Like this beautiful Paranthrene simulans, many insects pests are worth studying for more than how to kill them. A moth that looks like a hornet but is soft on touch, and whose caterpillar doesn't eat leaves but carves tunnels inside living trees, is a source of wonder to an observant entomologist. Photo (C) Mark J. Dreiling
Annual Student Award for the Appreciation for the Biology of Insect Pests
We are proud to announce the winners for the year 2012. Over 20 submissions were received from students all around the world, all works of great passion for insects, full of intriguing discoveries. The quality of several papers was so high, and the “coolness” aspect so great, that the committee was unable to decide on a single winner. Instead, the prize of $500 is divided between two winners:
José G. Crespo, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
for the article Pheromone mediated modulation of pre-flight warm-up behavior in male moths published in The Journal of Experimental Biology (2012) 215, 2203-2209.
Nathan S. Little, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA
for the article Feeding Preference of Native Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae: Reticulitermes) for Wood Containing Bark Beetle Pheromones and Blue-Stain Fungi published in the Journal of Insect Behavior (2012) 25:197–206.
Congratulations, Jose and Nathan! Thank you for your discoveries, and for your interest in the wonders of insect pests. Our sincere thanks also go to all other students who submitted their papers.
This award serves to promote the study of unexplored aspects of natural history of insect pests. For more information on the award, and for submission of a paper for the year 2013 click here.
The award is supported by the TREE Foundation in Sarasota, FL, and conferred by the Ambrosia Symbiosis Research Group (Jiri Hulcr and Andrea Lucky at University of Florida, Rob Dunn at North Carolina State University, and Anthony I. Cognato at Michigan State University).
Please send any further inquiries to hulcr@ufl.edu.