News

There’s a better way to kill the fire ant.

Fire ant fungus improved
University of Florida studies show promise for the biological control of this nursery and home pest. For years, scientists have tried to use environmentally friendly fungi to control fire ant infestations. But the ants’ social behaviors—such as hauling their dead off to what entomologists call “bone yards” in isolated spots away from the nests—have prevented commercial development of this method. The fungus can’t spread if infected ants are continually separated from healthy ones.

A new University of Florida study shows that there may be a way to make insect-killing fungi a more potent weapon against fire ants and other pests. Scientists with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences modified the fungus (Beauveria bassiana) so that it produces a peptide that helps regulate the fire ants’ nervous system.

The modified fungus was five to eight times as effective in killing fire ants, but had no increased effect on an unrelated insect, the greater wax moth. The researchers were surprised to learn that the modified fungus had another benefit—it disrupted the ants’ undertaker-like behavior.

“Potentially, it’s important because if you can disrupt this behavior, you may be able to increase the efficacy of the fungus in the nest, because they won’t take the dead out and you can spread the infection throughout the nest better. In theory, you could use the same amount of fungus and it would be more effective,” said Nemat Keyhani, a UF associate professor of microbiology and cell science and the study’s lead author.

Roberto Pereira, an IFAS research associate scientist in urban entomology and a member of the fire ant research team, said the findings are promising, but more study will be needed to determine commercial viability.

For more: http://news.ifas.ufl.edu.

News Notes

Rugose spiraling whitefly. Photos by Yanhua Fan; Laura Sanagorski, University of Florida

New whitefly warning for South Florida
The rugose spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin) was collected from gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) in Miami-Dade County by FDACS DPI inspector Olga Garcia on March 11, 2009. Since its initial discovery, the whitefly has become a problem pest in South Florida. More than 60 plants are hosts for the rugose spiraling whitefly.

The plants most seriously affected are gumbo limbo and palms, especially coconut, as well as avocado, Florida black olive and Calophyllum. Infestations can become extremely dense, with almost complete coverage of the ventral leaf surface by multiple generations of whiteflies.

Adults are small and gnat-like and take flight easily, appearing as clouds around the foliage. Frequently, the distinctive egg spirals are seen on leaves, but with no developing larvae or pupae on the plant. As has been observed with other pest insect species, their numbers can become so great that females are forced to lay their eggs on nearly any surface, including plant species that are not suitable for further larval development.

For more: www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/pest-alerts/index.html.

Dick Clark rose from Tom Carruth. Photo courtesy of All-America Rose Selections.

Tom Carruth retires from Weeks Roses
Tom Carruth, the man behind many popular roses—including Home Run, Julia Child, Strike it Rich and Dick Clark—is retiring as director of research and marketing for Weeks Roses. He has been with the company for more than 25 years.

Carruth introduced 11 All-America Rose Selections winning roses in just a 14-year period.

Carruth’s innovations span from unique color creations to emphasizing the importance of natural disease resistance in his designs.

After college at Texas A&M University, his path through the rose garden began in California with the late Bill Warriner from Jackson & Perkins, and Jack Christensen, formerly of Armstrong’s Nursery. Although there are only a handful of rose hybridizers, Carruth followed his dreams and entered into this small but distinguished group. Carruth became research director at Weeks in 1988.

For more: www.weeksroses.com.

First projects certified by SITES partnership
Sustainable Sites Initiatives announced the first three projects to be certified by its system for rating the sustainable design, construction and maintenance of built landscapes. These initial projects are the St. Charles, Mo., campus of Novus International; The Green at College Park of the University of Texas at Arlington; and the Woodland Discovery Playground at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, Tenn.

The Green at College Park. Photo courtesy of Schrickel, Rollins and Associates.

SITES is a partnership of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden. SITES was created to fill a critical need for guidelines and recognition of green landscapes based on their planning, design, construction and maintenance. The partners have collaborated since 2005 in developing a voluntary, national rating system and set of performance benchmarks for sustainable landscapes in areas with or without buildings.

The SITES rating system includes 15 prerequisites and 51 additional, flexible credits to choose from. The credit options, totaling 250 points, address areas such as the use of redeveloping brownfields or grayfields, soil restoration, water conservation, use of recycled materials and native vegetation and sustainable construction and land maintenance approaches.

Among the features Novus developed with SWT Design and others for the nine-acre headquarters was a parking lot with stormwater retention features, a walking trail that winds through restored prairie and other habitat, and a vegetable garden that staff maintains. The garden is fed by a windmill-powered well that retrieves rainwater stored underground. A detention basin captures stormwater on site and provides aquatic habitat and a scenic view from a nearby pavilion topped with a vegetated roof.

The Green at College Park project leaders including Professor of Landscape Architecture David Hopman worked with Schrickel, Rollins and Associates to create an open lawn, pedestrian promenade, shade arbor and more on roughly three acres in downtown Arlington. The site had served mostly as a parking lot, with poor stormwater drainage that flooded a nearby creek. Now the green space sits next to Arlington’s first mixed-use development, and features native and adapted plants in rain gardens and a water detention system that help slow down the flow of stormwater. That process cleanses the water of impurities and captures it for re-use on the green space’s new vegetation.

The conservancy that oversees Shelby Farms Park developed the Woodland Discovery Playground with James Corner Field Operations and others to restore a woodland and promote children’s health. The 4.25 acre playground with tunnels, swings and other amenities was developed based on current children’s play theories and after workshops with children and adults. It uses recycled athletic shoe material as a surface for several play areas and loose, recycled boot material as a soft landing under a playroom of nets and tree houses. The permeable surface material allows stormwater to soak into the ground to help nourish an arbor enhanced with native trees that surrounds and links playrooms within the space.

For more: www.sustainablesites.org.