ALUM NEWS FROM UMASS ENTOMOLOGY

(#1, January 15, 2002)
Edited by Dave Ferro and Roy Van Driesche

Dear Alums: This newsletter is a new effort on behalf of the Entomology Dept. to keep in better touch with our friends and former students. We hope to send this out electronically, so if this reaches you in paper form and you use email, please send your e-address to eileenh "at" ent.umass.edu.* If you don't use email but want to get this newsletter, paper copies can be sent out.

*The use of "at" rather than the traditional @ is an attempt to keep spam "spiders" from harvesting our email addresses.

THE DEPT IN 2002- AN OVERVIEW:

The Department currently has 12 faculty: Anne Averill (cranberries), John Burand (insect viruses), John Clark (insect toxicology), Joe Elkinton (insect ecology and forest entomology), Dave Ferro (formerly vegetable entomology, now urban entomology), Ben Normark (taxonomy and evolution),
Adam Porter (genetics), Ron Prokopy (fruit IPM), John Stoffolano (insect physiology), Roy Van Driesche (biological control), Pat Vittum (turf insects) and Chih-Ming Yin (insect physiology). In the last reporting year (2001), there were 31 graduate students associated with the Department, 22 in taking degrees in Entomology and 9 taking degrees in various interdepartmental programs. We also have professional staff and adjunct staff on campus that are active participants in the life of the Department. These are Bob Childs (Stockbridge teaching), Reginald Coler (School IPM), Bill Coli (IPM Program Director), Ruth Hazzard (vegetable IPM), Linden Higgins (instructor, Insects and Human Society), Craig Hollingsworth (extension and survey), and Beth Jakob (spiders). Given below are short pieces giving a view of the activities of our faculty, staff and students.

The Department is still housed in Fernald, Ag Engr, Hatch Lab and the Apiary. Any of you who were here 5, 10, even 20 years ago, would have no problem recognizing the physical facilities of the Department. They remain the same. Ben Normark is our newest member, hired in 2000. Our plan for new growth is to hire an urban entomologist and develop programs in that area.

We will be sending out this newsletter about 3 times a year. In future newsletters we will highlight recent events. We would also like to use this newsletter to highlight news from alums. So, if you have news about your discoveries, your life, your job that you want to share, send it to Eileen Harris for inclusion in future issues of this newsletter.

Best wishes for the New Year, Roy Van Driesche, Interim Chair.

News from Anne Averill.

Greetings from the Averill lab. I continue to work back and forth between Fernald Hall and the Cranberry Experiment Station, which often is as uncomfortable as doing a body split. On the cranberry extension side, we've had a crash of the industry over the past two years, unlike any imaginable. A good portion of the growers will go bankrupt over the next few years owing to the glut of fruit on the market. An interesting tradeoff of this disaster has been an opening of research avenues for me - fewer growers means more time. So I've been able to turn to some back-burnered questions regarding behavior and ecology of insects on small hosts. These questions all involve our two key problem insects; a pyralid moth, the cranberry fruitworm, and cranberry weevil. For larvae of cranberry fruitworm, who do battle for the cranberry, I'm looking at as many factors as possible that may influence the outcome of aggressive encounters. For both cranberry weevil and fruitworm, we're looking at patterns associated with oviposition behavior and daily activity. I've also been able to get back to the wild bogs in the sand dunes of Cape Cod. First, we're establishing what insects are out there and when. The next step will be to focus on the biology of the most interesting of the lot. I also am active in working with growers to move into the non-OP era of cranberry growing. Since most of the insects are resistant now, it's been easier than ever to transfer to the new options such as flooding and biorational compounds.

I'm suffering through what will hopefully be a very short-lived 'empty lab nest' in that a series of students have moved through and I haven't found good replacements. Ben Long defended his Masters thesis (focused on cranberry weevil oviposition behavior, activity in the field, and impact on yield) and landed a job teaching Biology near Boston - which is exactly what he wanted to do. He is a top-notch teacher. Mark Sisterson vaulted through his dissertation (focused on real and theoretical outcomes of competitive interactions between parasitized and unparasitized larvae of cranberry fruitworm) and took a Post-doc at University of Arizona - which is not at all what I thought he would do. Great choice though.

News from John Burand.

The insect virus lab is now set up in the basement of Fernald Hall and is in full operation with several government-funded research projects underway. As usual the lab is a bee hive of activity involving Microbiology and Entomology students. Both Woojin Kim and Chris Rallis presented their research results at scientific meetings this summer and are working on getting their work published. Dr. Weijia Tan has just joined our group and will be working on the effect of virus infection on insect reproductive behavior and physiology.

News from Bob Childs.

Bob has been teaching three courses within the Entomology Department for more than 15 years. The majority of his students are enrolled in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and are preparing for careers in the Green Industry (non-food agriculture). Bob teaches an introductory entomology course, Insects of Ornamentals, and Principles of Pesticide Management.

Bob also acquired an Extension appointment in the late 1980's and serves the Green Industry (primarily landscape contractors, arborists, nursery and garden center managers, and tree wardens, etc.) with diagnostics, recommendations for pest management, and the implementation of IPM and Plant Health care programs. He writes extensively for the associated industries and is often an invited speaker at conferences throughout the Northeast. Many of his students go on to be his clients for his Extension work.

In the early 1990's, Bob was instrumental in obtaining State and Federal funding, with other faculty, in order to develop "The Urban Forestry Diagnostic Lab.," which is housed in the Holdsworth building. This lab has a full time Entomologist (Bob), and one and a half plant pathology positions. Its primary clientele are those members of the Green Industry involved with the care of woody plants.

Bob initially developed, and continues to be involved with, the New England Recommendation guide for Insects, Diseases and Weeds for Shade Trees and Woody Ornamentals. He is also the editor and senior author of "Tree Bytes", which is a multimedia CD-ROM, interactive fact sheet compendium of insects and diseases common to trees and shrubs in the Northeastern United States. It contains nearly 200 entries and over 700 color photographs.

News from John Clark and MPAL.

The toxicology and MA pesticide analysis laboratories have been busy with their usual comings and goings. Dr. Sihyeock Lee has taken a tenure-tract position at Seoul National University as an insect molecular biologist and Danny Tessier is now an assistant professor in Public Health at the University of Illinios. Kyong Yoon, Scott Carrier and Kosea Frederick finished their M.S. theses. Yoon is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the new Environmental Toxicology & Risk Assessment graduate program working on the resistance to pediculicides in the human head louse. He also was acknowledged by the ACS/Agro division as their winner in the best poster presentation category at the Chicago meeting last summer. Scott has taken a position with T. A. Wilberry Co., as an environmental chemist, and Kosea has followed Jessica Dunn into the corporate world of Pfizer as a metabolism chemist. New to the lab is Dr. Jian-Rong Gao, a post-doc from Kun Yan Zhu's program at KSU, who is working on the molecular mechanisms of resistance in head lice and who just won the ACS/Agro divisional young scientist research award. Robin Edwards has joined MPAL and is working on golfer exposure issues. Both Steve Symington and Hyo-Jeong Kim passed their prelims in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program. The lab continues to be productive with approximately $2,000,000 recent funding thanks to the hard work of lots for good folks, both old and new.

News from Reg Coler.

Hello, this is Reg Coler; I am an alum myself! I joined the Department in May of 2000 and work in Extension. My work focuses on urban entomology; in the area of management of insects associated with indoor structures.

I am in charge of the University's portion of a program mandated by the Massachusetts state legislature. The intent of this program is to reduce children's exposure to pesticides and pesticide residues in the school and daycare environment by helping these facilities develop a functional IPM program and a quality IPM plan. The Extension outreach effort (as part of Bill Coli's IPM program) provides many educational training workshops and a detailed website. Our latest endeavor was to develop an interactive website that is tied into a database. The intent of the interactive website is to generate IPM plans which are tailored to the specifics of each of the 6500 facilities throughout the Commonwealth.

Having just moved into the Apiary building, I'm also busy working with the Department of Entomology (specifically Dave Ferro) to develop an urban/medical entomology unit that will work on the issues of entomology in an urban environment. We're looking forward to the work and research opportunities confronting us in the near future.

News from Bill Coli and the IPM Program.

Bill Coli spends a lot of his time these days trying to secure and maintain funding for the UMass IPM Program. The program provides critical funding to several Entomology faculty and staff, including Ron Prokopy, Roy Van Driesche, Reg Coler and Ruth Hazzard. Unfortunately, given recent budget cuts, UMass IPM has lost $250,000 in funding formerly received through an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture. In spite of these cuts, it appears that we will still be able to mount a project dealing with IPM in schools, as well as other IPM activities that are funded by external grants. Bill's current research is focused on using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) to quantify levels of certain secondary compounds in apple leaves (phloridzin and phloretin) to see if these have a role in plant defense against insects and mites. Bill and others have succeeded in acquiring funding to build a state-of-the-art pesticide storage and mixing/loading facility at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard Research Center in Belchertown, and have plans to use the facility for regional training next summer. He also has been working on a grant-funded project to convert the traditional printed New England Apple Pest Management Guide to an innovative Mini CD-Rom format. The new format, which utilizes a "photos first, text second" organization makes using the information in the guide much easier and more intuitive. It may soon even be possible for growers to carry the information on the guide with them to the field on a pocket PC, and reach web page links from the guide via connections from the pocket PC to a cell phone.

News from Joe Elkinton.

After years of working on gypsy moth, Elkinton's lab has embarked on research on other insects. He received a major NSF grant to unravel the population dynamics of the browntail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea. This insect was introduced to North America near Boston from Europe in 1897. It became an important defoliator of many tree species throughout New England and was also a human health hazard due to severe skin rashes caused by urticating hairs from the larvae. Beginning around 1915, however, browntail populations receded gradually to coastal enclaves at the tip of Cape Cod and on islands in Casco Bay in Maine, where high densities have persisted ever since. Until now, no studies have explained why it declined and why it persists in coastal enclaves. Elkinton and colleagues have discovered that a major cause of the decline was the generalist tachinid parasitoid Compsilura concinnata, which was introduced to North America in 1906 to control gypsy moths. Dylan Parry, who joined Elkinton's lab to work on this system as a post-doc in January 2000, has now gone on to a faculty position at Syracuse University. We hope to continue to collaborate with Dylan on this and related projects.

Research lead by Jeff Boettner, has revealed a darker side of the parasitoid C. concinnata as a major determinant of the decline in of giant silk moths, such as the cecropia moth, Hylaphora cecropia. He published a study in Conservation Biology showing C. concinnata was by far the dominant cause of death among cecropia larvae that were deployed in forests near Amherst. The article attracted a lot of media attention (Science, NY Times) because of its implications for biological control policy.
Graduate students in Elkinton's lab include Beth Butin who is evaluating a new coccinellid from China as a potential biological control of the hemlock wooly adelgid, an insect that is devastating hemlock trees in the northeast. Her research shows that the beetle looks very promising and we hope to release it in the coming years. Bibiana Garcia-Bailo is conducting research on the determinants of the diurnal movement behavior of larval gypsy moths. Stephen Thomas is researching the evolution of virulence of Entomophaga maimaiga, a fungal pathogen of gyspy moth, that since 1989, has played a major role in keeping gypsy moths at low density. Stephen is trying to answer a question on everyone's mind namely 'will the fungus gradually evolve to a lower level of virulence or cease to be as effective in preventing gypsy moth outbreaks'?

News from Dave Ferro.

In consultation with the Department Chair (Roy Van Driesche), it became clear that Dave Ferro could best help the Department's long-term goals by switching his research efforts from vegetable insect management to urban pest management. One of the first efforts in this area has been working with the MA Dept of Food and Agriculture and Reg Coler in School IPM. The Pesticide Board for the Massachusetts Department of Food & Agriculture decided that the primary source of exposure of children to pesticides occurs in school settings and to reduce exposure in schools, the Board drafted a new mandate requiring all schools to have a certified IPM program in place. To assist schools in this endeavor, Dave Ferro applied to the UMass IPM Program to develop and implement a school IPM program. He received funds to develop this program beginning in 2001 and hired Dr. Reginald Coler to manage the program. Dr. Coler and Dave have already begun to develop a website to aid school personnel in developing acceptable guidelines

News from Ruth Hazzard.

The Vegetable Extension program has its center in the Entomology Dept in Ruth Hazzard's office, but the team also includes specialists in Plant and Soil Science and Microbiology (plant pathology section). We do outreach work to vegetable farmers statewide and regionwide through all possible traditional and electronic modes. On any given summer day there are typically 5-6 workers based out of Ruth's office, heading out to scout farmer's fields, taking care of research plots at the South Deerfield Research Farm, or putting together our weekly IPM newsletter. Our research interests reflect the diversity of the state's vegetable industry, and currently include flea beetles in brassicas; corn earworm and European corn borer in sweet corn; and striped cucumber beetle and bacterial wilt in pumpkin. Pam Westgate works year round as a technician on these projects, and Caryn Andersen is currently conducting her masters research on flea beetles.

News from Linden Higgins.

Linden, an adjunct member of the Department teaches half the sections of our biggest entomology class, Insects and Human Society, a General Education course that reaches 500 or more students per year. This class is our face to the campus at large and puts us in contact with the greatest number of students. Linden has a special interest in teaching the scientific method and stimulating students to think in such terms about practical questions.

News from Craig Hollingsworth.

The Community IPM Education Project promotes an understanding of IPM principles by growers and IPM professionals, and an understanding of IPM concepts by the general public. A booklet that provides a simple explanation of IPM in nine languages is in preparation. A guide, IPM Guidelines for Northeast Schools (edited by Hollingsworth, Coli, Murray and Ferro), is nearly complete. I am gaining a greater awareness of the issues of structural pest management by assisting the New England Pest Management Association in its IPM education program and coordinating the newly formed NEPMA IPM Registry that educates and recognizes practitioners and businesses offering IPM services. A number of loosely related activities also occupy my time, including assessment of food handling practices on the farm, assessing the status of pollination in Massachusetts, and working with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in developing a tool to assess the interactions of pesticides and ground- and surface-water.

News from Elizabeth M. Jakob (Psychology Department, Adjunct in Entomology).

Beth and her group work on spider behavior and ecology. Currently the lab has four graduate students from Entomology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Neuroscience and Behavior, as well as several undergraduates. Of particular interest to us are jumping spiders, which have keen vision that they use in prey capture and courtship. We study them both in the laboratory and in fields near campus. Individuals can be marked with bee tags, and they readily adopt plastic tubing as nest sites, so this makes them tractable for field studies. Projects include studies on spider learning, mating systems, and an exploration of their usefulness in pest control in greenhouses. Another project treats spiders as a model system for understanding a conservation question: how does the quality and length of corridors connecting patches of good quality habitat affect movement among patches? Another project, now in its formative stages, will investigate the behavioral mechanisms that influence the spread of an introduced web-building spider. Connecting all these projects is our goal of understanding behavior in evolutionary and ecological contexts.

News from Ben Normark.

I just joined the Entomology Department in August of 2000, and I'm delighted to be here. I'm a molecular systematist interested in the evolutionary biology of weird genetic systems, especially parthenogenesis and haplodiploidy. In the past I have worked on broadnosed weevils, aphids, and bark beetles, but I'm setting up my lab in Fernald to focus on the insects with the weirdest genetics of all: scale insects. I'm interested in why there is such a thing as sex, and why some species have no males while others have diploid males and yet others have haploid males. Scale insects have a great diversity of variations on the haplodiploidy pattern (mostly involving paternal genome elimination in males), many origins of parthenogenesis, and the only reversions from haplodiploidy back to diplodiploidy known in nature. They are thus an excellent group in which to study the evolution of genetic systems. Also, due to their notorious shortcomings in the morphology department, their classification has always been problematic and thus they are especially good candidates for molecular-phylogenetic study. One highly practical spin-off of my studies is likely to be a molecular system for the identification of armored scale insects -- including eggs, crawlers, and other stages not identifiable to species using morphology.

Lisa Provencher started a master's program in my lab in 2000. Her thesis project concerns the systematics of the oleander scale, Aspidiotus nerii, which has long been thought to be a complex of cryptic species. Lisa has found that the mitochondrial DNA sequences corroborate this view. It looks like A. nerii may contain one fairly ancient parthenogenetic lineage and at least one relatively recent one.
Two other students started their PhD programs in my lab this fall, Barry Sello and Matt Gruwell. While they are figuring out what they might like to do their thesis work on, both will be involved in a project on the higher systematics of the armored scales (Diaspididae).

Another project in the lab is a collaboration with Roy Van Driesche to find the geographical origin of beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga. Adrienne Desnoyers, a sophomore, is working in my lab on molecular systematics and phylogeography of Cryptococcus.

News from Adam Porter.

My lab group is interested in a diversity of topics in the evolution and ecology of insects, and mostly we work with butterflies. The research I find most interesting lies in trying to figure out the evolutionary implications of hybridization between closely related groups. I also do work in the conservation biology of insects, and I write computer software to analyze genetic differentiation among populations. My lab website has more detail (http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~aporter/), but here is a sketch.

We are studying northern and southern races (some say distinct species) of tiger swallowtail butterflies, to determine how much of their genomes are shared via the leakage of introgressed genes across their hybrid zone in central Michigan. My new PhD student Hong Wan is using genetic markers called AFLPs to sample the swallowtail genomes, to develop a chromosome-by-chromosome map of introgression patterns. We are especially interested in the sex chromosomes, which are implicated in butterfly speciation.

My 4th year PhD student, Baiqing Wang, is doing a very similar project using Colias butterflies, which are sympatric across most of North America and interbreed at a rate of about 10% per generation. Baiqing is developing a high-density AFLP map of the Colias genome and has clear evidence that parts of the genome are introgressing freely, and other parts are held distinct. We suspect these harbor genetic incompatibilities. A biochemistry junior, Elena Levin, and I did a big experiment looking for host-plant specialization differences between the hybridizing Colias, but found little that would indicate niche specialization.

With Dave Ferro and Dr. Mitchell Baker, a recent postdoc in my lab, I have been studying ways to manage the evolution and spread of pesticide resistance in Colorado potato beetles. We are especially interested in getting good estimates their rates of gene flow, so that we can make informed recommendations about the optimal placement and spacing of untreated 'refuges.' To measure gene flow, we treated half a field with pesticide and left the other half untreated. Pesticide resistance evolved in one generation on the treated side, but beetle movement between the two sides smeared the boundary somewhat. From the details of the shape of this smear, using eggs obtained in the field, we were able to measure the gene flow rate. We're very excited about the prospects for this approach to resistance management.

I am collaborating with Dr. Norman Johnson (Adjunct in Entomology) on mathematical and computer models of the evolution of regulatory genetic pathways. Most, if not all, of development and physiology is controlled by genes that turn other genes on or off. Surprisingly little is known of how these regulatory interactions evolve. Norman and I have shown that they are likely to play very important roles in the evolution of new species.

Another exciting little system is under study by 4th year PhD student, Makiri Sei. The maritime ringlet butterfly, Coenonympha tullia nipisiquit, is found only in a few salt marshes in eastern Canada. The caterpillars eat saltgrass and experience complete submergence in seawater at monthly spring tides. Makiri is studying the ecology of these butterflies, and finds that caterpillar survival is very sensitive to subtle differences in microhabitat in the marsh. Her work will allow informed management decisions to be made for their preservation.

News from Ron Prokopy.

I've been blessed with the privilege of having spent the past 26 years of my life in entomology here in our Department. I've enjoyed immensely my time here and my relationship with the faculty, students and staff. Over this period, we in our lab have explored various aspects of the behavior, ecology and management of tree fruit pests. Most recently, we've been focusing on the application of our findings from behavior and ecology studies to development of behavioral approaches to managing plum curculios and apple maggot flies. It's been a lot of fun, indeed an honor, to have been able to work with such highly capable grad students as J. J. Duan, Xingping Hu, Juan Rull, Tracey Leskey, Jaime Pinero and Sara Hoffmann, with Starker Wright and Brad Chandler as technical assistants, and with so many cooperating fruit growers in our effort to manage these two key apple pests with reduced or no insecticide. Although we are inching closer to fulfilling our dream of being able to grow apples in Massachusetts without insecticide, we recognize that there will never be a true endpoint. The thrill has been and continues to be the process of searching.

News from John Stoffolano.

The major focus of our laboratory continues to be on the physiological regulation of feeding in the adult blowfly, Phormia regina, and the importance of nutrition on hormones, mating behavior, and oogenesis. Our laboratory continues its close collaboration with Dr. Yin's laboratory where the expertise in insect endocrinology contributes to our model concerning feeding and its impact on behavior and reproductive physiology. Aaron Haselton, a Ph.D. candidate, is investigating the role of various neuropeptides and biogenic amines as they relate to gut regulation, especially their role in crop filling and emptying. Aaron has extended the Phormia model to include the common house fly, Musca domestica. Using this system he is using a non-peptidal mimic to the crop muscle neuropeptide to see if he can disrupt feeding in adults. In addition, he is examining the effect of biogenic amines and their antagonist on biting behavior in the greenheaded horsefly, Tabanus nigrovittatus. Dr. Stoffolano has taken on the challenge of putting his course, Using Insects in the Classroom for teachers online using the eCollege platform. This has been a very time consuming project but will give the Department its first online course. Already, students from around the state and elsewhere are registering for the spring, 2002, debut for the course.

News from Roy Van Driesche.

This year I became interim Chair of the Department, but am continuing my research and extension in greenhouse biological control and in estimating host ranges of parasitoids being considered for classical biological control.

The greenhouse projects focus on developing biological controls for western flower thrips, which is the most troublesome pest of bedding plant crops. We have two projects underway in the lab. Suzanne Lyon, my permanent technician, is working on trials with predatory mites (mainly Amblyseius cucumeris). She has run greenhouse trials with growers that have compared two formulations (sachet and loose in bran) and two application methods (mechanical application and hand application). Un Taek Lim, a PhD student, is working on another natural enemy of western flower thirps, the sterilizing nematode Thripinema nicklewoodi. He is looking at the impact of this nematode in reducing the rate of population increase of the thrips and on the ability of parasitized thrips to acquire and transmit topspviruses. Two other graduate students in my lab are working on other projects. Agnes Abera, a PhD student supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, is doing her thesis work in Uganda with Cliff Gold of IITA, working on biological control of banana weevil by native predators. Caryn Andersen, a MS student, joined my lab in 2001 and is working Ruth Hazzard, Frank Mangan and myself on IPM of flea beetles in Asian brassica leafy greens.

News from Pat Vittum.

Over the past two years we have devoted much of our research efforts toward elucidating various aspects of the biology and ecology of the annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) (Listronotus maculicollis), an insect that attacks annual bluegrass on golf courses throughout the Northeast. This means, of course, that we spend much of our time during the summer on golf courses - not bad work when you can get it!

NIKKI ROTHWELL, a Ph.D. candidate, has been with us since January 1999, and has taken the lead on the ABW work. She is looking at the effect of mowing height and soil fertilization practices on larval activity, as well as identifying seasonal reproductive activity of the insect. She has learned how to beg supplies from commercial companies and how to install sod, as well as how to dissect small insects! She has also learned every possible route from Amherst to Yonkers, NY, where much her field work is being conducted. In her spare time (!), Nikki teaches Junior Writing (and receives rave reviews from the students each semester) for the Environmental Science program. Nikki has just finished her coursework and looks forward (at least she says she does!) to wrapping up her field work in 2002.

NANCY LUCE continues to be the glue that holds the lab together. She does everything, from making emergency trips to field sites in Westchester County, to keeping track of the lab inventory and making sure the vehicles have fuel in the tank and current inspection stickers. She and Pat actually enjoyed "grubbing" this past autumn, because the weather was so incredibly mild and dry. Bonnie (Nancy's West Highland terrier) is the unofficial lab mascot, and protects us from marauding squirrels.

PAT VITTUM continues to work on the biology and control of turf insects, including the aforementioned ABW as well as various scarab larvae (Japanese beetles and their cousins). Pat was promoted to Professor in September 2001, received the Eastern Branch award in Urban Entomology in March 2001, and received the Outstanding Outreach Award from the College of Food and Natural Resources in November 2000. In addition, she is the senior author of a long-awaited revision of Turfgrass Insects of the United States and Canada (Cornell University Press).

MIKE TISKUS, a long-time member of our lab group, decided he could no longer ignore the voice that kept calling him to teach, and after a couple years of course work in the School of Education here at UMass, was certified as a middle school science teacher. He is in his second year of teaching seventh and eighth grade science at Hampshire Regional School in Westhampton, and is thriving. He is definitely one of those teachers who will make a difference in the lives of many of his students.

RALPH MANKOWSKY, who spent four years in our lab just before he retired in 1996, still lives in Turners Falls. He had surgery for colon cancer during the summer of 2001 and after a bit of a rough go, seems to be regaining his strength. As you would expect from Ralph, his spirit and optimism have never wavered.

News from Chih-Ming Yin.

In 2001, my lab continued our long-term research on the endocrine regulation of insect oogenesis using the queen blowfly, Phormia regina, as our model. Mr. Heping Lin, a Ph.D. student, began to probe the central nervous system with different kinds of antiserums against insect hormones to try to localized the cell origin of the following hormones: Manduca sexta allatotropin, mosquito ovary ecdysteroidogenic hormone, Phormia regina midgut hormone, and Drosophila melanogaster insulin-like substance. Except for the last hormonal substance, we found immunopositive neurons in the brain or ventral ganglia for each hormone. We'd like to add some molecular biology experiments to our research plan. Chih Yin arranged to have his third sabbatical, at Dr. Frank Horodyski's lab at Ohio University from September to December 2001, learning RNA extraction, reverse transcription and ligation of cDNA into viral vectors. He will use PCR and RT-PCR techniques, and northern blot to study oogenesi. Mr. Zongshun Wang helped in our shifting some emphasis to Drosophila experimentation. We treated a chico strain of Drosophila with methoprene, a juvenile hormone analogue and juvenile hormone bisexpoxide, an authentic juvenile hormone of flies to see if the oogenesis as well as the lifespan of these chico mutant flies can be altered. We expect to publish this in the future. This year, I was delighted to note that Dr. Gaylen Jones is moving back to New England and living in Maine close to Orono. Dr. Shu-xia Yi is now working at Miami University at Ohio. These alumi are all doing well, I wish them good luck and continuing success in the coming year.