@article{thompson_brandenburg_roberson_lineberger_2008, title={A technique to monitor insect behavior utilizing infrared emitters and detectors}, volume={43}, ISSN={["0749-8004"]}, DOI={10.18474/0749-8004-43.1.143}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE}, author={Thompson, Sarah R. and Brandenburg, Rick L. and Roberson, Gary T. and Lineberger, Barry}, year={2008}, month={Jan}, pages={143–152} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_roberson_2007, title={Entomopathogenic fungi detection and avoidance by mole crickets (Orthoptera : Gryllotalpidae)}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1938-2936"]}, DOI={10.1603/0046-225X(2007)36[165:EFDAAB]2.0.CO;2}, abstractNote={Abstract A chamber to monitor mole cricket behavior was designed using two different soil-filled containers and photosensors constructed from infrared emitters and detectors. Mole crickets (Scapteriscus spp.) were introduced into a center tube that allowed them to choose whether to enter and tunnel in untreated soil or soil treated with Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin. Each time the cricket passed through the photosensor located near the entrance of soil-filled containers, the infrared light was blocked and the exact moment that this occurred was logged onto a computer using custom-written software. Data examined included the first photosensor trigger, total number of sensor triggers, presence of tunneling, and final location of the cricket after 18 h. These behaviors were analyzed to discern differences in mole cricket behavior in the presence of different treatments and to elucidate the mechanism that mole crickets use to detect fungal pathogens. The first study examined substrate selection and tunneling behavior of the southern mole cricket, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos, to the presence of five strains of B. bassiana relative to a control. There were no differences between the first sensor trigger and total number of triggers, indicating the mole crickets are not capable of detecting B. bassiana at a distance of 8 cm. Changes in mole cricket tunneling and residence time in treated soil occurred for some strains of B. bassiana but not others. One of the strains associated with behavioral changes in the southern mole cricket was used in a second experiment testing behavioral responses of the tawny mole cricket, S. vicinus Scudder. In addition to the formulated product of this strain, the two separate components of that product (conidia and carrier) and bifenthrin, an insecticide commonly used to control mole crickets, were tested. There were no differences in mole cricket behavior between treatments in this study. The differences in behavioral responses between the two species could suggest a more sensitive chemosensory recognition system for southern mole crickets.}, number={1}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY}, author={Thompson, Sarah R. and Brandenburg, Rick L. and Roberson, Gary T.}, year={2007}, month={Feb}, pages={165–172} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_2006, title={Effect of combining imidacloprid and diatomaceous earth with Beauveria bassiana on mole cricket (Orthoptera : Gryllotalpidae) mortality}, volume={99}, DOI={10.1093/jee/99.6.1948}, abstractNote={Sublethal doses of three orthopteran-derived strains of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin were topically applied to adult southern mole crickets, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), and tested in combination with substrate treatments of diatomaceous earth (DE) and imidacloprid. Crickets treated only with the high doses (10(8) conidia per cricket) of each of the three B. bassiana strains exhibited the shortest survival times as well as the highest percentage mortality at 28 d after treatment. However, these treatments did.not differ significantly from any of the diatomaceous earth combination treatments. Two of the strains tested, 5977 and 3622, exhibited synergistic interactions with DE, whereas the third strain, GHA, was not significant for synergy. Mortality caused by the combination treatment was still greater than the expected additive effect. DE abrades the insect cuticle and absorbs cuticular lipids, aiding the entry of germinating conidia into the mole cricket hemocoel. None of the three strains exhibited synergy when combined with imidacloprid, and mortality of all combination treatments was less than additive. For strain 5977, there was an antagonistic interaction with imidacloprid. It was difficult to obtain <30% mortality for imidacloprid only treatments, which was considered the upper limit for sublethal doses. The mean percentage mortality caused by imidacloprid was 37.5%, and this high percentage made it difficult for any combination treatment to cause significantly more mortality than the expected additive effect. These results clarify the interactions of other control products with B. bassiana and provide a basis for a reduced pesticide approach to mole cricket control.}, number={6}, journal={Journal of Economic Entomology}, author={Thompson, S. R. and Brandenburg, R. L.}, year={2006}, pages={1948–1954} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_arends_2006, title={Impact of moisture and UV degradation on Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin conidial viability in turfgrass}, volume={39}, ISSN={["1049-9644"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.biocontrol.2006.08.004}, abstractNote={Beauveria bassiana conidial viability in turfgrass was evaluated using a two-component nucleic acid stain and fluorescence microscopy. Turfgrass samples along with the top 5 cm of soil were used for conidial extraction and viability evaluation on 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after treatment. There were no differences in conidial viability between two Orthoptera strains, 3622 and 5977, and both strains were able to persist in a sandy loam soil for up to three weeks after application. High and low irrigation levels were applied to each of the two strains and results show that higher irrigation (5.1 cm/week) maintains conidial viability better than a low irrigation level (2.5 cm/week). Mean conidial viability was approximately 8–12% greater in plots with the high irrigation regime. Rather than significantly increase soil moisture levels, it is hypothesized that the greater amount of irrigation helps to move the conidia deeper into the thatch layer and soil profile, an area that provides protection from damaging surface temperatures and UV exposure. Rainfall that occurred during the beginning of the 2005 test minimized the irrigation effect, and the irrigation treatment differences were more pronounced after 48 h. Four different UV protectants were evaluated for an impact on conidial viability of strain 3622. Two protectants, an optical brightener and magnesium silicate clay, when added to an emulsifiable oil formulation, significantly increased conidial viability on all evaluation dates. The clay particles act as a sunlight blocker while the optical brightener absorbs UV light. The combined protection from the oil and the additive increased conidial viability by approximately 10% on all evaluation dates. Results from this study provide insight into ways to increase entomopathogenic fungal viability under field conditions.}, number={3}, journal={BIOLOGICAL CONTROL}, author={Thompson, Sarah R. and Brandenburg, Rick L. and Arends, Jim J.}, year={2006}, month={Dec}, pages={401–407} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_arends_2005, title={Conidial viability and pathogenicity of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin for mole cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) control in turfgrass}, volume={10}, journal={International Turfgrass Society Research Journal}, author={Thompson, S. R. and Brandenburg, R. L. and Arends, J. J.}, year={2005}, pages={784} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_2005, title={Tunneling responses of mole crickets (Orthoptera : Gryllotalpidae) to the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1938-2936"]}, DOI={10.1603/0046-225X-34.1.140}, abstractNote={Abstract Greenhouse studies of mole cricket tunneling architecture were conducted with adult southern, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos and tawny, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder, mole crickets exposed to Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin. Three different strains of B. bassiana as well as the commercially available insecticide Talstar (bifenthrin) were evaluated for avoidance behaviors by examining tunneling characteristics. Each treated container was inspected 24 h after treatment for specific tunneling behaviors in association with the presence of a control agent and the cricket’s response to the conidia or chemical. One of the B. bassiana strains tested, DB-2, caused changes in mole cricket behavior, including significantly less new surface tunneling, fewer vertical tunnels descending into the soil, less tunneling along the perimeter of the containers, and significantly more occurrences of the crickets remaining in an area that reduced exposure to the conidia. Two of the other treatments, strain 10-22 and Talstar, produced some of these same altered behaviors in mole crickets. Mole crickets exposed to a third strain of B. bassiana, BotaniGard, as well as two carrier formulations did not exhibit these same levels of avoidance. These observations indicate that the presence of environmentally “friendly” control agents, such as entomogenous fungi, may affect pest behavior, and strain selection may be critical to eliminate detection and avoidance by the target insect.}, number={1}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY}, author={Thompson, SR and Brandenburg, RL}, year={2005}, month={Feb}, pages={140–147} }
 @article{thompson_brandenburg_2004, title={A modified pool design for collecting adult mole crickets (Orthoptera : Gryllotalpidae)}, volume={87}, ISSN={["0015-4040"]}, DOI={10.1653/0015-4040(2004)087[0582:AMPDFC]2.0.CO;2}, abstractNote={Mole crickets are one of the most damaging groups of turf and pasture grass pests found in the southeastern U.S. The need to collect mole crickets for use in laboratory studies and the advantages of monitoring adult flight for the timing of insecticide applications initiated the search for effective methods for monitoring flight activity. Ulagaraj and Walker (1973) determined that mole crickets would recognize and fly to stations that utilized electronic reproductions of the male calling song. Basic requirements for developing mole cricket calling traps were outlined by Ulagaraj (1975) and Ulagaraj and Walker (1973, 1975). The three main components of these early traps included a sound source, catching device, and power controller (Walker 1982). The sound sources, which were once tape-recorded songs of the crickets, now consist of an electronic caller that synthesizes the mole cricket song, similar to that developed by Walker (1982). Over time, the electronic callers have improved so that an external controller is no longer necessary to establish the on/off periods. Since the late 1980s, photocells that detect darkness and automatically turn on the callers at sundown have been in use rather than manual controllers (Walker 1996). In this design, originally developed by Bernie Mans for the University of Florida, the callers are also outfitted with a timer that resets the photocell after a specified time (Walker 1996), in our case two h. This allows for the production of sound during the first couple of h after sunset, a time period when most female mole crickets fly (Ulagaraj 1976). We, too, use the Mans design, and emitters were built for us by Precision Technologies Co. (Raleigh, NC). Various designs for the catching devices have been utilized including funnels or pans constructed from galvanized sheet metal that direct captured mole crickets into buckets of moist sand, and also into water-filled wading pools covered with coarse netting to prevent predation (Walker 1982). Although some of these earlier sheet metal traps have now been in use at some Florida locations for over 20 years (Frank 2001), they are expensive and not easily transported. A similar funnel design that uses lightweight fiberglass instead of sheet metal was first constructed in 1989 by Parkman and Frank (1993) to inoculate adult mole crickets with Steinernema scapterisci Nguyen Smart. This modification is less expensive to construct than the sheet metal design, but still has some disadvantages. For our laboratory and greenhouse studies at North Carolina State University, it has been necessary to collect large numbers of adult mole crickets. Unfortunately, frequent collection of crickets from calling traps is problematic, if not impossible, due to the long distances between sites. Funnel traps have been used successfully in the past, but require semi-permanent establishment at a site, something that is often difficult to accomplish on golf courses (which constitute the majority of our research sites). The funnels are also difficult to handle and transport, subject to damage during coastal storms, time-consuming to assemble, and expose the crickets to overcrowded conditions in the collection buckets. Wading pools filled with water were tested in the spring of 2002 and found to be ineffective because the crickets are only able to float for 12-24 h (Walker 1982), and frequent checking of the traps was not possible. For our research purposes, we needed a design that was inexpensive, quick and easy to assemble, temporary at each site, and able to maintain the live crickets for up to a week between visits. A modified design of the wading pools that met all of our requirements was developed in 2003. Instead of one wading pool (General Foam Plastics Corp., Norfolk, VA), two are used, one suspended above the other by four wooden, evenly distributed spacers that prevent excessive sagging of the top pool. The two pools are secured to one another by inserting a bolt (with washer) through the top pool, wooden spacer, bottom pool and then fastening all components with a nut (Fig. IA). All metal pieces were sprayed with WD-40? spray (San Diego, CA) to prevent rusting and allow for easy disassembly. The top wading pool has ten to twelve holes that are 135 mm in diameter cut into it, which allows the crickets to fall through into the bottom pool as they land and walk in the pool (Fig. iB). Instead of filling the bottom pool with water, it is filled with moist sand (Fig. IC). Because sand is used, the mole crickets are in their natural habitat when they fall through the hole in the top pool and stay healthy until retrieved. The bottom of the top pool does not touch the sand layer so it is not possible for many crickets to fly back out through the holes. The cut out holes allow for rain to moisten the sand layer, and drainage holes drilled in the bottom pool prevent flooding. The electronic caller speakers are placed on wooden boards that are centered over the top pool (Fig. 1D).}, number={4}, journal={FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST}, author={Thompson, SR and Brandenburg, RL}, year={2004}, month={Dec}, pages={582–584} }