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What's New This Month
The organizers of
the 8th International IPM Symposium are accepting nominations for IPM
Achievement Awards recognizing outstanding work in IPM implementation.
Any one may nominate individuals, organizations or business and
self-nomination is allowed. The deadline for nomination is December 1,
2014. Find more information and nomination applications here.
Share your IPM work at the 8th International IPM Symposium, March
23-26, 2015. Posters will be organized by the six symposium tracks: agronomic
and row crops; fruit, nut and specialty crops; general agriculture;
rangeland/natural and urban landscapes; urban, structural, and school
and vegetable crops. Find more details about the content and design of posters here. The deadline for online submission of poster abstracts that contain an accurate summary of the work is Monday, January 5, 2015.
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Highlights
New 2013-2014 NYS IPM Annual Review
This
year's Annual Report of the New York State IPM program highlights some
innovative new tools and approaches to pest management for the northeast
and beyond. The update included stories on their new app, Pocket IPM:
Greenhouse Guide, to help track pest populations and recommend control
measures, high usage of their IPM Organic Guides, dealing with pests in
sweet corn production, and the dangers of spotted wing drosophila. Read
the whole report here.
February Urban Pest Management Conference Brochure Released
University of Nebraska Extension distributed a brochure outlining
key speakers, major topics, and registration information for the Urban
Pest Management (UPM) Conference, February 10-11, 2015 in Lincoln, NE.
The preregistration rate of $150 will apply to registrations postmarked
by January 27th after which the rate increases to $170.
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Upcoming Events
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March 24-26, 2015
8th International IPM Symposium
Salt Lake City, UT
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*View this newsletter as a PDF
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Spiders
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The word alone is enough
to evoke shudders of fear and revulsion in many. Of the 35,000 plus
spider species worldwide however, only a handful are problematic to
humans. Spiders are beneficial animals, providing important ecological
services including capturing and devouring pests. In the US, species
occasionally causing problems for humans include the black widow, the
brown recluse and the hobo spiders, which can deliver painful bites. If
any of these three spiders are present in your area, make sure students
and staff can identify them, know simple strategies to avoid bites and
know what to do if a bite occurs.
Black Widow Spiders
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Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series
Bugwood.org
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Only female black widows can inflict harmful bites.
These spiders have a ½ inch or larger, shiny black body and a red
hourglass design on the underside of their abdomen. They spin
distinctive webs that are irregular and tangled with a tunnel in the
center. Webs are usually in low, undisturbed corners with minimal
exposure to sunlight. Female black widows do not stray far from their
webs and are shy, only biting when trapped. Black widow spiders are
found in warm climates in the US.
A
related species, the brown widow, was introduced into the southern US
in the last century, and now occurs in Gulf states, Southern California
and Hawaii. The bite of the brown widow is typically not harmful to
humans.
Brown Recluse Spiders
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Ward Upham, Kansas State
University, Bugwood.org
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These
spiders have long thin legs with an oval abdomen, ¾ to 1 ¼ inches long
overall. They range in color from light to dark brown, and have a
violin-shaped mark on the top of the "cephalothorax", the body segment
containing the eyes and legs. These spiders are shy and generally run
away from humans. They leave their webs to hunt, sometimes leading them
to take shelter in clothes, other fabrics or toys left on the floor.
Bites usually occur when people handle these items without thoroughly
shaking them first.
Brown
recluse are found in the warmers states between the Rocky and
Appalachian Mountain chains, as far north as Missouri and Southern
Illinois. They may be one of the most misidentified arachnids and
arachnid bites. Studies by now-retired entomologist Rick Vetter show
only a small proportion of spiders and bites identified as brown recluse
were accurate.
Hobo Spiders
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Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org
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Hobo spiders are up to 1 ¾ inches in length, with brown hairy bodies.
Their oval-shaped abdomens have darker markings than the rest of the
body. They build funnel-shaped webs in moist, dark places usually close
to the ground or in basements. Like all of the spiders profiled here;
they mainly cause harm to humans when trapped in clothing or bedding
next to skin.
Hobo spiders are found throughout the Pacific Northwest including parts of Idaho, and western Montana, Wyoming and Utah.
IPM
IPM
for spiders focuses on removal and prevention. Regular vacuuming,
including under and around furniture, will reduce spider numbers. Avoid
clutter both indoors and outside of buildings to reduce habitat. Sticky
insect monitors placed under and behind furniture and equipment can be
used to monitor and reduce spider numbers.
To
reduce spider bites, handle objects that may harbor spiders carefully.
Don't place your hands where you can't see what you are touching, or
wear gloves when moving objects that have been sitting on the floor or
ground.
If
these potentially harmful species are common in your area, store shoes,
clothing and other items off the floor and out of bottoms of closets.
If a spider bites someone, keep the victim calm and call a doctor. Try
to trap the spider, keep its remains, take a picture and/or note its
description, as identification can be helpful in treating the wound.
Spiders
can be trapped by placing a cup over the spider and sliding a sheet of
paper or cardboard underneath. Deposit harmless spiders outside.
Potentially harmful species can be killed by placing them in a freezer.
Though
painful, bites are typically only a serious health threat for very
young, elderly or ill individuals, or people with high blood pressure.
Read more in Chapter 15 of the EPA's IPM Manual.
To view a great resource for spider identification, click here for guide developed by Gerry Wegner of Varment Guard Environmental Services, with support from BASF.
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| EPA Recognizes Two Indiana Schools for Model IPM Programs |
In October, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township and Mooresville
Consolidated School Corporation for their success in implementing IPM.
Jim Jones, the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety
and Pollution Prevention of the EPA, personally visited both school
districts along with other EPA staff.
Both districts were part of a program funded by a 2014 EPA PestWise Grant
to Michigan State University to improve IPM in schools in Michigan and
Indiana. The program provided training to demonstration schools in
undeserved areas. The Mooresville school district reported in a press release that they had "reduced pesticide use by 90% and at the same time have drastically reduced the number of pest sightings."The
EPA recognition provides positive reinforcement for the IPM message and
promotes these school districts as positive models of IPM
implementation. Read more on page 11 of the Fall edition of PESPWire.
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IPM Curriculum Workshop at October NSTA Conference in Richmond
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Last
month, Dr. Tom Green, who directs both the IPM Institute of North
America and the Entomological Foundation, facilitated an IPM workshop to
a group of 40 teachers at the National Science Teacher Association
(NSTA) Conference in Richmond, VA. The workshop split participating
teachers into two groups: those with little experience with insects in
the classroom, and those with some training and/or experience.
The beginners worked with a curriculum for grades 4-6 " What Do I Have Here?"
that involved students collecting insect samples and bringing them into
the classroom for observation, study and identification. These teachers
worked with preserved insect specimens to complete the curriculum.
The experienced group focused on a curriculum for 9-12 graders called " Anyone's Town"
which used Rachel Carson's Silent Spring as a basis for discussion of
pests, pesticide use and IPM. For more information on sessions held at
this conference, click here.
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News From the 2014 ESA Meeting
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Entomological Foundation Teacher Workshop
The
Foundation's mission is to excite young people about science through
insects! Much like the IPM Curriculum workshop mentioned above that took
place at the NAST conference, the Foundation hosted a teacher workshop
on Saturday, November 15th in conjunction with the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting .
Three separate sessions were presented to 18 educators and student
teachers with a focus on K-12 insect curricula. Participants were
invited to come and learn from experts how to use insects in the
classroom to educate young people about science and get them excited
about entomology!
The three sessions and presenters included: A Classroom InPestigation presented by Carrie Foss, Washington State University, Urban IPM Director; Insects in the Classroom presented
by Katie Dana and Christina Silliman, graduate students at the
University of Illinois, Champaign, Urbana; and Exploring Insect Biology:
Targeted Collecting presented by Melissa Scherr, Northwest
Entomological Research Center. To learn more about the Teacher Workshop,
click here.
The event would not be possible without our wonderful volunteers,
sponsors and donors. Thank you for supporting the Foundation!
School IPM
Stop
Schools Pests is a National Standard Training Program for schools staff
including: nurses, teachers, custodians, maintenance staff, facility
managers, pest management professionals, administrators and grounds
staff. Learning modules will be made available for online and in-person
training use. An exam/quiz will be offered for individuals interested in
earning a certification/certificate. To view the Stop School Pests
poster, which made an appearance at this year's meeting, click here.
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