAudience: 25 IPM Presentations by Alana Russell 9/1/18 - 8/31/19 1/30/2019 RINLA Winter Meeting (SLF) Audience: 300 3/3/2019 NBC10 plant pro "Spotted lanternfly" Audience: 26,000 3/24/2019 NBC10 plant pro "Emerald ash borer Audience: 26,000 5/14/19 URI Master Gardener "Kiosk" Training (SLF) Audience: 40 5/15/19 RI Nursery and Landscape Twilight Meeting (SLF) Audience: 40 5/16/19 RI Fruit Growers Twilight Meeting (SLF) Audience: 30 8/9/19 URI Master Gardener Hotline Check In (SLF) Audience: 20 8/15/19 URI Master Gardener Insect ID class Audience: 20 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Landscape IPM program in Rhode Island. We will continue to make regular nursery visits and present educational programs giving growers current IPM recommendations using websites, fact sheets, grower meetings, workshops, and news media. We regularly visit all commercial nurseries in Rhode Island to scout with the growers and look for insect, disease, and weed infestations and growing conditions that favor these pests. We educate growers about their pest problems so that they will be able to identify, and hopefully prevent these problems in the future. Farm, nursery, and landscape visits are supplemented by grower inquiries directed to our Plant Protection Clinic, run by Heather Faubert. We also remain "on call" so that growers can contact us and request an emergency visit by IPM program staff or other URI faculty members. Our goal is to identify new or unusual pest problems and to educate professionals (on site when necessary) so that they can help themselves in the future. Our other major activity in this priority area is presenting educational programming to landscape managers including homeowners and professional. These programs, planned through stakeholder processes described above, are offered by URI IPM staff supplemented by faculty from URI and other institutions, as needed. Each year Heather Faubert and Lisa Tewksbury will provide updates at the RI Nursery and Landscape Association meetings on new invasive pests and update recommendations for managing these and other insects, diseases, and weeds. The annual winter meeting is attended by over 300 nursery producers and landscapers, and monthly twilight meetings are generally attended by 40-50 nursery and landscapers. Lisa and Heather often speak at the twilight meetings in addition to the annual meeting. We will continue to give entomology, plant pathology, and IPM presentations to 130 Master Gardeners, 40 Advanced Master Gardeners, and out-of-state associations that request us to present. We discuss the concepts of pest management, give an overview of tactics and address new and particularly serious pests. We provide them with the most useful IPM websites, including our own list of sustainable trees and shrubs. RI Master Gardeners are also provided with continuing education programs for those involved in volunteer projects. These include programs like "Garden Insect Pests and Beneficials", "First Detector Training" and "Insect Identification". The tree fruit and small fruit IPM program will continue. Through decades of IPM programming, our growers have learned and adopted key IPM concepts so that we are now able to maintain a high level of grower performance with minimal scouting, diagnostic, and educational support. Orchard Scouting. We plan to continue the 50+ orchard visits made annually to 12-15 Rhode Island orchards from April through August. An outcome of this effort is the information we provide growers on general pest conditions and alerts on when to sample or treat their crops. We do this through weekly email messages and on our fruit IPM Website. As more orchards are planted in RI, we can focus our scouting and education efforts on beginning orchardists. A long-term impact of our fruit IPM programming is that we have seen increased fruit plantings by new growers who rely on us for knowledge on production and reducing pest problems. Over the next two seasons we will continue to provide up-to-date information on the URI Apple IPM website (http://web.uri.edu/ipm/). Included on this website is the online modeling tool, Orchard Radar, provided by Glen Koehler at the University of Maine's IPM program. Our growers access Orchard Radar in making their insect and disease management decisions. Grower Meetings. In the upcoming growing seasons, we will continue to host the Rhode Island Fruit Growers Annual meeting in March and collaborate with the University of Massachusetts for three twilight meetings in April, May and June. Since 2015 we have held one additional twilight meeting in the spring for small fruit production. Through these avenues we disseminate the most recent information on pest management. Twilight meetings are usually attended by 50 growers from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The meetings take place at a local orchard and provide timely and up-to-date information on growing, harvesting and selling fruit. New orchard pests. In addition to routine insect pests and diseases in orchards, there is the constant threat of new pests. Although winter moth populations are greatly reduced, we continue to monitor winter moth activity by setting up tree wraps and monitoring eggs for hatching, and scouting trees in the spring for caterpillars. This will keep us up-to-date with winter moth in case populations build to damaging levels once again. With the arrival of the spotted wing drosophila in RI in late summer of 2011, IPM of blueberries and raspberries has become very challenging. This pest is devastating and requires extensive resources to properly monitor and advise grape, berry and stone fruit growers. Heather Faubert will continue to participate in the spotted wing drosophila working group, communicating control strategies to Northeast growers. Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), which has completely disrupted fruit and vegetable IPM programs in the Mid-Atlantic States, is now impacting southern New England, recently arriving in Rhode Island. Lisa Tewksbury attended the first Spotted Lanternfly working group meeting, another new pest which we began monitoring for in grapes and stone fruits. Alana Russell worked with Penn State to collect Spotted Lanternfly specimens and create educational displays, as well as modify outreach materials to be specific to Rhode Island. She gave presentations on spotted lanternfly to grower groups and URI Master Gardeners and made outreach materials available. The information to Master Gardeners will be further distributed around the state as they travel with an educational display called the "Master Gardener Kiosk". The URI IPM program will have to work very closely with fruit and vegetable growers over the next few years to modify IPM practices to deal with these new exotic pests. Our goal will be to implement the best IPM practices available and attempt to keep growers in business as new IPM programs are developed and refined. We will collect records of individual growers' pest management efforts to determine outcomes of our programming. Andrew Radin will again send out the newsletter The Week in Vegetablesvia email: twice monthly from May through October, and once monthly from November through April. Each publication covers seasonally prescient issues in vegetable crop production, including a current alert on pests and diseases of concern, as well as two feature articles, one of which usually deals with a vegetable pest problem in detail. Readership is estimated at 150. Biological Control Programs We will continue to monitor winter moth populations for Cyzenis albicans, the biological control agent of winter moth in collaboration with Dr. Joe Elkinton of UMASS. We have established one site in Rhode Island for biological control of Emerald ash borer. Additional releases will be made at this site, and in another three sites in 2020. We plan to continue our release and monitoring program for Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts. The URI biocontrol lab will continue to monitor for establishment and impact of Rhinoncomimus latipes weevils, the biological control agents of Mile-a-minute. We will conduct pre-release monitoring for insects in Phragmites, prior to making releases once a permit is approved for biological control of Phragmites. The technical advisory group (TAG) approved the petition for release of two Archanara species for control of Phragmites, and now we wait for the petition to move through the remaining steps of approval through USDA APHIS PPQ and Fish and Wildlife.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Winter moth populations continue to decrease across Rhode Island following the spread of the released parasitoid, Cyzenis albicans. We released C. albicans from 2011-2017, and continue to monitor winter moth egg laying, egg hatch and larval development. Through this monitoring we have documented winter moth caterpillar population decline throughout Rhode Island. We educated growers, landscapers, and the general public about the reduced population of winter moths with the message that pesticide applications are no longer needed to manage this pest. We spread the good news at RI Nursery and Landscape Association meetings, fruit grower meetings, presentations to Master Gardeners, tree councils, and email messages to hundreds of recipients. This no-spray message resulted in thousands of dollars of savings to farmers and plant owners. Many commercial fruit growers used to spray up to 4 times per season just to manage winter moth caterpillars. Hundreds of landscapes in RI used to be treated yearly to protect against winter moths. This does not happen anymore. Four fruit grower twilight meetings were well attended in 2019 and provided growers with appropriate IPM techniques. Growers learned about managing current insect and disease problems and potential problems to watch out for such as spotted lanternfly. Fruit grower farm visits focused on winter moth, European red mites, apple scab, fire blight, and spotted wing drosophila. In 2019 a significant portion of Heather Faubert's time was spent visiting landscapes and nurseries concerning boxwood blight. Even more time was spent in the URI Plant Clinic with boxwood samples looking for blight from nurseries and landscapes. Over 200 boxwood samples were examined for boxwood blight and approximately 35% of tested samples were positive for boxwood blight. Heather Faubert gave 22 presentations to 1180 individuals about ornamental pests; groups included members of the RI Nursery and Landscape Association, other New England landscape associations, Master Gardeners and the general public. Heather Faubert provided information about caterpillars (winter moth and gypsy moth) to avoid unnecessary pesticide applications by allowing biological control to manage caterpillar outbreaks. The URI Plant Clinic received 500 plant and insect samples and approximately 300 were from landscapes or nurseries. We are recovering the parasitoid Cyzenis albicans, a biological control agent of winter moth. This program runs in collaboration with Dr. Joe Elkinton of UMASS. Cyzenis albicans was released in eight locations in RI from 2011-2017 and flies have now been recovered in six of the eight release sites. The parasitoid is probably established at the other two sites, but it is difficult to find enough caterpillars to test for parasitism. URI released Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts in a total of 7 sites in RI, CT, and MA. Adults were released inside cages where they laid eggs; after the eggs hatched the larvae were allowed to feed for about 2 weeks and then the cages were removed. Release sites will be checked for establishment in the spring. URI continued to provide lily leaf beetle parasitoids for cooperators in Connecticut, New York, and Washington. Lily leaf beetle parasitoids are established in RI, MA, NH, and Maine, and are providing control of lily leaf beetle on cultivated lilies. One species, Tetrastichus setifer, is now established in CT and NY. The phragmites biocontrol program submitted a petition for release of two species for biocontrol of invasive phragmites, Archanara geminipuncta and Archanara neurica. The technical advisory group (TAG) approved the petition, and now it moves through the remaining steps of approval through USDA APHIS PPQ and Fish and Wildlife. The URI biocontrol lab released 4,000 Rhinoncomimus latipes weevils, a biological control agent of Mile-a-minute. Since the beginning of the mile-a-minute biological control program over 78,000 weevils have been released. The weevils have established in every release site and there has been a reduction in seed production in most release sites. Emerald ash borer was found in RI for the first time in 2018. In 2019 we set up 25 traps to identify where EAB was in Rhode Island, and we released EAB parasitoids for the first time at one site. Three species were released: Oobius agrili, Spathius galinae, and Tetrastichus planipennisi. Heather Faubert made 22 nursery visits, 33 landscape visits, and 131 farm visits in 2019. Andrew Radin sent out a total of 18 5-page newsletters entitled The Week in Vegetablesvia email during the reporting period: twice monthly from May through October, and once monthly from November through April. Each publication covers seasonally prescient issues in vegetable crop production, including a current alert on pests and diseases of concern, as well as two feature articles, one of which usually deals with a vegetable pest problem in detail. Readership is estimated at 150.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Potential for negative interactions between successful arthropod and weed biological control programs: a case study with Lilioceris species. Biological Control.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
When misconceptions impede best practices: evidence supports biological control of invasive Phragmites. Biological Invasions.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Relating Aerial Deposition of Entomophaga maimaiga conidia (Zoopagomycota: Entomophthorales) to Mortality of Gypsy Moth (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) Larvae and Nearby Defoliation. J.S. Elkinton, T.D. Bittner, V.J. Pasquarella, G.H. Boettner, A.W. Liebhold, J.R. Gould, H. Faubert, L. Tewksbury, H.J. Broadley, N.P. Havill, and A.E. Hajek.Environmental Entomology 2019 1-9
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our training efforts include grower groups, including members of RINLA (RI Nursery and Landscape Association), RIFGA (RI Fruit Growers Association), RIGGA (RI Greenhouse Growers Association), master gardeners, environmental groups, URI students, Pesticide Applicators, and fellow educators. We also work directly with fruit growers, vegetable growers, nursery growers, and homeowners who submit plant and insect samples for diagnosis/identification to the plant protection clinic. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The IPM team has participated in the following training and professional development activities: 9/13/17 Kingston, RI URI Agronomy twilight meeting/Faubert 10/24-25/17 Burlington, VT New England, NY, Canadian Fruit Meetings/Faubert 11/1-3/17 Quebec City, Quebec NE American Phytopathological Society meeting/ Faubert 11/5/17 Denver, CO National ESA Meeting/Tewksbury 11/29-30/17 Boston, MA New England Grows/Faubert, Tewksbury 12/12-14/17 Manchester, NH New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference/ Faubert 1/8/18 South Windsor, CT CT Vegetable & Small Fruit Conference/ Faubert 1/9/18 Annapolis, MD Invasive species forum/Tewksbury 3/19/18 Annapolis, MD ESA Eastern Branch Mtg and NE Biocontrol Mtg/Tewksbury 3/20/18 Baltimore, MD International IPM Symposium/Tewksbury, Faubert 5/16/18 Ithaca, NY NE Plant Diagnostic Network meeting/Faubert 6/12/18 Cranston, RI Irrigation workshop/Faubert 7/10/18 Belchertown, MA UMass Summer Fruit Meeting 7/16/18 Reading, PA Spotted Lanternfly Working Group 7/17-18/18 Portland, ME NE SARE Summer Meeting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations by IPM team: IPM Presentations by Heather Faubert 9/1/2017 - 8/31/2018 10/18/17 Organic apple production. Kingston, RI Audience: 12 10/24/17 2017 Fruit production in RI. Burlington, VT Audience: 50 11/1/17 2017 Highlights in URI Plant Clinic. Quebec City, Quebec Audience: 30 11/30/17 Gypsy moth epizootic event in New England. Boston, MA Audience: 60 1/18/18 Role of Cooperative Extension and IPM. Kingston, RI Audience: 400 1/24/18 Current Insect and plant disease problems. Warwick, RI Audience: 70 1/30/18 Ideal Plant Clinic. Kingston, RI Audience: 15 2/13/18 RINLA Apprenticeship - Insects and plant diseases. Kingston, RI Audience: 30 2/14/18 Insects attacking trees. Taunton, MA Audience: 50 2/15/18 Diseases of Trees. Westford, MA Audience: 70 3/22/18 Preparing for apple season. West Greenwich, RI Audience: 18 4/4/18 Diagnosing plant problems. Kingston, RI Audience: 120 4/12/18 Apple insects IPM. Greenville, RI Audience: 35 4/13/18 Master Gardener advanced fruit training. Kingston, RI Audience: 40 4/14/18 Master Gardener fruit training. Kingston, RI Audience: 30 4/16/18 Master Gardener landscape IPM. Westerly, RI Audience: 30 4/19/18 Preventing insect and disease problems. Providence, RI Audience: 30 5/10/18 Apple insects IPM. Sutton, MA Audience: 50 5/21/18 Diagnosing plant problems. Kingston, RI Audience: 120 5/24/18 Small fruit IPM. Sharon, MA Audience: 35 6/11/18 Identifying vegetable problems. Providence, RI Audience: 12 6/14/18 Apple IPM. North Scituate, RI Audience: 55 7/9/18 Identifying vegetable problems. Providence, RI Audience: 10 IPM Presentations by Lisa Tewksbury 9/1/2017 - 8/31/2018 11/2/17 Invasive pests of trees and ornamentals for pesticide certification Audience: 20 11/6/17 Potential for Biotic interference between L. lilii parasitoids and L. cheni Audience: 50 11/17/17 Biological control to Plant Protection Class Audience: 12 11/30/17 New England Grows: Biological Control of Swallow-worts Audience: 40 1/24/18 RINLA Meeting Audience: 50 2/10/18 Wild Ones Audience: 50 2/13/18 Introduction to Entomology/RINLA Apprenticeship program Audience: 30 2/17/18 Master Gardener Greenhouse IPM Audience: 160 3/1/18 IPM for two HS AP Environmental Science Classes Audience: 30 3/8/18 ELA panel on Biological Control Audience: 20 3/19/18 Swallow-wort biocontrol at ESA EB Audience: 45 3/20/18 Swallow-wort biocontrol at International IPM meeting Audience: 40 4/10/18 Invasive pests for pesticide certification class Audience: 15 5/15/18 Tour of Biological control lab for Future Farmers of America Audience: 25 5/30/18 Spotted Lanternfly and Exotic Insect Survey for Grape Growers Audience: 16 6/20/18 Hot Topics (Biocontrol) CT Master Gardeners Audience: 200 6/29/18 Master Gardener Biocontrol Lab Tour Audience: 42 7/18/18 Invasive Plant Management Training (Biocontrol Overview) Audience: 25 8/3/18 Master Gardener Insect ID: Pests and Beneficials Information is also disseminated to communities of interest through an online newsletter, and through the University of Rhode Island's Cooperative Extension website:https://web.uri.edu/coopext/ Integrated Pest Managementhttps://web.uri.edu/ipm/ Plant Protection Clinichttps://web.uri.edu/coopext/ppc/ Biological Control Labhttps://web.uri.edu/biocontrol/ The following news articles/press releases also provided information to RI communities: Oct. 6, 2017 Biological Control Approved for Invasive Black and Pale Swallow-wort. By Jil Sweringen, Center for Invasive Species Prevention Blog Feb. 24, 2018 Region is Getting a Break from the Winter Moth Scourge this Year, Westerly Sun http://www.thewesterlysun.com/News/State/Winter-moth-population-declines.html Spring 2018 Biological Control of Swallow-worts Wildflora RI (RI Wild Plant Society) June 17, 2018 RI Prepares for Beetle Attack, Providence Journal http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180617/ri-prepares-for-pine-beetle-attack June 22, 2018 Southern Pine Beetle Makes its Way to RI, http://www.ripr.org/people/talia-blake#stream/0 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Landscape IPM program in Rhode Island. Our pest management program will continue to include regular nursery visitation and educational programs providing stakeholders with current recommendations for integrated pest management through web sites, fact sheets, grower meetings, workshops, and news media. Between May and September, we regularly visit all commercial nurseries in Rhode Island to scout with the growers and look for insect, disease, and weed infestations and growing conditions that favor these pests. (Heather annually makes 60 to 80 such visits.) Our intent is to educate the growers about their pest problems so that they will be able to identify, evaluate, and hopefully prevent these problems in the future. These visits are supplemented by grower inquiries directed to our Plant Protection Clinic, also run by Heather Faubert. This program is described under a separate priority, but through it, we remain "on call" so that growers can contact us and request an emergency visit by IPM program staff or other URI faculty members. Our goal here is to identify new or unusual pest problems and to educate these professionals (on site when necessary) so that they can help themselves in the future. Our other major activity in this priority area is presenting educational programming to landscape managers including homeowners and professionals. These programs, planned through stakeholder processes described above, are offered by URI IPM staff supplemented by faculty from URI and other institutions, as needed. We will continue to serve on the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association (RINLA) Education Committee. The main function of this committee is to plan the two-day educational seminar held each January. Each year Heather Faubert and Lisa Tewksbury will provide updates on new invasive pests and updated recommendations for managing these and other insects, diseases, and weeds. The meeting is attended by over 200 nursery producers and landscapers. We will continue each year to give entomology and IPM presentations to 130 URI Master Gardeners, 40 Advanced Master Gardeners, and the 45 who get their training through the Master Gardener Training coordinated through the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. (See program evaluation in appendix.) Here, we discuss the concepts of pest management, give an overview of tactics and address new and particularly serious pests. We provide them with the most useful IPM web sites, particularly including our own list of sustainable trees and shrubs. RI Master Gardeners are also provided with continuing education programs for those involved in volunteer projects. These include programs like "Garden Insect Pests and Beneficials" and "First Detector Training". The tree fruit and small fruit IPM program will continue. Through decades of IPM programming, our growers have learned and adopted key IPM concepts so that we are now able to maintain a high level of grower performance with minimal scouting, diagnostic, and educational support. Orchard Scouting. We regularly scout representative orchards for insect pests including European apple sawfly, plum curculio, apple blotch leafminer, tarnished plant bug, apple maggot fly, Oriental fruit moth, fruit tree borers, European red mites and two spotted spider mites and pathogens such as apple scab and fire blight. We plan to continue the 100+ orchard visits made annually to 30 - 32 Rhode Island orchards from April through August. An outcome of this effort is the information we provide growers on general pest conditions and alerts on when to sample or treat their crops. We do this through weekly email messages and on our fruit IPM Website and grower visits when necessary. As more orchards are planted in RI, we can focus our scouting and education efforts on beginning orchardists. One goal of our IPM program is to teach these new growers about IPM and the pests they will encounter in their new orchards. A long-term impact of our fruit IPM programming is that we have seen increased fruit plantings by these new growers who rely on us for knowledge on production and reducing pest problems. Over the next two seasons we will continue to provide up-to-date information on the URI Apple IPM website (http://web.uri.edu/ipm/). Included on this website is the online modeling tool, Orchard Radar, provided by Glen Koehler at the University of Maine's IPM program. Our growers access Orchard Radar in making their insect and disease management decisions. Grower Meetings. In the upcoming growing seasons, we will continue to host the Rhode Island Fruit Growers Annual meeting in March and collaborate with the University of Massachusetts for three twilight meetings in April, May and June. Through these avenues we disseminate the most recent information on pest management. We are presently planning a joint meeting between the RI Fruit Growers' association and the RI Beekeepers Association to further ties between these groups and enhance pollinator protection and effectiveness. Twilight meetings are usually attended by 50 growers from Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The meetings take place at a local orchard and provide timely and up-to-date information pertinent to growing fruit trees in the Northeast. Including valuable information on growing, harvesting and selling the fruit. New orchard pests. In addition to routine insect pests and diseases in orchards, there is the constant threat of new pests. New invasive pests have recently had a substantial impact on these production systems with even greater impacts on the horizon. Winter moth is now a significant problem for Rhode Island's apple and blueberry growers. To assist growers to effectively control winter moth caterpillars, Heather monitors egg hatch and alerts fruit growers when pesticide applications are needed. These egg hatch alerts are also sent to fruit growers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. With the arrival of the spotted wing drosophila in RI in late summer of 2011, IPM of blueberries and raspberries has become very challenging. This new pest is devastating and requires extensive resources to properly monitor and advise grape, berry and stone fruit growers. Heather Faubert will continue to participate in the spotted wing drosophila working group, devising and communicating control strategies for Northeast growers. Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), which has completely disrupted fruit and vegetable IPM programs in the Mid-Atlantic States, is now impacting southern New England, recently arriving in Rhode Island. Spotted Lanternfly is another new pest which we began monitoring for in grapes and stone fruits. Lisa Tewksbury is attendedthe first Spotted Lanternfly working group meeting. The URI IPM program will have to work very closely with fruit and vegetable growers over the next few years to modify IPM practices to deal with these new exotic pests.Our goal will be to implement the best IPM practices available and attempt to keep growers in business as new IPM programs are developed and refined. We will collect records of individual growers' pest management efforts to determine outcomes of our programming. We will be working with Andrew Radin in the next reporting period, an agricultural extension agent at the University of Rhode Island, who works primarily with vegetable growers and new farmers in RI. He sends out a weekly vegetable newsletter "This week in vegetables" for RI vegetable farmers. Lisa Tewksbury will continue to provide Biological control implementation programs, and biological control presentations for RI communities. We plan to continue to release and monitor Hypena opulenta for swallow-wort biological control, and will also maintain our programs in lily leaf beetle, mile-a-minute, and Phragmites. Emerald ash borer was just found in RI in July 2018, so we plan to begin releases of EAB parasitoids in RI as soon as suitable release sites are found. .
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Winter moth, gypsy moths, and forest tent caterpillars have been defoliating trees and causing extensive damage in Rhode Island for the past several years. In 2017 we experienced an epizootic event that returned gypsy moth population to normal levels. Since releasing the winter moth parasitioid, Cyzenis albicans, and monitoring winter moth egg laying, egg hatch, and larval development, we were able to document winter moth caterpillar population decline. We educated growers, landscapers, and the general public about the demise of gypsy moths and the reduced population of winter moths. We spread the message to not spray for gypsy moths at RI Nursery and Landscape meetings, fruit grower meetings, Master Gardener presentations, and email messages to hundreds of recipients, as well as newspaper articles. This no-spray message resulted in thousands of dollars of savings to farmers and plant owners. See attached email message sent March 18, 2018 and posted on the Fruit IPM website athttps://web.uri.edu/ipm/2018/03/uri-caterpillar-update-march-18-2018/ As predicted and announced, winter moth and gypsy moths populations were much lower in 2018. Only one commercial RI orchard needed to manage gypsy moths in 2018. And according to egg monitoring and scouting for caterpillars, some RI orchards did not need any winter moth treatments this year and those that did need treatment reduced the number of applications from 3 -4 in previous years, to one insecticide treatment this year. We are extremely pleased that our efforts to monitor, manage, and alert our stakeholders about gypsy moths and winter moths have been so successful. Our stakeholders are pleased and fewer pesticides have been applied to RI orchards and landscapes than would have been applied without monitoring and education. Four Fruit grower twilight meetings were well attended in 2018 and provided growers with appropriate IPM techniques. Growers learned about managing current insect and disease problems. Fruit grower farm visits focused on winter moth, European red mites, apple scab, fire blight, and spotted wing drosophila. Lisa Tewksbury organized two biological control syposiums for regional biocontrol researchers in 2018. One was held at the Entomological Society's Eastern Branch meeting in Annapolis, MD, and the other at the International IPM meeting in Baltimore, MD. Heather Faubert gave 23 presentations to 1,372 individuals about ornamental pests, groups included members of the RI Nursery and Landscape Association, Master Gardeners, and the general public. Heather Faubert provided information about caterpillars (winter moth, forest tent, and gypsy moths), to avoid unnecessary pesticide applications by allowing biological controls to manage caterpillar outbreaks and to apply least-harmful insecticides to a limited number of high-value trees. The URI Plant Clinic received 400 plant and insect samples, and 200 were from landscapes Lisa Tewksbury gave general IPM and entomology talks, updates on exotic insects, and updates on biological control research and implementation in 18 presentations to 870 individuals. Seven RI tree fruit growers received daily SkyBit weather emails to aid in IPM decisions. Educational programs were conducted for vegetable growers, grape growers, Christmas tree growers, and small fruit growers We are recovering Cyzenis albicans, a biological control agent of winter moth. This program is being run in collaboration with Joe Elkinton of UMASS. Cyzenis albicans was released in eight locations in RI from 2011 to 2017, and flies have now been recovered in three of these release sites. URI released the first Hypena opulenta, a biological control agent of swallow-worts in the US in August and September, 2017. Releases were made in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Additional releases were made in 2018 in two locations in RI and one in MA. There is significantinterest in this project with stakeholders in RI and throughout the Northeast. The lily leaf beetle biological project collaborated with New York, Connecticut, and Washington State to release lily leaf beetle parasitoids. This program receives many emails from stakeholders indicating an interest in participation in this project. The biological control of Phragmites project has progressed to the point of submitting a petition for release for two biological control agents; both moth species. URI released 5,000 Rhinoncomimus latipes weevils, a biological control agent of Mile-a-minute in RI in 2018. We also released 2,100 Larinus obtusus, a biological control agent of knapweedin RI.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Richard A. Casagrande, Patrick H�fliger, Hariet L. Hinz, Lisa Tewksbury, Bernd Blossey. Grasses as appropriate targets in weed biocontrol: is the common reed, Phragmites australis an anomaly? Biocontrol, 63(3), 391-403
DOI 10,1007/s10526-018-9871-y
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-018-9871-y?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorAssignedToIssue
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Bernd Blossey, Patrick H�fliger, Lisa Tewksbury, Andrea D�valos, Richard Casagrande, Host specificity and risk assessment of Archanara geminipuncta and
Archanara neurica, two potential biocontrol agents for invasive Phragmites
australis in North America. Biological Control 125 98-112
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Bernd Blossey, Patrick H�fliger, Lisa Tewksbury, Andrea D�valos, Richard Casagrande Complete host specificity test plant list and associated data to assess host specificity of Archanara geminipuncta and Archanara neurica, two potential biocontrol agents for invasive Phragmites australis in North America
Elsevier Data in Brief 19 (2018) 1755-1764.
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