A box aerial-release system has been developed for the mass release of the arundo wasp, Tetramesa romana Walker, a biological control agent of giant reed, Arundo donax L., an invasive weed of waterways and riparian areas in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. Because A. donax infests lengthy stretches of remote areas inaccessible by vehicle, an aerial release system may be the best way to disseminate biological control agents. The release system involves a paper box that can be easily loaded with chilled, immobile insects. The box opens upon contact with blades installed on a chute in the floor of an airplane. Preliminary tests in the field demonstrated the effectiveness of this system. All boxes recovered after test releases were successfully opened by the release chutes. Post-release emergence rates of insects were great and insect mortality rates were low, especially at moderate ambient temperatures (20–25°C). The box aerial-release system proves to be an appropriate method for release, especially at the early stages of an inundative biological control program for A. donax.

The goal of this project was to analyze a large collection of insect trap data accumulated by the Texas Pierce's Disease Research and Education Program. The traps were set in grape, Vitis, vineyards across Texas to monitor the abundance and distribution of xylem fluid-feeding insects that may vector Pierce's disease. This study evaluated the three most abundant xylem fluid-feeding insects in Texas vineyards: the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar); a smaller green sharpshooter, Graphocephala versuta (Say); and the sunflower spittlebug, Clastoptera xanthocephala Germar. CanonicalCorrespondence Analysis was used to analyze insect abundance against environmental gradients of ecoregion, elevation, annual precipitation, and cold hardiness from 2003–2007 in each of 40 vineyards. Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that distribution of species along environmental gradients differed significantly (p = 0.001) and the environmental gradients explained almost 67% of the variability in insect distribution across the state. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis plot also suggested niche differences among these insect species.

The arboreal species of spiders on saltcedar, Tamarix spp., at Big Spring, Howard County, TX, were surveyed to determine which species could pose a threat to the success of the biological control agent Diorhabda elongata (Brulle) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). This resulted in a list of the spider genera and species found on tamarisk and some initial information on spider ecology in association with this weed tree. Of the 1,495 specimens of spiders collected above ground level during the 3 years of study at the site, 55 spider species in 15 families were found on saltcedar trees. The most abundant species of spiders were mapped to determine their habitat on the trees and in relation to other species. Orb-weavers (Araneidae) and jumping spiders (Salticidae) were the most diverse families, as well as being common, but mesh web-weavers (Dictynidae), while less diverse, were individually numerous. Only orb-weavers were observed to feed on D. elongata in the field.

The shrew flea, Corrodopsylla curvata curvata (Rothschild, 1915) (Siphonaptera: Ctenophthalmidae), is not common in collections of fleas from the Southwest or Rocky Mountains. Fewer records are from nests than trapped hosts. In 1993, a live female specimen was found in a nest that belonged to an unknown small mammal in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. A 67km extension of range was measured from the nearest of four trap sites in the Jemez Mountains, Sandoval County. The nest site was east-southeast across the Rio Grande in Dalton Canyon, Pecos River watershed, San Miguel County. The nest, its contents, and habitat were described. In addition, we reviewed nonpublished ecological data from each of the three collections from trapped hosts in the Jemez Mountains, 1970–1971, and provided a distribution map. A review of records of C. c. curvata and C. c. obtusata (Wagner, 1929) in western mountains with emphasis on small samples from a canyon in Montana suggested that larger samples would confirm the absence of a zone of intergradation between two allopatric species.

Red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, are an invasive species that has infested more than 145 million hectares in the southern United States. Management of this insect pest often relies on the use of food lures and granular bait insecticides. This experiment was conducted to determine the response of red imported fire ant workers when a food lure was placed on the center of a mound or 0.3, 0.9, and 1.8 m from a mound. Percentage of foraging worker ants after 60 minutes of exposure to the food lure was 31.7 to 36.0 at the mound center, 24.5 to 22.3 at 0.3 m, 19.6 to 21.4 at 0.9 m, and 24.2 to 20.4 at 1.8 m. These results demonstrate that red imported fire ants forage on top of their mounds. These data should help convince insecticide manufacturers to allow placement of granular baits on top of nondisturbed mounds in addition to scattering bait around the mound.

The comparative efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) Bollgard, Bollgard II, WideStrike, and non-Bt expressing cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., for control of the noctuid complex of bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie); fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith); beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner); and cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner); was evaluated in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas during 2004–2008. When noctuids were abundant, leaves or fruit were significantly less damaged and fewer live larvae were found on Bollgard II cotton compared with non-Bt cotton throughout the growing season. With few to moderate Lepidoptera, cotton with either of the two Bt traits had similar damage. One insecticide application to cotton with Bollgard, Bollgard II, WideStrike, or non-Bt traits resulted in significantly fewer bollworm and beet armyworm larvae and less damage on fruiting structures compared to nontreated cotton. Beet armyworm larval survival and damage to leaves on non-Bt cotton were 3.6-fold greater than on Bollgard II or WideStrike cotton and 1.5-fold greater than on cotton varieties with the Bollgard trait.

The pecan nut casebearer, Acrobasis nuxvorella Neunzig, is a severe pest in pecan, Carya illinoinensis (Wang.) K. Koch, orchards in Sonora, México. In this pecan-producing region, severe damage has been quantified in the growth of new shoots at the budbreak time of the pecan trees. To examine the interactions between the pecan nut casebearer and pecan tree, we quantified the hatch of the overwintering larvae at the beginning of the budbreak of pecan trees. The activation of hibernating pecan nut casebearer larvae appears when shoot growth is ≥5cm. The larval development was greatest in shoots >15 cm. A reliable correlation was found between the size of shoots and the larval instars. This is the first study that quantified the emergence of the overwintering larva with budbreak. Information gained was expected to provide basic insight into the behavioral relationship of this herbivore with the host plant.

A model, structured by biological stages and with a cumulative development function was used to simulate biological stages of the population dynamics of the Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant, under field conditions in the area of Texcoco, Mexico. The simulations were made to estimate the population dynamics of the Mexican bean beetle, depending on the time and their physiological age using the average of daily temperature values that occurred in the study area from July to October in the years 2007 and 2008, and the percentages of mortality observed in the field for each biological stage simulated for the insect. The simulations were compared with the population dynamics of the pest and its development times registered in the field, matched good estimations with a variation not greater, except for adults in 2008, than 7%.