Entomology Games
What aquatic genus of Hemiptera was the subject of Wendy Wang's recent phylogeographic study that was published in the journal Marine Biology?
Halobates
Dr. Sheba Meymandi is the director of the CECD, the only US organization fully dedicated to caring for people infected with what insect-vectored protozoan? She estimates that over 30,000 people in Los Angeles County have the disease caused by this protozoan, which is vectored by Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma infestans, and other species of kissing bugs.
Trypanosoma cruzi (CECD - Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease)
What is the IRAC classification group of the compounds Mancozeb, Pyridalyl, Benzoximate, Bromopropylate, Chinomethionat, Azadirachtin, and lime sulfur?
UN - Compounds of unknown or uncertain MOA
Most contact insecticides are able to penetrate the insect exoskeleton because they contain a fat-soluble compound. What is the term for this type of chemical compound?
lipophilic compound
Dr. Osama el-Lissy is the current deputy administrator of what USDA program, which oversees the importation of natural enemies for many of the classical biological control efforts conducted in the U.S.? We will accept the full name of this program, or its three-letter initialism.
USDA-APHIS-PPQ (Plant Protection and Quarantine)
Most female mosquitoes need a bloodmeal to produce and lay eggs. What is the term for this reproductive strategy?
Anautogeny
The adults of Nudaurelia cytherea are commonly called pine emperor moths, but the larvae have a different common name with two meanings. What is this larval common name, which references its economic importance as a pest of evergreen trees, and references the colorful, festive spots that decorate its abdomen, or 'trunk'?
Christmas caterpillar
The predatory carabid, Promecognathus laevissimus, shows exceptionally high tolerance to cyanide in fumigation tests. This adaptation allows the beetle to overcome the defenses of its prey, which secretes a cloud of cyanide from its many spiracles. What does this beetle feed on?
(polydesmidan) millipedes
The spotted winged drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is different from other common drosophila species because it infests healthy, intact ripening fruits. During egg laying, what is the name of the bacterium that females can introduce into the fruit?
Acetobacter
In June 2013, dinotefuran (a neonicotinoid) was applied to flowering, ornamental European linden trees in a parking lot in Wilsonville, Oregon. The application resulted in the largest documented pesticide kill of bumble bees in North America, killing approximately 45,800 to 107,400 bumblebees. Name one of the two insect families the pesticide application was intended to control.
Aphididae or Curculionidae [root weevils]
Heteronomous hyperparasitism and adelphoparasitism are specific examples of what form of parasitism, usually observed in Hymenoptera, which involves females laying eggs on members of their own species?
Autoparasitism
What subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis is commonly used in biological control of fungus gnat larvae in greenhouses?
Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis
A recent update to the IRAC Classification System lists 2 bacterial, non-BT agents and 3 fungal agents as having an unknown or uncertain mode of action. Name any one of those bacterial or fungal agents.
Bacterial: Burkholderia spp. and Wolbachia pipientis; Fungal: Beauveria bassiana strains, Metarhizium anisopliae, Isaria (Paecilomyces) fumosoroseus
Schizaphis graminium, the greenbug, is not divided into multiple subspecies, but it has eleven variant populations that differ in their ability to damage different plants, such as wheat and sorghum. What word is used by greenbug specialists to refer to these eleven genetically distinct populations of the same species?
Biotype
Animals in the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industries often consume feed that has been supplemented by insect protein. This protein frequently comes from Hermetia illucens, a dipteran known by what common name?
Black soldier fly
A 2020 review of entomopathogenic fungi stated that isolates of Fusarium have been reported as pathogens against Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and 4 nonholometabolous orders. Name any two of those orders.
Blattodea, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Thysanoptera
What is the name of the new certificate program rolled out this fall by the ESA Certification Corporation?
Certified IPM Technician
According to the title of the classic 1959 Stern et al. paper, the integrated control concept involves the combination and integration of what two general types of pest control?
Chemical and biological control
This summer, the EPA announced that, as of October 29, what organophosphate active ingredient would have its food-residue tolerances revoked?
Chlorpyrifos
What is the only active ingredient that IRAC classifies as a Dipteran molting disruptor? This active ingredient is a cyclopropyl derivative of melamine, capable of disrupting fly molting in an incompletely defined mode of action.
Cryomazine
What is the medically-relevant genus of the insect that vectors the epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus?
Culicoides
Giant salvinia is a species of water fern that is highly invasive in numerous lakes around the world, outcompeting native plants and disrupting fisheries. What family of beetles has been most successful in controlling invasive populations of giant salvinia?
Curculionidae
Developed during World War II by USDA employee Samuel Gertler, what widely used chemical compound can be synthesized using the reagents diethylamine and meta-toluic acid?
DEET / diethyltoluamide / n,n-diethyl-meta-toluamide / n,n-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide
According to the 2020 Report on the Health of Colorado's Forests, what Scolytinae species was the most damaging forest pest in Colorado for the ninth year in a row? The official state tree of Colorado appears in the common name of this beetle.
Dendroctonus rufipennis / spruce beetle
Kelthane, a pesticide formerly available for the control of mites, was removed from the marketplace by Dow AgroSciences in 2006. What was the common chemical name for this miticide?
Dicofol
In a 2021 review of sorghum insect pests, Okosun et al. list two orders as having species that are "key pests worldwide" on sorghum. One of those orders is Hemiptera. Name the other order, which contains the pest species Stenodiplosis sorghicola?
Diptera
A special collection published this past June in the Journal of Economic Entomology highlighted the potential of what type of aircraft to assist in pest management strategies and help reduce the use of agrochemicals? This type of aircraft is sometimes called an RPA or UAV.
Drones / unmanned aerial vehicle / remotely-piloted aircraft
In 1920, a Canadian lepidopterist became the first woman to be honored as an ESA fellow. Many decades later, a new type of survey was developed for monitoring biodiversity of ecosystems. The lepidopterist has no connection to the survey, but her four-letter first name is the same as the common four-letter abbreviation of the nucleic acid detected in the survey method. Give either of these four-letter names, which are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.
Edna [Mosher] or eDNA
Some mealybugs and soft scales pose major economic threats to the wine industry because they can vector what viral disease, which is estimated to affect up to 50% of vineyards worldwide?
Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD)
Silk is produced by many insect orders, but silk production is usually restricted to a single life stage. Name ONE of the two non-holometabolus insect orders that has species that can produce silk throughout their lifetimes, during both immature and adult life stages?
Embioptera [all families] and Orthoptera [Gryllacrididae and Anostostomatidae]
Originally published in 1989, what classic textbook formally defines IPM as "using combined means to reduce pest status to tolerable levels, while maintaining a quality environment"? Rayda Krell became a new co-author of this textbook for its latest 7th edition, joining Marlin Rice and original author Larry Pedigo.
Entomology and Pest Management
What plant family contains the Neotropical tree Leucaena leucocephala, a source of the insecticidal amino acid Mimosine? Other species in this plant family are hosts of the noctuid moth Chrysodeixis includens, the beetle Epilachna varivestis, and the aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Name the plant family.
Fabaceae / legumes
Discoveries by Feldlaufer and Chauhan have identified two new alarm pheromones in immature bed bugs. These chemical compounds were isolated from what part of the bedbug's body?
From cast skins that retained the chemicals from the bug's scent glands
Andrea Liceaga created this flowchart to demonstrate a protocol for using enzymatic hydrolysis to improve the nutritional quality of edible insect flour. What insect family was used to produce the protein hydrolysates seen here? Note that the 'C' in CPH stands for a common name of the family, not its scientific name.
Gryllidae (crickets)
What two-word term describes a petroleum- or plant-based product that is usually filtered and distilled to remove plant-harming compounds, and formulated with an emulsifier to make application easier? This product is a common component of many IPM programs and can help control insect pests by blocking spiracles, preventing eggs from hatching, and interfering with feeding or membrane function.
Horticultural oil or paraffinic oil
IRAC classes of insecticides are rotated based on the stage of crop development and the biology and phenology of a pest species. This minimizes development of what major agricultural problem?
Insecticide resistance
Roz Laing's 2017 article in Trends In Parasitology, presciently subtitled "Old Drug, New Tricks?", reviewed the history of what insecticide, an allosteric modulator of glutamate-gated chloride channels? Thanks to Nobel-winners Satoshi Ōmura and William Campbell, this insecticide is famously marketed as an effective anti-parasitic. Thanks to the work of non-NobelPrize winners, this insecticide is infamously marketed as a cure for...other things.
Ivermectin
Two species of tiphiid wasp, Tiphia vernalis and Tiphia popilliavora, were introduced into North America in the early 20th century, as natural enemies of what scarabaeid pest?
Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica
Mary Flint's textbook IPM in Practice cites the management of what invasive plant, first introduced to North America from Europe, as an "excellent example of classical biological control in the Western US?" This plant was controlled by importing the European chrysomelid beetle Chrysolina quadrigemina.
Klamath weed / St. John's Wort / Hypericum perforatum
Dirofilaria immitis, also known as the dog heartworm, is a mosquito-transmitted nematode that causes severe disease in dogs and other canids. At the time of an infective mosquito's bloodmeal, the parasite emerges from the proboscis of the mosquito and migrates into the bite wound to infect the host. What specific stage of the parasite is transmitted from mosquitoes to dogs?
L3, third larval stage
Baculoviruses, GROUP 31, are a recent addition to the IRAC MOA classification list. Baculoviruses are host-specific, and so far four species-specific viruses for what insect order have been identified?
Lepidoptera
The egg parasitoid Ooencyrtus kuvanae is being considered as a potential biological control agent of spotted lanternfly, but it was originally introduced in 1908 to control another forest pest in a different order. What is the scientific name of the insect this parasitoid was originally introduced to control?
Lymantria dispar
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1947 requires that all pesticides sold via interstate commerce be registered with the Environmental Protection Agency except for certain active ingredients such as citronella and cinnamon oil. What is the name given to pesticides containing these active ingredients?
Minimum risk pesticide products
In August 2021, a new invasive moth species, Cydalima perspectalis, the box tree moth, was reported in the United States. In which Eastern-Branch state was this pest first reported?
New York
This tick family contains only a single species, which is found in southern Africa with a broad host range. It has a morphological resemblance to both the Ixodidae and the Argasidae, and it is thought to be the most basal tick lineage. What is the name of this tick family?
Nutalliellidae
Many aquatic insects move along the water-air interface using the surface tension of water to support them. In 2021, an undescribed Australian beetle, probably in Hydrophilidae, was observed moving through the water in a manner never before seen in any other insect. What was unique about this beetle's locomotion?
Observed walking upside down on the underside of the water's surface
In North America alone, at least 39 exotic bee species have become naturalized. One such bee was intentionally introduced from Japan by the USDA in the 1970s, for crop pollination services. What is the genus of this significant bee pollinator?
Osmia [cornifrons]
A female pepper weevil will lay a single egg inside a cavity on its host plant, and then deposit a marking pheromone near the oviposition site. The pheromone doesn't protect the egg from predators or parasitoids, but it is still beneficial to the pepper weevil population. What is the purpose of this marking pheromone?
Oviposition deterrence for better host-plant resource allocation (other pepper weevils detect the pheromone and won't oviposit in the same place, ensuring that the offspring won't have to compete with each other for resources)
What is the current scientific name of the microsporidian pathogen that has been registered in the US for control of grasshoppers?
Paranosema locusta
2021 ESA Alate Award winner Lidya Chala coordinated a program that uses stem-boring weevils to control what noxious weed that causes major crop and habitat damage in parts of Africa and Asia? Please name the genus of this plant, which has some species native to the US called feverfew.
Parthenium [hysterophorus]
These two cockroach species are peridomestic pests whose ranges overlap in the southern United States. Although they look similar and belong to the same genus, they can easily be distinguished by their pronotal markings. In order from left to right, give the scientific or common names of both species.
Periplaneta americana/American cockroach (left), Periplaneta australasiae/Australian cockroach (right)
Early warning systems provide a valuable service to members of the plant protection community who would like to stay informed of threats by invasive plants. What is the name of the USDA early warning system that sends a weekly email notification with new distributions, host reports, and other relevant information on harmful invasive species?
PestLens
On isolated islands, large predatory arthropods can play a major functional role in ecosystem dynamics. Researchers working in the South Pacific found that an endemic chilopod species collectively kills and eats as many as 3,700 seabird chicks each year. What is the name of this voracious predator?
Phillip Island centipede (Cormocephalus coynei)
Joanie King received this year's Outreach and Public Engagement Award for her research on how to plan effective science communication, as well as her research on what family of Diptera? It is somewhat ironic that this family is best known for hindering effective communication in fire ants, by decapitating them.
Phoridae
What two-word common name describes many potential biological control agents in the families Stigmaeidae, Bdellidae, and Hemisarcoptidae? This two-word term also appears in the common name of Galendromus occidentalis, a biological control agent in family Phytoseiidae.
Predatory mite
Halictid bees parasitized by the strepsipteran species Halictoxenos borealis were recently shown to exhibit unusual behavior when visiting flowers. The parasitized bees did NOT collect or eat pollen; they instead bent their abdomens downward and pressed them against the flower. According to the authors of this study, how did this behavior directly benefit the first-instar strepsipterans living in the bees?
Pressing the abdomen against the flower makes it easier for the mobile first-instar strepsipteran larvae to move onto the flower and wait for a new host bee to arrive
If you know their common names, it should come as no surprise that Nephus sordidus and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri are effective natural enemies of pests in what insect family?
Pseudococcidae
The solitary bee Eucera pruinosa (formerly in the genus Peponapis) is an efficient pollinator of what crop? There are multiple correct answers, but one of them is particularly appropriate, considering what day it is.
Pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, and other cucurbits
The path followed when collecting samples will affect how representative the samples will be of the pest population. Stratified sampling and systematic sampling are two of the three common sampling patterns that scouts can choose from. What is the third sampling pattern?
Random sampling
The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, is the most widely distributed and economically important termite species worldwide. In what family is Coptotermes formosanus?
Rhinotermitidae
The antihelminth moxidectan, marketed as an alternative to ivermectin, is promoted as a method to protect beneficial species in what family of Coleoptera? The beetles in this family appear to be less sensitive to the moxidectan found in the feces of treated livestock.
Scarabaeidae
The 2016 incidence of "zombie deer" in southern Florida led to the re-discovery of what insect species, formerly presumed to be eradicated from the United States 30 years prior?
Screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax
Successful pesticide application to control a target insect can have unintended negative consequences involving other pests who weren't the original intended target. What term describes another insect species that becomes a significant problem as a result of the original attempt at control?
Secondary pest outbreak
The new IRAC group 32 insecticide category includes GS-OMEGA/KAPPA-HXTX-HV1A, a bioinsecticide derived from a naturally occurring peptide. What is the source of this peptide?
Spider venom
Gabriella Tait's 2021 review of spotted-wing Drosophila IPM lists four insect families that prey on spotted-wing Drosophila and have been assessed as potential biological control agents. Name any one of those four families, which each belong to a different order: Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Hemiptera, and Dermaptera.
Staphylinidae, Chrysopidae, Anthocoridae, Forficulidae
Native to central Europe, the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) has been successfully imported to North America as a biological control agent of what noxious weed? The flea beetle Longitarsus jacobaeae has also been introduced to control this invasive plant, which is a biennial herb in the family Asteraceae.
Tansy ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris
Rickettsia parkeri causes a rickettsiosis similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Its vector is endemic to the southern US, but in 2020 made news when it was collected throughout Illinois. What is the vector for R. parkeri?
The Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum
Maydianne Andrade's work on the reproductive behaviour of Australian redback spiders has shown that male mortality is primarily influenced by two quantifiable aspects of their mating process. Name either one.
The number of mating events by male and the duration of copulation
What chemical attractant is the most heavily used synthetic compound for detection of Ceratitis capitata, the Mediterranean fruit fly?
Trimedlure
The P-IE and PBT sections of ESA host field tours to promote the importance of pest resistance management. Some of these tours have been co-hosted by what other professional society, whose members are interested in harmful plants and their impacts on ecosystems?
Weed Science Society of America (WSSA)
Lymphatic filariasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by mosquito-transmitted pathogens. Name 1 of the 3 filarial nematode species that cause lymphatic filariasis in humans.
Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia timori, Brugia malay
After over a decade of terrorizing the local ground-nesting seabirds, what invasive insect species was eradicated from Johnston Atoll in 2021? This species, known for its fast and erratic behavior, would swarm the birds' nests and occasionally blind the chicks by spraying them with formic acid.
Yellow Crazy Ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes)
In 2015, the EPA revised its regulations that provide occupational protections for agricultural employees and pesticide handlers in the United States. What is the collective name of these regulations?
[Agricultural] Worker Protection Standard (WPS)
In order of increasing level of toxicity, what are the three Signal words that can be found an insecticide label?
caution, warning, danger
Wild honeybees don't have access to wax guides, so they must use clever carpentry tricks to merge hive sections that don't perfectly align. A 2021 study in PNAS identified multiple strategies that the bees used to overcome this architectural challenge. Name any one of those strategies.
change the cell tilt, changing cell size (intermediate-sized cells), using irregular cell shape (non-hexagonal)
Tyrophagus casei is a species of mite that is both economically harmful and economically beneficial. Although it is a stored product pest, it is also used to produce Milbenkäse, which is a German variety of what type of food?
cheese
In terms of insect population ecology, there are three general types of distribution patterns for insect populations: random distribution, uniform distribution, and what third distribution pattern?
clumped distribution
Raul F. Medina recently proposed to use the pathosystem of what spiroplasmid disease as a model system for molecular studies of plant diseases? This spiroplasmid disease is vectored by the leafhopper Dalbulus maidis and it is considered to be an important disease that reduces growth of Zea mays in the Americas.
corn stunt disease or Spiroplasma kunkelii
Trunk refugia are traps designed as an inexpensive way to sample arthropods from tree trunks. What two-word alliterative term describes the material that these traps are primarily made of? This recyclable material mimics the color of tree trunks and it contains small spaces that mimic the trunks' natural crevices. Two-word answer required.
corrugated cardboard
Some eulophid wasps have a relatively rare combination of life history characters, because they live on the surface of their host and allow their host to continue to grow after it has been parasitized. Name each of the words that describe these two aspects of the wasps' life history.
ectoparasitism, koinobiont
A recent article in the Journal of IPM detailed the potential for biological control of plaguevector fleas infesting prairie dogs. What general group of organisms were discussed as potential biological control agents of these fleas?
entomopathogenic (entomophagous) fungi
In fall of 2021, outbreaks of what lepidopteran pest were reported in rice, soybean, milo, corn, sweet sorghum, pasture and turfgrass across the southeastern United States?
fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda
Prior to oviposition, cicada females will make small grooves in tree limbs in order to shelter the newly hatched nymphs. This can lead to what harmful phenomenon, where the grooves kill a tree's small branches, causing the twigs to die and the leaves to turn brown?
flagging
Part of the life cycle of an obligate entomopathogenic nematode includes a free-living life stage that penetrates the host insect and initiates infection. What is the name of this life stage?
infective juvenile stage (IJs) / Dauer
What is the mode of action of the insecticide rotenone?
inhibits electron transport in mitochondrial complex 1, preventing the utilization of energy by cells
What is the term for an organism that lives commensally within the nest or dwelling of another organism?
inquiline
After nearly 40 years in development, the World Health Organization has approved the world's first general-use vaccine for the treatment of what disease? The vaccine that treats this disease has the formal name RTS,S and the trade name Mosquirix. Name the disease.
malaria
Earwigs are known for their maternal care, but the species Anechura harmandi goes above and beyond in its support. What describes the extreme contribution of A. harmandi mothers to the success of their offspring?
matriphagy; the survival rate of the offspring is increased when they consume their mother after parental care is complete
What type of cells usually take up insecticidal compounds before they are transported across the apical membrane back into the midgut lumen?
midgut epithelial cells
What type of PCR enables more rapid identification by using more than one species-specific primer in a single PCR reaction, thus amplifying several different DNA sequences simultaneously?
multiplex PCR
What are the proteins that capture and transport semiochemicals to olfactory receptors during the first step in insect olfaction?
odorant-binding proteins (OBPs)
Kleptopharmacophagy, a newly described behavior recently observed in milkweed butterflies, is characterized by adult butterflies feeding on milkweed caterpillars. What type of alkaloids do the adult butterflies presumably gain as a result?
pyrrolizidine alkaloids
When a silkworm larva spins silk threads to form its cocoon, a special chemical is secreted to stick the threads together. This chemical is a protein that comprises 20%-30% of silk and surrounds the structural center of the silk thread. What is this chemical called?
sericin
The terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare is generally NOT considered an agricultural pest, but in the Midwest it has been observed damaging alfalfa, canola, and what other non-cereal food crop?
soybean
Several species of tiny moths in the family Gracillariidae are leafminers, forming blotch-type mines that are often slightly raised at the upper leaf surface. What term is used to describe these upwardly projecting mines that the moth larvae use as metaphorical encampments?
tentiform
Chlordane, an organochlorine insecticide originally registered for use in agriculture, was removed from use in 1988. What was its last labeled use at the time it was removed?
termiticide
Each month, Entomologists of Color, known by its hashtag #ENTOPOC, features and highlights a Scientist of the Month. In September, Jared Dyer was featured for his work tracking the population growth of what biological control agent, a natural enemy of brown marmorated stinkbug?
the samurai wasp, Trissolcus japonicus
Insects have evolved a detoxification system that is subdivided into three phases. After cytochrome P450s act on external toxins during phase 1, what type of enzyme acts on exogenous toxin byproducts during phase 2? GSTs and UGTs are examples of this type of detoxification enzyme.
transferase
A recent sensationalized article in the Houston Chronicle used three common names to describe a particular arthropod order. One of them is "acid-squirting land lobster from hell"; give both of the other common names used by the author. It's not nearly as dangerous as it sounds, since this arachnid order's defensive secretion is primarily composed of acetic acid.
whip scorpion, vinegaroon
Emerald ash borer has wiped out large swaths of native ash across the North American continent. What native, non-ash, alternate host for this borer was identified in 2014?
white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus)