Integrated Pest Management Systems (Luna County)

1)I instruct the beginner classes in pesticide applicator certification and training courses in general entomology and give students more detailed and illustrated examples of ten potential pests they could encounter in turf management and ten more potential pests they could find in management of ornamentals. All of these subjects are covered in the current revision of the Category 3A study guide for applicator hopefuls in Ornamentals and Turf. For all of the Category 3A beginner classes in 2005-06 (representative of classes instructed in other years), fewer than 5% of licensee hopefuls indicated any prior instruction in entomology in general, or arthropod pests on turf or on ornamentals. When the class is nearly complete, license hopefuls have seen and heard all of the basic information needed to pass the entomology portion of the licensing exam; they also have heard that the information given in class is in printed form in the study guide; they have been instructed to review it again before the exam. While none of the concepts are especially difficult, students indicate that at least 60% of them benefit from the lecture, learning and understanding concepts faster than they would on their own. At the completion of the class, 72% could successfully associate 5 or more pest arthropods with either their turf or ornamentals hosts. Their overall recall scores on mouthparts, development type, damage done, etc. for these 20 example organisms exceeded the 50% mark. They were reminded that the entomology portion of Category 3A was explained to them and that they had the opportunity to “test” their understanding without repercussions. Studying would improve performance.

2)For students in Master Gardener training in 2007, approximately 30% found information and pictures of potential new pests interesting in one way or another. At least 70% of the same students already thought those pests were established in New Mexico since many of these pests were present where students lived and gardened prior to moving to our state. Consequently, 70% of respondents learned that not all arthropods are distributed across the nation; gardeners watching and willing to submit mystery arthropod samples for identification or confirmation as Master Gardeners can have significant impacts on the state’s horticultural and agricultural interests.

3)At the end of 2007, we’re at this point of specialist-agent interaction and prioritization to identify and prioritize focal points for agent and client information needs for the coming year(s). “New invasive pests” have been included as “be on the watch for these” items in prior and current year Master Gardener training; many have been shared routinely with the commercial and public applicators at their certification & training workshops as well as with the annual reports for the Southwestern Branch Entomological Society of America, Insect Detection, Evaluation and Prediction Committee with which I have served for over 20 years, frequently as chair. I have also included general information on more “organic” or reduced risk pest control practices for home vegetable garden and some landscape situations, largely due to client preferences when specimens are submitted for identification. This is true for Master Gardener, general gardening/landscape clients and for at least some agents at their request.
Fully 90% of clientele asking the IPM entomology specialist directly for pest control information requested “organic methods” rather than more conventional approaches or insecticides due to concerns about personal health and well-being, environmental concerns and the health and well-being of pets, wildlife, livestock and children.

4)Displays of actual insects, both native and exotic, are almost always used for entomology outreach programs for youth and adults; PowerPoint presentations are usually reserved for specific, generally older audiences requesting specific instruction or topics. For all ages, displays are especially effective when the audience has the opportunity to view the

specimens “up close” and ask questions, making such an educational experience more interactive and better tuned to audience interests. Audiences have the opportunity to see and learn a bit about a minimum of 10 arthropods that they would likely see around their homes, as well as some of the extremes of these same species as they occur in other parts of the world. Features of insects, ticks, spiders, sun spiders, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions and vinegarones are typically illustrated with locally collected material, sometimes live. Specialists in the NMSU 4H Department demonstrated how the entomology instruction manual for 4H (by Richman and Sutherland, Insects Rule the Planet) meets various age-appropriate performance levels as shown for New Mexico’s educational standards and benchmarks for sciences and mathematics. Brochures for different classes and age groups will be under preparation since the manual has educational applications in schools as well as for 4H activities.