Anne Averill

Associate Professor of Small Fruit Entomology
UMass Extension Agroecology Program, Cranberry Team Leader
Affiliation: Entomology Department (Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences)

Education

Ph.D. (Entomology), University of Massachusetts, 1985.
B.A. (Biological Science - Ecology), Smith College, 1976.

Research and Extension Interests

• Insect behavior and ecology, focusing on insects of small fruit, currently focusing on cranberry fruitworm, Sparganothis fruitworm and cranberry weevil.
• Alternatives to insecticides, low impact or low toxicity options.
• Insecticide use guidelines for Massachusetts cranberry production
• Sustainable pollination strategies

Accomplishments

• Work on pheromone identifications in cranberry: Sparganothis fruitworm, cranberry fruitworm, white grub, Hoplia equina, and cranberry root grub.
• 15 insecticide residue projects: Field Research Director.
• 5 insecticide reregistration projects: Field Research Director.
• Licensed Pesticide Applicator since 1989, cranberry category No. 30.
• Taught Ent 126, Insect and Human Society, 13 fall semesters.
• Taught PSIS 397K, Insect Ecology and Management, 2 semesters.
• Taught Graduate level Ent 697, Teaching Skills for Large Lectures, 1 semester.
• Taught Graduate level Ent 511, Insect Behavior, 5 semesters

Selected recent service/awards

May 2005 and May 2006: Grant Review Panel: USDA/CSREES/CAR-RAMP Program.

August 2007-present: member of NC 508: Sustainable Solution to Problems Affecting Honey Bee Health, Protection of managed bees.

1999-present: Leader, Cranberry Team within Agriculture and Landscape Outreach Program.

2003: College of Natural Resources and the Environment--Outstanding Outreach Award.

2001-2004: Graduate Program Director, Department of Entomology.

2005-present, memberships:

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Undergraduate Policy Committee.

Department Personnel Committee.

College Natural Resources and Environment, Personnel Committee (co-chair 2007-08).

Recent Search Committee Memberships:

Cranberry Station Director

Turf Scientist

Insect Systematist

Plant-Insect Interactions

Cranberry –Whole Plant Physiology

Entomological Society of America, Eastern Branch: Co-chair Awards Screening committee

Students
Major advisor for 14 graduate students

Member of 28 other graduate student committees

Carolyn Bardwell, Masters of Science, UMass, May 1995.
Predation behavior of spiders in Massachusetts cranberry bog ecosystems.

Rebecca Miller, Senior Thesis, Brown University, May 1996.
Parasitism of cranberry fruitworm by indigenous Trichogramma in MA.

James O'Donnell, Masters of Science, UMass, September 1996.
Larval distribution and adult activity of cranberry root grub.

Andrea Rogers, PhD, UMass, February 2000
Cranberry fruitworm oviposition behavior and egg distribution.

Benjamin Long, MA, UMass, February 2000.
Biology and management of cranberry weevil.

Nagendra Sharma, PhD, UMass, Fall 2000.
Ecology, behavior, and genetic diversity of cranberry fruitworm.

Mark Sisterson, PhD, UMass, Spring 2001.
Ecological dynamics of a parasitoid of cranberry fruitworm.

Sunil Tewari, PhD, UMass, expected Spring 2009.
Ecological dynamics of tipworm

Molly Notestine, MA, UMass, expected Spring 2008.
Bee research in cranberry.

Selected publications

Caruso, F.L., A.C. Schilder, J.J. Polashock, and A.L. Averill (eds). expected publication 2008. Compendium of blueberry, cranberry, and lingonberry diseases and insects, 2nd edition. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul , MN.

Wenninger , E.J. and A.L. Averill. 2007. The roles of male size and mating history in the reproductive output of female oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis. submitted.

Robbins, P.S., S.R. Alm, C.D. Armstrong, A.L. Averill et al. 2007. Trapping Phyllophaga spp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) in the United States and Canada using sex attractants. J. Insect Sciences 6: article 39, 144 pp.

Wenninger, E.J. and A.L. Averill. 2006. Influence of body and genital morphology on relative male fertilization success in oriental beetle. Behavioral Ecology 17: 656-663.

Robbins, P.S., A. Zhang, A.L. Averill, C.E. Linn, Jr., W.L. Roelofs, M.M. Sylvia, and M.G. Villani. 2006. Sex pheromone of the cranberry root grub Lichnanthe vulpina. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 32: 1663-1672.

Wenninger, E.J. and A.L. Averill. 2006. Effects of delayed mating on reproductive output of female oriental beetle Anomala orientalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology . 8: 221-231.

Teixera, L.A.F. and A.L. Averill. 2006. Evaluation of flooding for cultural control of Sparganothis sulfureana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in cranberry bogs. Environmental Entomology 35: 670-675.

Wenninger, E.J. and A.L. Averill. 2006. Mating disruption of oriental beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in cranberry using retrievable point-source dispensers of sex pheromone. Environmental Entomology 35: 458-464.

DeMoranville, C.J., H.A. Sandler, D.E. Shumaker, A.L. Averill, F.L. Caruso, M.M. Sylvia, and D.M. Pober. 2005. Fall flooding for management of cranberry fruitworm (Acrobasis vaccinii) and dewberry (Rubus hispidus) in Massachusetts cranberry production. Crop Protection. 24: 999-1006.

Weber, D.C., P.S. Robbins, and A.L. Averill. 2005. Hoplia equina (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and non-target capture using 2-tetradeconone-baited traps. Journal Economic Entomology. 34: 138-153.

Sisterson, M.S. and A.L. Averill. 2004. Coevolution across landscapes: a spatially explicit model of parasitoid-host coevolution. Evolutionary Ecology. 18: 29-49.

Sisterson, M.S. and A.L. Averill. 2003. Interactions between parasitized and unparasitized conspecifics: parasitoids modulate competitive dynamics. Oecologia. 135: 362-371.

Long, B.B. and A.L. Averill. 2003. Compensatory response of cranberry to simulated damage by cranberry weevil (Anthonomus musculus Say) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Journal of Economic Entomology. 96: 407-412.

Zhang, A., P.S. Robbins, A.L. Averill, D.C. Weber, C.E. Linn, Jr., W.L. Roelofs, and M.G. Villani. 2003. Identification of the female-produced sex pheromone of the scarab beetle, Hoplia equina. Journal of Chemical Ecology 29: 1635-1642.

Sisterson, M.S. and A.L. Averill. 2002. Cost and benefits of food foraging for a braconid parasitoid. Journal of Insect Behavior 15(4) 571-588.

Averill, A.L. and M.M. Sylvia. 1999. Cranberry Insects of the Northeast: A guide to identification, biology and management. Easthampton, MA, Gazette Printing, 112 pages.