Arthro-Pod Ep 181 The Role of Beneficial Insects in Pest Management

Mike and Jody discussed natural enemies or arthropod predators out in the garden that help us with pest management. Here are images of some beneficial arthropods mentioned in the episode. 

Syrphid flies are also called hoverflies or flowerflies. Their adults are pollinators, while larvae perform different roles in the ecosystem. In these images, various syrphid fly larvae can be found where aphids are plentiful. Photo credit: J. Green

A predatory stink bug, the spined soldier bug is a generalist predator that may help out with insect pests, but they can also prey on things we like, including the monarch caterpillars. Photo credit: J. Green

Predatory hemipterans in the garden are generalist predators and may feed on pests, parasitoids, and pollinators. Photo credit: J. Green

Green lacewings can bee seen in all life stages around the landscape. Photo credit: J. Green

Brown lacewings do not lay their eggs on thin stalks, but their larvae are good aphid predators. Photo credit: J. Green

Both social and solitary wasps feed their larvae protein, usually in the form of invertebrates like caterpillars. Solitary wasps provision their nests with prey before laying an egg. Photo credit: J. Green

Ants play many roles in the ecosystem - if you see ants on your plants, you likely have a population of aphids. Photo credit: J. Green

Robber flies perch and actively hunt prey. Photo credit: J. Green

Wheel bugs in various life stages. Photo credit: J. Kalisch (eggs), J. Green

Seeing lady beetles/ladybugs may indicate a pest invasion on trees and plants, but ground beetles such as rove beetles and caterpillar hunters prey on a variety of small invertebrates crawling around the landscape. Photo credit: J. Green

Spiders are generalist predators, and may be active hunters like jumping spiders or sit-and-wait predators like the crab spider. Photo credit: J. Green 

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Arthro-Pod EP 153 Turkestan Cockroaches with Dr. Andrew Sutherland

Hello bug lovers and welcome to a roach filled Valentine's edition of Artho-Pod! Jody and Jonathan meet up with Dr. Andrew Sutherland of University of California Extension. Andrew is an urban entomologist and an area IPM advisor for UC who serves the San Francisco area. As for today's topic, the Turkestan cockroach is an intriguing invasive species that is competing with other roaches, such as the oriental roach, for space. Due to a variety of factors, the Turkestan roach seems to be spreading and is also being noticed by people in the western US. All of that adds up to an interesting podcast episode filled with cockroach facts, thoughts on how the Turkestan roach is spreading, and possible management strategies. 

Love is in the air

Our guest, Dr. Sutherland

                                                        

Show Notes

Green Bulletin

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/legacy_assets/pdf/pubs/greenbulletin.2019.summer.pdf

Pest World Magazine

https://www.pestworldmag-digital.com/npmas/0419_july_august_2019/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1498660#articleId1498660

Pest Notes

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7467.html

Scientific Papers:

Paper by Kim & Rust

https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/106/6/2428/813184

Residual Insecticides: 

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/8/477

Biological control parasitoid wasp

https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/116/4/1128/7179677

Questions? Comments? 

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Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36

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Arthro-Pod EP 140: Setting Ticks on Fire with Jesse Evans

 

Hello bug lovers and uh, tick haters, to today's show! Today, the gang is joined by Jesse Evans, a master's student at Penn State. Jesse studies the intersection of ticks, wildlife, and wildfires- specifically controlled burns. People who have been dealing with surging tick populations seem to frequently wonder if fire could be to ticks what it once was to Frankenstein's monster, a potential deterrent. Tune in to hear Jesse discuss wild mice populations, how fickle fire can be for research, and how large-scale landscape changes may affect something like Lyme disease. 

Show notes
Student spotlight

Jesse's publication on citizen science projects and vector surveillance

Questions? Comments? 

Follow the show on Twitter @Arthro_Podshow

Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36

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Arthro-Pod EP 107: Frank Meek, International Man of Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

 

Join us today on Arthro-Pod as we meet up with Frank Meek, BCE, PCQI, the technical manager of Rollins inc., the parent company of Orkin Pest Control.  Frank started his career with Orkin back in 1986, simply because he needed a job, but remained and succeeded in the industry because he loves his work and enjoys training others about the very important role of the pest controller or pest management professional in society. Today we explore how Frank defines IPM and the public misconceptions of pest management and learn about some of the out-of-the-box experiences he’s had with phorid flies in a mausoleum, earwigs in a cheese factory, pests of ancient artifacts, ants on an oil rig, and the time he called in the Navy to assist with a special case. What pests keeps Frank up at night? What scares him, if it’s not 300 ft heights or tight and confined spaces like tombs, tunnels, and crawlspaces? Tune in to find out!

Frank Meek, International Man of Pest Management

 Show notes

Frank has received recognition and several awards for his achievements, and our team was grateful that he made time to enlighten us through storytelling about pest control around the world.  

Article about Frank Meek: 

https://www.pctonline.com/article/meek-rollins-ipm-award/ 

 Contact: 

https://www.rollins.com/ 

https://www.orkin.com/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-meek-bce-pcqi-73414934/ 

Email: Fmeek@rollins.com 

 

Quotes from our interview: 

“The fun part of it is solving problems. The fun part of this is helping people and teaching people.” – Frank Meek 

 

“No little boy or girl ever grew up and said, “I’m going to be a pest controller.’ You fall into it. You love it and you stick with it, or you hate it and we try and run you off as fast as possible because if you don’t love it and don’t enjoy the work, you’re not going to be any good at it.” – Frank Meek 

 Questions? Comments? 

Follow the show on Twitter @Arthro_Podshow

Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36

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This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 26: Dissecting the World of Pest Control with Carl Braun

Hi there bug lovers! On today's episode we are joined by Carl Braun of Quality Pest Control. On Arthro-Pod we talk about a lot of different kinds of pet insects and have heard from a lot of scientists but today's show looks at the world pest control from an actual operator's perspective. 

Tune in to hear about mistakes people make before and after they hire a professional pest control operator and get some tips on how to prevent pests! 

Catch up with Carl on his website at:
http://qualitypestcontrolomaha.com/

Questions? Comments? 

Email: unl.jonathanlarson@gmail.com

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Thanks for listening!

This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0