Management of Horticultural Crop Insects Entomology 403/803 Department of Entomology University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Course Information

Instructors:

David Keith, Professor Department of Entomology 210B Plant Industry Lincoln, NE 68583-0816 Telephone: (402) 472-8918 Fax: (402) 472-4687 E-mail: dkeith1@unl.edu

Tiffany Heng-Moss, Assistant Professor Department of Entomology 201B Plant Industry Lincoln, NE 68583-0816 Telephone: (402) 472-8708 Fax: (402) 472-4687 E-mail: tiffany@unlserve.unl.edu

About the Course

This course will focus on identification, biology, ecology and management of insect pests of horticultural crops, including vegetables, deciduous fruits and nuts, trees and shrubs, greenhouse crops, turf and ornamentals. Emphasis will be on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies employed to maintain pests below damaging levels while minimizing the use of traditional insecticides.

Course Objectives

After completing the course, you should be able to:

1. recognize beneficial and harmful arthropods associated with horticultural plantings

2. explain the biology and ecology of arthropods associated with horticultural crops

3. characterize types of plant injury and associate it with the arthropod pest that is responsible

4. describe management tactics that are used to minimize injury by arthropod pests

Instructional Method

There are 30 lectures, each around 60 minutes in length, that must be viewed on videotape, as part of course requirements. These presentations will be supplemented with readings from the textbooks, internet websites and other selected references. Each student is expected to take good lecture notes and to complete all reading assignments. Items covered in lectures, but not covered in the assigned readings or handouts are fair game for examination material. Further, all reading material will not be discussed in class lectures, but the student is still responsible for being familiar with these parts of the assignments. All students are expected to conduct independent library research.

Required Textbooks

The required textbooks are:

Davidson, R.H., and William F. Lyon, 1987. Insect Pests of Farm, Garden, and Orchard, eighth edition, John Wiley and Sons.

Borror, D.J. and R.E. White, 1998. A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico, Peterson Field guide Series, Houghton Mifflin Co.

Student Assignments and Exams

Exams: There will be two examinations (midterm and final), both of which must be proctored, and each worth 100 points. Question formats will include definitions, short and intermediate length completion and essay formats.

Quizzes: There will be two lecture quizzes, both open book, and consisting mainly of essay questions. Each quiz will be valued at 50 points, and delivered to you by e-mail attachment.

Insect Collection: All students will prepare and submit an insect collection, which will constitute 100 points of the total score for the course. Your collection must consist of at least 75 species, representing a minimum of 5 insect pests of floral plantings, 15 insect pests attacking trees and shrubs, 10 insect pests of fruits, 5 arthropod pests of greenhouse plantings, 10 insect pests of turfgrasses, 15 insect pests of vegetables, 10 beneficial arthropods, and 5 general feeders. Following submission, your collections will be graded and some specimens removed for our teaching reference collection. The rest will be returned.

IPM Summaries: Each student will receive a list of five insects for which he/she will gather the following information: identifying characteristics for damaging stages, description of damage, summary of life cycle, procedures for scouting, assessment (sampling) of populations, recognized economic thresholds, and a list of feasible management methods/control measures. Each summary will be worth 20 points.

Students taking this course for graduate credit will prepare an additional 5 IPM summaries (10 total).

Library Research Paper: Each student will be expected to write and submit one high quality, in-depth library research paper. The topic for the paper will be chosen by each student, but must be approved by the instructors in advance. Any course-related topic of special interest to the student can be considered (See assignment link).

Grading - Undergraduate Students

Grading - Graduate Students

Lecture Library	Assignments	Exams and Quizzes
Video Library	Websites	Feedback