Insect Pest Management Group
We are responsible for undergraduate teaching, mostly in the B.Rur.Sc. and B.Ag. degrees, in applied entomology and crop protection. We also conduct postgraduate training and research. The group is led by Associate Professor Peter Gregg, and includes research and technical staff and postgraduate students. Our research concentrates on cotton pests, especially on the ecology and management of Helicoverpa spp. We are part of the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre. Click here to view images of the insects we work on.
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- May 2005: Peter Gregg and Alice Del Socorro, along with our commercial partners Ag Biotech Pty. Ltd. and the Australian Cotton CRC, won a CRC Association Award for Excellence in Innovation, for the development of Magnet. Magnet is an attract-and-kill product for Helicoverpa armigera. Click here to see a photo of the presentation! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- March 2005: Two more of our PhD students recently submitted their theses: David Britton, who worked on attract-and-kill for Helicoverpa spp., and Samuel Lowor, who worked on the pheromones of rough bollworms, (Earias perheugeli), cotton tipworms (Crocidosoma plebejana) and the green mirid (Creontiades dilutus). David is working as Insect Collection Manager for the Australian Museum in Sydney, and Samuel has returned to his previous position with the Cocoa Research Board in Ghana. We are eagerly awaiting the examiners' verdicts on their work! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- August 2004: Peter Gregg received the Australian Cotton Grower's Association Award for Researcher of the Year, 2004. The award acknowledged a "years of dedicated research work for the cotton industry" and "an outstanding ability to work with others, share his knowledge and encourage young researchers". _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- September 2004: Our research project on plant volatile attractants for adult Helicoverpa has been re-funded by the Australian Cotton CRC. In August 2003 we signed a Technology Licensing Agreement with Ag Biotech Australia Ltd. to commercially develop products arising from this research. One such product has been marketed under the trade name Magnet since the 2003/04 cotton season. We have a Product Evaluation Permit from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for a permit to apply Magnet to 20,000 hectares of cotton annually, and the product is in the advanced stages of registration. We also have an application for smaller scale research on alternative plant volatile attract-and-kill formulations for Helicoverpa and other cotton pests. We see great potential for semiochemical research in reducing the amount of insecticide applied to cotton in Australia and other countries. Peter Gregg, Alice Del Socorro and the technical staff are gearing up for a busy and exciting field season.
- March 2004: We recently hosted a visit by Professor Hanna Mustaparta and Dr. Marit Stranden, from the Norwegian University of Science and technology in Trondheim. Their visit was funded by the Australian Cotton CRC's Scientific Exchange Scheme, and as well as visiting UNE they visited laboratories and research sites in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra, and worked with us in the field to identify the volatile compounds emitted by some Australian crop plants.
- October 2003: Congratulations to our newest PhD graduates, Olivia Kvedaras and Emma Cottage. Olivia's thesis was accepted in May 2003, and Emma's in June 2003. Check our Honour Roll to see where they are now.
- August 2003: We farewelled two long-standing members of the Insect Pest Managment group. Tish Silberbauer was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow for two years, examining the movement of beneficial insects between cotton fields and surrounding native vegetation. She then moved to the Ecosystem Management group of UNE in March 2001, to work on a project on Ecosystem Services in the Gwydir Valley of NSW. This project was led by Associate Professor Nick Reid, and funded by the Australian Cotton CRC and National Heritage Trust. Tish is now working in the laboratory of Professor Andrew Beattie of Macquarie University in Sydney. She will retain close links with our group through her continued supervision of PhD student Ingrid Rencken. Accompanying Tish to Sydney was David Britton, who has been appointed Insect Collection Manager for the Australian Museum.
- May 2003: In January 2003 David Britton and Peter Gregg were contracted by a large tomato producer in the Bundaberg (Queensland) region to research the potential for mating disruption of Helicoverpa armigera. The project later attracted funding from Horticulture Australia Ltd. The project has now been completed, and while we were not able to achieve commercially acceptable levels of control, we gained novel insights into the interaction between host plants and mating behaviour in situations where the vegetation consists of a matrix of host and non-host plants. These have led us to suggest new possibilities for semiochemcials to contribute to integrated pest management in tomatoes, a crop where insecticide use against Helicoverpa spp. has been very intense.
Insect Pest Management Group Members
Head of Group
Associate Professor Peter Gregg, email pgregg@une.edu.auTechnical Staff
George Henderson (Technical Officer), email ghenders@une.edu.auResearch Staff
Dr. Alice Del Socorro (Research Officer), email adelsoc2@une.edu.auDr. Letitia Silberbauer (Junior Research Fellow), email lsilberb@une.edu.au
Dr. John Stanley (Lecturer in Cotton Production), email jstanle4@une.edu.au
Current Postgraduate Students
David Britton (PhD), dbritton@une.edu.auDavid is an internal PhD student working on attract-and-kill technology for Helicoverpa armigera. He is supported by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation, and is jointly supervised by Peter Gregg and Alice Del Socorro.
Samuel Lowor (PhD), slowor@une.edu.au
Samuel is a PhD student from Ghana, who is working on pheromones for occasional pests of cotton. He is supported by Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre and is jointly supervised by Alice Del Socorro and Dr. Chris Moore of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
Ingrid Rencken (PhD), irencken@une.edu.au
Ingrid is an internal PhD student who is working on the role of native vegetation in the ecology of beneficial insects in cotton production systems. She is supported by Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre as part of its project on Ecosystenm Services, and is jointly supervised by Dr. Letitia Silberbauer and Associate Professor Nick Reid,
Honour Roll (postgraduate students who have recently completed)
Dr. Olivia KvedarasOlivia was an internal PhD student working on mating behaviour in Helicoverpa armigera. She was supported by Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre and jointly supervised by Alice Del Socorro and Dr. Chris Moore of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. Olivia's thesis was accepted (without amendment) in May 2003. She is now working in South Africa as a postdoctoral research fellow on pests of sugar cane.
Dr. Emma Cottage
Emma was an external PhD student funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. She worked with Dr. Robin Gunning of NSW Agriculture, Tamworth, on insecticide resistance in the silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. She is continuing to work with NSW Agriculture on resistance to insecticides in cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii.
Dr. Robert Annetts
Robert completed his project on ways of integrating Microplitis demolitor, a native parasite of Helicoverpa spp., into cotton pest management systems in 2001. He was an external PhD student supported by the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre, and was jointly supervised by Dr. David Murray of Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Toowoomba. Robert is currently working with Dow AgroSciences in Toowoomba.
Dr. Marie-Louise Johnson
Marie-Louise completed a PhD on the impact of predators on Helicoverpa spp. in cotton. She was supported by a scholarship from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and was jointly supervised by Dr. Joanne Daly of CSIRO Division of Entomology. After a spell in the Galapagos Islands, Marie-Louise is now working as a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland..
Dr. Moazzem Khan
Moazzem completed a PhD on the ecology of the green mirid, Creontiades dilutus, which is becoming an increasingly important pest of cotton. He was funded by the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre. He worked at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, Narrabri,where he was jointly supervised by Dr. Robert Mensah. Moazzem now works as a research entomologist for the Queensland Department of primary industrioes in Kingaroy, Queensland.
Dr. Amelia Redall
Amelia worked on the influence of mites (Tetranychus urticae ) on the physiology of cotton plants and was jointly supervised by Dr. Lewis Wilson and Dr. Victor Sadras at the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre, Narrabri. Amelia is now working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian Cotton Research Institute, on aphids and bunchy top syndrome of cotton.
Current research activities
1. Plant-based attractants for Helicoverpa moths
A major project funded by the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre is aimed at finding attractants for adult Helicoverpa spp. and other pests of cotton. Such attractants could be used in attract-and-kill systems, or to improve monitoring, to aid in the dispersal of pathogens (eg viruses) of the pests, or to enhance the effectiveness of trap crops and refuges for resisatnce management. Our approach has been to measure the attractiveness of many species of flowering plants (larval hosts and non-hosts) for Helicoverpa armigera moths in an olfactometer, and then to profile the volatile chemicals emitted by those plants using Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry analyses of volatiles collected by Solid Phase Micro Extraction methods. Volatiles common to attractive plants were then tested, individually and in combination, in the olfactometer and later in traps in the field. In recent years we have conducted both small and large-scale open field trials of attract-and-kill formulations including small quantities of insecticides. We now have a commercial partner, Ag Biotech Australia Ltd., who will assist us to develop and commercialise this technology, and are set to begin commercial evaluation trials during the 2003/04 cotton season. Dr. Alice Del Socorro is the key researcher in this project. We have collaborated with Dr. Chris Moore of Queensland Department of Primary Industries, with Professor Jia-wei Du and colleagues of Shanghai Institute of Entomology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and with Professor Hanna Mustaparta and Dr. Marit Stranden of the Norwegian University of Science and technology in Trondheim.
Click here to see some images of this research. This work has resulted in the development of a commercial attractant for Helicoverpa moths. Click here to see an image of this product
Recent research activities
1. Ecology of migratory insects in inland Australia
Research was conducted on the ecology of migratory insect pests and improved techniques for managing them. The field research phase of a six-year collaborative project, examining the ways in which populations of Helicoverpa spp. (cotton bollworms) build up on native host plants in inland Australia and then migrate to cropping regions, was concluded. The data were analysed using GIS and spatial modelling technology in collaboration with Dr Wayne Rochester of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Queensland. This work led to improved methods for forecasting and managing outbreaks of these damaging pests. Later research involved collaboration with Dr. Alistair Drake of the University of New South Wales (Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra), Dr. W. Danthanarayana of the School of Biological Sciences, UNE, and Dr. David Hunter of the Australian Plague Locust Commission. Vertical-looking insect monitoring radars have been established at Bourke (NSW and Thargomindah (Qld) to monitor overflights by insects migrating at altitudes of up to 1 km. PhD student Haikou Wang of ADFA (jointly supervised by Alistair Drake, David Hunter and Peter Gregg) collated and analysed data from these sites. Surveys of insect breeding in areas up to 500km from these sites were conducted to determine likely source regions and species composition for migratory flights detected by the radars.
Click here to see some images of this research
2. Local movement of Helicoverpa and other insects
Local movement of Helicoverpa spp. in cotton growing regions was studied using mark-and-capture techniques with an artificial marker (strontium, sprayed on a source crop) and a natural marker (moth-borne pollen). Moths collected in light and pheromone traps were analysed using X-ray fluorescence techniques to determine strontium levels. Pollen types were identified by scanning electron microscopy, and the distribution of moths carrying each type is compared with the distribution of flowering plants. This work was supported by the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre and is in collaboration with Dr. Gary Fitt of the Australian Cotton Research Institute, Narrabri, and Patricia Wallace of CSIRO Division of Plant Industry in Canberra. In other projects, sunflower pollen has been used as a marker of areas where adult Helicoverpa spp. have fed. The numbers and proportions of moths carrying sunflower pollen at distances of up to 6km upwind, crosswind and downwind of the source crops have been recorded. Information on local movement will be valuable for designing strategies to slow the development of resistance to transgenic cotton, for trap-cropping and many other techniques for managing Helicoverpa spp. Insect-borne pollen is also being used in studies of local movement in beneficial insects (those which prey on pests) in cotton. This work was initiated in the Honours project of Marie Yee and is being continued by Dr. Letitia Silberbauer
Click here to see some images of this research
Links to other Insect Pest Management Sites
Australian Entomological SocietyUniversity of Queensland, Department of Zoology and Entomology
CSIRO Division of Entomology
Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Centre
University of New South Wales, Dr. V. A. Drake