Susan Kristine Braman

University of Georgia | UGA · Department of Entomology

Documented pollinator declines have encouraged the installation of pollinator plantings in residential, commercial and agricultural settings. Pollinator visitation among cultivars of coreopsis, salvia and asters was compared on 40 dates in a 2-year study resulting in 6,911 pollinator observations across all plant taxa with bees, butterflies and syr...

Insect nesting boxes and hotels have the potential to provide shelter and overwintering sites for beneficial insect communities such as pollinating bees, wasps, earwigs, and other predatory arthropods. This study evaluated beneficial arthropod visitation to consumer-ready, commercially available nesting boxes over a 2-yr period. Insect hotels were...

Thesquash bug, Anasa tristis (DeGeer), is an indigenous pest of squash, Cucurbita pepo L., and other cucurbits. Geocoris punctipes (Say) adults were collected from stands of mixed grasses in Spalding County, GA, held without food for 24 h, and presented A. tristis eggs, first instars, or second instars in no-choice tests. Consumption of first and s...

The squash bug, Anasa tristis (DeGeer) (Hemiptera: Coreidae), is an indigenous pest of squash and other cucurbits. Pesticides can control squash bug populations although many small-scale growers in the Southeast seek alternative methods of management. Cultural control methods, including varying the planting date and farmscaping, are not well unders...

Flowering ornamental plant species have the potential to support beneficial insect communities such as pollinating bees, wasps, and predatory plant bugs. We compared pan trap color, size, and placement height for sampling of insects in replicated conservation gardens planted with species selected to act as a conservation resource for pollinators an...

Insects provide ecosystem services, such as pollination and biological control.Additionally, flowering ornamental plant species have the potential to support beneficial insect communities, such as pollinating bees, wasps, and predatory plant bugs.We conducted visual observations and sampled via sweep nets to assess the potential of flowering orname...

Plant and floral resources can be used to attract beneficial and pollinating insects, which can reduce pesticide inputs. The use of ornamental landscapes can offer additional ecosystem benefits such as weed suppression and conservation of biodiversity. A total of 65 plant types were evaluated in the Conservation Garden on University of Georgia Grif...

The Southern Nursery Integrated Pest Management (SNIPM) working group surveyed ornamental nursery crop growers in the southeastern United States to determine their pest management practices. Respondents answered questions about monitoring practices for insects, diseases and weeds, prevention techniques, intervention decisions, concerns about IPM an...

Effects of 7 concentrations of chlorpyrifos (Dursban 50W), halofenozide (Mach 2) and spinosad (Conserve SC) were tested on bigeyed bugs (Geocoris spp.: Heteroptera: Geocoridae) in bioassays with or without turfgrass as a potential moderating influence. Survival of bigeyed bugs was recorded at 1, 3, 7 and 10 d posttreatment. In a bioassay without tu...

We studied the distribution of hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), within hemlock trees for three summer (progrediens) and two winter (sistens) generations in northern Georgia. Eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière, trees were treated with 0, 10, or 25% of 1.5 g of imidacloprid per 2.5 cm of tree diameter...

Healthy hemlock trees, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière, and hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), populations should favor retention and population growth of adelgid predators such as Laricobius nigrinus Fender (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) and Sasajiscymnus tsugae (Sasaji & McClure) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Eastern...

Understanding how fertilization affects host resistance to hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), is important because fertilizers are often used to grow resistant selections to a suitable size for testing. We evaluated four hemlock species (Tsuga) under three different fertilizer regimes to assess whether fertility a...

Lyriomyza trifolii is an important leafminer in protected culture. Resistance to almost all pesticides presents significant challenges in the control of this leafminer species. Effective biocontrol agents are available for controlling leafminer populations, but influx of secondary pests like mites, thrips, aphids and white flies disrupt these contr...

Although lawn care and landscape maintenance professionals appear increasingly willing to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies and adopt nonchemical pest management alternatives into management practices, the opinions of landscape management professionals have not been assessed regarding anticipated influences of increased use of insect-...

The effect of taxa [common Bermuda grass, Cynodon dactylon (L.); centipedegrass, Eremochloa ophiuroides Munro Hack; St. Augustinegrass, Stenotaphrum secundatum [Walt.] Kuntze; and zoysiagrass, Zoysia spp.], density, height, and weed density on abundance of natural enemies, and their potential prey were evaluated in residential turf. Total predatory...

Predatory potential and performance of the predaceous heteropterans, Geocoris punctipes (Say), G. uliginosus (Say) (Geocoridae), and Orius insidiosus (Say) (Anthocoridae), were evaluated using fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), as prey on different turfgrass taxa (resistant zoysiagrasses, 'Cavalier' and 'Palisades'; moderately resi...

The functional response of the tiger beetle Megacephala carolina carolina L. (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was determined on adult twolined spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Say) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae), and fourth instars of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in single-prey and two-prey systems. In the laboratory, M...

Ten cultivars of seashore paspalum, Paspalum vaginatum Swartz, were compared for their response to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, larval root feeding. Cultivars of Bermuda grass, Cynodon sp., and zoysiagrass, Zoysia sp., also were included for comparison. Turf grown in pots in the greenhouse was infested with second and third instars in...

Prosapia bicincta (Say) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae), the twolined spittlebug, is an economic pest of turfgrass in the southeastern United States. No data concerning natural enemies of P. bicincta in turfgrass have been reported previously. We compared predation of spittlebug eggs, nymphs, and adults in the laboratory by potential generalist predators c...

Several restriction sites in the cytochrome oxidase I gene of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), were identified by sequence analysis as potentially being specific to one of the two host strains. Strain specificity was demonstrated for populations in Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina, with an AciI and SacI sit...

To direct, fund, promote and communicate horticultural research, which increases the quality and value of ornamental plants, improves the productivity and profitability of the nursery and landscape industry, and protects and enhances the environment. The use of any trade name in this article does not imply an endorsement of the equipment, product o...

Columbine, Aquilegia spp., are regularly attacked by agromyzid leafminers, Phytomyza spp. Effects of columbine species and cultivars on infestation by the leafminer Phytomyza aquilegivora Spencer, and subsequent parasitism by hymenopterous parasitoids was evaluated in two-year field trials at four locations in central and north Georgia. Among 20 co...

Interactions between host plant resistance and biological control may benefit or hinder pest management efforts. Turfgrass cultivars have rarely been tested for extrinsic resistance characteristics such as occurrence and performance of beneficial arthropods on plant genotypes with resistance to known turf pests. Parasitism of fall armyworm, Spodopt...

Interactions between host plant resistance and biological control may benefit or hinder pest management efforts. Turfgrass cultivars have rarely been tested for extrinsic resistance characteristics such as occurrence and performance of beneficial arthropods on plant genotypes with resistance to known turf pests. Parasitism of fall armyworm, Spodopt...

The residual activity of six concentrations of chlorpyrifos, spinosad, and halofenozide on fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), as mediated by five warm-season turfgrass cultivars expressing varying levels of genetic resistance was evaluated in greenhouse trials. Similarly, varying concentrations of halofenozide were applied to six t...

Field and laboratory studies were conducted to identify potential resistance among crape myrtles, Lagerstroemia spp., to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman and to flea beetles, Altica spp. Damage ratings revealed variation among cultivars in susceptibility to beetle feeding. Cultivars with Lagerstroemia fauriei Koehne in their parentage exhi...

Interactions between host plant resistance and biological control may be advantageous or disadvantageous for pest management. Turfgrass cultivars have rarely been tested for extrinsic resistance characteristics such as occurrence and performance of beneficial arthropods on plants with resistance to known turf pests. Among six turfgrass cultivars te...

Pyramid-shaped traps were evaluated in Georgia for capturing potentially harmful coleopterans in ornamental plant nurseries. Beetle response to two colors and four bait types was compared. Four species of Buprestidae, 22 species of Cerambycidae, and three species of Curculionidae were captured in sufficient numbers for analysis during the 2-yr stud...

Azalea plant bug (Rhinocapsus vanduzeei Uhler) fifth instars and a commercially obtained green lacewing (Chrysoperla rufilabris Burmeister) first and second instars exhibited a type II functional response when caged with varying densities of fourth or fifth instar azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), prey. Attack coefficients for combine...

To direct, fund, promote and communicate horticultural research, which increases the quality and value of ornamental plants, improves the productivity and profitability of the nursery and landscape industry, and protects and enhances the environment. The use of any trade name in this article does not imply an endorsement of the equipment, product o...

An integrated pest management (IPM) pilot program for landscape plants was implemented during 1997 and 1998 on two commercial, two residential, and one institutional property managed by landscape professionals. When compared with preprogram, calendar-based cover spray program costs at these sites in 1996, the IPM program was cost-effective at one o...

Potential resistance to the twolined spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Say), was evaluated among 56 turfgrass genotypes. Greenhouse, laboratory, and field bioassays identified differences in spittlebug survival and development, host preference and damage levels, and turfgrass tolerance to and ability to recover from pest induced injury. All centipede...

Grass selections including 10 zoysiagrasses, 18 paspalums, 34 Bermuda grasses, tall fescue, creeping red fescue, and perennial ryegrasses with and without endophyte were evaluated for potential resistance to fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), larvae. Laboratory evaluations assessed the degree of antibiosis among >70 grass lines to...

Research on consumer, grower, and landscape manager perception of azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), feeding and on plant productivity parameters, including gas exchange and growth, has increased our understanding of the nature of feeding injury. These studies made it possible to develop decision-making guidelines for cost-effective ma...

A survey of Georgia homeowners provided insights about their use of fertilizers and pesticides. Knowledge of current homeowner practices is needed to develop a best management practices manual to be used by Master Gardeners to train the general public through the existing outreach programs. The objective of the training program is to reduce nutrien...

The effects of azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), feeding injury on azalea growth and development were investigated using 'Girard's Rose' azaleas during a 2-yr field study in Georgia Low, medium, and high injury treatments, which corresponded to 6, 8, and 14% maximum canopy area injury, were compared with control azaleas that received...

Turfgrass selections including 21 paspalums (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz) and 12 zoysiagrasses (Zoysia sp.) were compared with susceptible 'KY31' tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and more resistant common bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon Pers.) and common centipedegrass [Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro.) Hack] for potential resistance to fall ar...

Intensity and type of management, the cultural variable shade, and the combination of woody and herbaceous annual and perennial plants were evaluated for their effect on key landscape arthropod pests. Azalea lace bugs, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), and twolined spittlebugs, Prosapia bicincta (Say), were most effectively suppressed in landscape des...

A comparison of whole-plant and individual-leaf gas exchange measurements was undertaken among azaleas, Rhododendron spp., treated with insecticides used to control the azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott). Azaleas in individual-leaf trials received 3 insecticide treatments during three 21-day trials. The whole-plant study included 2 inse...

Bermudagrass (Cynodon sp.) and paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) genotypes were evaluated in laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments for potential resistance to the common turfgrass pests, tawny mole cricket (Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder) and southern mole cricket (Scapteriscus borellii. Giglio-tos). Potential resistance among 21 seashore paspalu...

Azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), feeding rates were investigated in controlled laboratory bioassays. Individual newly-eclosed nymphs were transferred to cut stems of 'Girard's Rose' azaleas and maintained at either 20°C for 26°C for the duration of their lifetimes. Feeding rates, determined using computer assisted image area analysis...

Whole-plant gas exchange was measured continuously for 24 h on rooted cuttings of Girard's 'Pleasant White' azaleas. Azalea treatments were azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), feeding injury levels that averaged 6, 13, or 31% leaf-area injury throughout the plant canopies. Gas exchange parameters, including net photosynthesis, dark resp...

A survey using modified azalea stems was used to establish a "tally threshold value" for assessing azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), feeding injury to azalea shrubs. Consumers and green-industry professionals, represented by ornamental growers, landscape architects, and landscape managers, recognized azalea lace bug injury when injure...

Feeding injury caused by nymphs, males and females of the azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), reduced rates of photosynthesis and transpiration in 'Delaware Valley White' azalea, Rhododendron mucronatum leaves. Females caused substantially more leaf feeding injury than males or nymphs. S. pyrioides was observed to insert stylets through...

SUMMARY Mating in Pogonomyrmex badius was observed at a nest site in South Carolina. The first copulation occurred at 1130 hours; duration of copulation for 3 matings ranged from 59 to 148 s. The females mated with males of the same colony; probability of intercolony mating may be a function of colony density and size.

Pitfall traps were used to monitor the seasonal activity of arthropod predators, parasitoids, and decomposers in replicated plots of centipedegrass turf for 3 yr (1989-1991) at two locations. During 1990 and 1991, the influence of single or combined herbicide, insecticide, and fertilizer applications on these beneficials was assessed. In total, 21...

Duration of development of azalea lace bug, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), measured at six temperatures ranged from ""22d at 30°C to 97 d at 15°C.Development was not successful at 33°C. Estimated threshold temperatures (To) and calculated thermal unit requirements (K) for development of egg, nymphal, and complete development were, respectively: 10....

Acknowledgments This document is a result of efforts and collaborations of a large group of people and is the amalgamation of two previous documents along with some original prose. The two documents that serve as the basis of this work are a pest management strategic plan developed through a grant to P. Knight (Mississippi State) and Charles Gillia...

The development and implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) for woody ornamentals and turf in the landscape is evolving rapidly in the United States. In an environment characterized by tremendous diversity ofplant materials and associated pests, IPM efforts can be more finely focused by adopting key plant/key pest strategies. The difficu...

Traps broadcasting synthetic calls sampled populations of the tawny mole cricket, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder, and the southern mole cricket, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos, for two years at three locations in Georgia. Peak flight activity at the southernmost locations preceded that in more northernly areas by one to eight weeks depending upon s...