William Stamps

• University of Missouri

Black walnut curculios (Conotrachelus retentus) were collected in a mature black walnut repository at New Franklin, MO, on 2, 9, 10, and 15 May 2012. A total of 138 female and 150 male curculios were collected and used for feeding preference trials. Insects were provided water, but food was withheld for 24 h before the feeding trial. For this test,...

Electroantennogram (EAG) measurements were recorded from the antennae of male and female codling moth, Cydia pomonella L., to determine whether adult moths exposed to surfaces treated with the ecdysteroid agonist methoxyfenozide experience a decline in their antennal reception and thus olfactory sensitivity. Such a phenomenon would offer a possible...

Pine wilt disease (PWD), caused by the pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle 1970, is a serious threat to susceptible pine forests of the world. The PWN is primarily vectored by Monochamus species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The first occurrence of PWD was reported from Japan in the early 1900s. Following t...

The primary pest of commercial chestnut production in the United States is the lesser chestnut weevil, Curculio sayi. This insect is highly host-specific, ovipositing only in the nuts of trees within the genus Castanea (which includes chestnut and chinquapin). Due to the devastation of the American chestnut populations by an introduced blight in th...

Our research involves examining the effects of alley cropping on insect biodiversity, crop yields, and small farm economics. We have investigated two alley cropping practices: a summer crop of alfalfa with black walnut and a winter crop rotation of canola and wheat with heartnut. We compared both practices at two alley widths to conventionally grow...

The lesser chestnut weevil, Curculio sayi, is the primary pest of chestnut production in the US and is highly host specific. Our research into identifying the various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with chestnut lend to the further understanding of this insect pest and how it locates its host tree. Differences between spring and fall...

Our research involves examining the effects of alley cropping on insect biodiversity, crop yields, and small farm economics. We have investigated two alley cropping practices: a summer crop of alfalfa with black walnut and a winter crop rotation of canola and wheat with heartnut. We compared both practices at two alley widths to conventionally grow...

The potential ecological benefits of an alternative agronomic practice such as alley cropping are numerous, but the practice is unlikely to be adopted unless it is economically viable. We investigated insect pest dynamics, crop yields, and small farm economics in an alley cropping practice of alfalfa and black walnut compared to conventionally grow...

Alley cropping is an integrated land management practice growing economic crops between rows of trees. This paper examines the effects of alley cropping on carabid beetles and other ground dwelling arthropod predators on species diversity and abundance by testing for differences among ground vegetation treatments in alleyways. Arthropods were colle...

The time of rest completion of buds of eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) cultivars was compared from 2004 to 2008 and various models for estimating chilling were evaluated. The chilling model that best accounted for the variation in days to budbreak among cultivars and temperatures during dormant periods had the following two components: 1) a...

There is interest in producing alfalfa as an alley crop because alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most profitable hay crop in the USA. Field experiments were conducted near Stockton, MO in 2003 and 2004. Treatments consisted of alfalfa grown in open plots and in plots that were alley cropped between 20-year-old black walnut trees (Juglans nigra L...

The study of the life history dynamics of the pine sawyer beetle Monochamus galloprovincialis (Olivier) is important because the beetles vector the pinewood nematode. The objectives of this study were to investigate differences in beetle life history parameters between the two common host tree species in Turkey, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra. Re...

The ecological and environmental shortcomings of landscapes dominated by monocultures of crops have led to increased pressure to farm in a more holistic, environmentally sound, socially acceptable manner. The USDA Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) is one answer to this shift in philosophy. One program within CCRP, CP33, habitat buffers...

Federal conservation reserve programs such as CP33, Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds, are designed to conserve grassland birds on working farmland by adding herbaceous crop field borders. However, farmers are naturally concerned about the impact of such borders on crop yields and profits. We conducted three years (2000-2002) of field studies in mid...

Three years (2000–2002) of field studies were conducted in mid-Missouri, USA, to assess the impact of various compositions of herbaceous field borders on populations of the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis. Border treatments of: (1) a mixture of warm-season grasses and legumes, (2) a mixture of cool-season grasses and legumes, (3) tall fescu...

The study of life history dynamics of the pine sawyer beetle Monochamus carolinensis (Olivier) is of interest because the beetles are vectors for the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle, the causal agent of pine wilt in susceptible pine trees. Previous observation of a laboratory colony of M. carolinensis sugge...

The influence of alley cropping practices on trees, agricultural crops and arthropod diversity was studied in Duzce, Turkey. Six replications of three crops, maize (Zea mays L. var. rugosa), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.), were planted in the alleyways between rows of hybrid poplar [Populus euramericana (Dode) Guinie...

Pine wilt results from interactions among the pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) (Figures 2 and 3), the pine sawyer beetle (Monochamus spp.) (Figure 4), a host coniferous tree, and sometimes blue-stain fungi (Ceratocystis spp., Ophiostoma piceae) (Figures 5 and 6). The disease has a different impact on U.S. exporters of wood products t...

Immature insects that develop within plant structures entirely of their parent's choosing are dependent on those parents to select suitable hosts. Weevils that develop within tree fruits are an obvious example of this situation. We examined oviposition choice by the black walnut curculio, Conotrachelus retentus (Say), in a walnut plantation setting...

Knowledge of the complex interactions among trees, crops and their associated fauna is necessary to determine the viability of a particular agroforestry practice. Information is lacking concerning these interactions, particularly in temperate agroforestry practices. We examined the effects of two forages on the growth, nut production, and arthropod...

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, its host trees and beetle vectors represent an unusual ecological system. The fourth stage, dispersal juvenile (JIV) of B. xylophilus is a specialised life stage that must alter its response to a variety of chemical cues over time to properly enter and exit its beetle vector. Neutral storage (NS) lipid content is propose...

The design and execution of temperate agroforestry experiments has many problems. Difficulties include the selection of measurement criteria, proper randomization of treatments, and issues of timing and scale of experiments. A major problem facing most experimenters is the proper randomization of treatments to insure independence: few properly desi...

The J4 dispersal juvenile is a specialized life stage of the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner &Buhrer) Nickle, that is transported by cerambycid beeries in the genus Monochamus. The nlediafion of J4 exit fronl beetle vectors is poorly understood. We hypothesized that decreasing neutral storage lipid in B. xylophilus J4 was rel...

Un stade spécialisé du nématode des pins, #Bursaphelenchus xylophilus$, le quatrième stade juvénile de dispersion (JIV), est transporté par des coléoptères cérambycides du genre bien comprises. Des expériences chémotactique du stade JIV et la médiation de la sortie de JIVs des coléoptères vecteurs ne sont pas bien comprises. Des expériences ont été...

Polyculture in crop agroecosystems has been examined in numerous studies with the aim of reducing pest populations by increasing diversity among insect populations over those found in traditional monoculture. Resource concentration and enemies hypotheses predict decreased pest populations in more diverse plant communities. Although results have bee...

A method is described for staining lipid in fourth-stage dispersal juvenile nematodes fixed with formal-acetic fixative (FA4:1). Bursaphelenchus xylophilus fourth-stage dispersal juveniles were fixed with hot FA4:1 for 24 hours, excess fixative was removed, and a solution of saturated oil red O in 96% ethanol added and allowed to sit for 25 minutes...

Pine wilt is caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, which is transported to host trees in the trachea of Monochamus spp. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The study of the relationship between the nematode and its beetle vectors has been hampered by the inability to estimate nematode presence or density within live beetles. This report descri...

This chapter explains tissue preparation and sectioning and its reconstruction and analysis, which can be applied to a variety of ultrastructural objects. In the investigations described in the chapter, the synaptic active zones were chosen for study as these structures are important in neuronal cell-to-cell conduction and communication. The techni...

Queens of Solenopsis invicta Buren, the red imported fire ant, that were collected following mating flights raised their first workers in the laboratory. Colony members were counted, queens were weighed, and all were marked with paint. Eighty-four colonies were randomly paired and the pairs were placed adjacent to one another and their behavior obs...

Active synaptic zones are cytoplasmic specializations that indicate where synaptic transmission occurs. We have used computerized three-dimensional reconstructions from serial ultrathin sections to define certain features of the geometry of these zones in mammalian spinal cord. Our main finding is that the active zones in the dorsal portion of the...

Alley cropping holds promise for increasing insect diversity and reducing pest problems by improving natural enemy complexes and adding competition to pest species. Experimental plots of traditionally grown alfalfa and plots of alfalfa intercropped between rows of black walnut trees were sampled with sweep nets prior to each cutting date for the fo...