Announcements Are you producing a newsletter, holding a meeting, running an organization or rearing a natural enemy that you want other biocontrol workers to know about? Send us the details and we will announce it in BNI. Catch that Flyer! The Entomology Events Calendar at: The Events Calendar is updated almost daily and its goal is to provide a comprehensive, Internet-based list of events devoted to general or applied entomology, including apiculture, pest control, mosquito or vector control, and crop protection. Commercial meetings, society and association meetings, conferences, congresses, workshops, courses, expositions, insect film festivals and seminar series are all listed. At the time of writing (March) some 700 events are listed for 2000, and calendars for future years are in preparation. Six indexes help the entomologist with wanderlust locate meetings of interest in the chronological list. These are based on sponsoring society/association and the type of event, and on the topic of the meeting: specific taxonomic groups (such as Coleoptera), apicultural events, mosquito and vector control events, and pest control, IPM, crop protection and plant protection events. To submit information, send it either by email to: entmeet@sciref.org Chinese Water Hyacinth Meeting The second IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control) Global Working Group meeting for the biological and integrated control of water hyacinth will be held in Beijing, China on 9-12 October 2000. The purpose of the workshop is to share and help disseminate information on biological and integrated control of the weed, identify research areas that may lead to improved control and establish closer links between project researchers and programme managers around the world. Sponsored by the IOBC Global Working Group, the meeting is being organized by the Biological Control Institute (BCI), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). The registration fee of US$280 should be paid by 31 August (details below). Those wishing to attend should provide their name, nationality, date and place of birth, passport number and occupation to Ding Jianqing (address below) as early as possible to obtain a visa application form, and then apply for a visa at their local Chinese embassy/consulate/visa office. Titles and abstracts (abstracts not exceeding 250 words), preferably in MS Word for Windows 95 or 98 format, should be sent in English no later than 31 July 2000 via Internet (preferably) or air mail to Ding Jianqing. Registration payment to: IOBC WH Contact: Mr Ding Jianqing, Biological Control Institute,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 30 Baishiqiao Rd., Beijing 100081, P.R.
China Chromolaena Workshop Update The second circular is now available for the Fifth International Workshop on Biological Control and Management of Chromolaena odorata, which is being held in Durban, South Africa, from 23-25 October 2000, with a field-trip from 26-28 October. The purpose of this workshop is to facilitate the dissemination of information on the management and control of chromolaena, to identify areas in which new research is needed, and to foster global co-operation on managing and controlling this plant. Please note the cut-off date of 15 July 2000 for submission of abstracts and titles, registration fees, post-workshop fieldtrip bookings and deposit to the organizers, and of accommodation bookings to the hotel. Contact: Lorraine Strathie-Korrūbel, ARC-PPRI, Private Bag
X6006, Hilton, 3245, South Africa Eradication of Island Invasives A call for papers has been made for a conference on Eradication of Island Invasives: Practical Actions and Results Achieved. This is an international conference of the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) of IUCN and will be held at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand on 19-23 February 2001. Papers and discussion sessions will be strictly limited to the subject of: 'Eradication of invasive species from islands; methods used and the results achieved.' The term `eradicating' may include work to remove invasive species where complete eradication is some, or many, years away but the methods used to date are achieving positive results or providing a significant learning experience. The term `island' may include true islands, natural habitat islands (e.g. ponds), remnant and artificial habitat islands (e.g. reserves), or new invasions of natural ecosystems where eradication was deemed feasible. Preference will be given to papers that provide detail of the techniques used or of the ecosystem response to the work. Significant learning experiences may include methods which failed. The titles of presentations are requested by 15 June 2000. The deadline for the receipt of abstracts is 1 October 2000, although late offers may be considered. Contact: Dick Veitch, Two Birds with One Stone? The 13th Australian Weeds Conference (AWC) is being held in
Perth, Western Australia on 9-12 September 2002. It is anticipated that some
delegates will have a broad role in agricultural and/or environmental
protection, and will be concerned also with vertebrate pests and their control.
It is proposed to hold a workshop or symposium on vertebrate pests in
conjunction with the weeds meeting (6-7 or 13-14 September are tentative dates).
Suggestions for and/or expressions of interest in taking part in a vertebrate
pests meeting can be sent to: For details of the 13th AWC contact the conference organizer. LUBILOSA Spin-off The LUBILOSA programme (LUtte BIologique contre les LOcustes et les SAuteriaux) has spent the last nine years developing Green Muscle for control of locusts in Africa. The success of the programme rested heavily on the development of appropriate production and application technology, and the experience gained and lessons learned along the way are a significant output of the programme. The raw material for a fungal spray or mycopesticide is dry fungal spores, for which mass production methods have to be developed. The next hurdle is how to extract the spores efficiently and cleanly from the solid fermentation product. Spores can be extracted by a laborious (and dusty) sieving process, using first coarse (300-500 µm) and then very fine mesh (say 100 µm) sieves. But even so, the final product can contain a high proportion (up to 40% by volume) of larger particles (10-100 µm) that cause problems by settling out in tanks and, if very large particles are present, they can cause blockages in filters and nozzles. The MycoHarvester is both easier to use and produces extracts conforming to a very high particle size specification on a laboratory scale. For extractions of Metarhizium anisopliae, more than 80% of particles are less than 10 µm, and none exceed 100 µm. The device is designed to harvest fungal spores from a solid substrate (e.g. conidiated grains such as rice), and is suitable for small-scale, non-continuous preparation of mycopesticide samples or similar products. Conidia are concentrated in a form that is easy to desiccate and package. Experience collected during the LUBILOSA programme indicated that this was a key process in the development of commercially acceptable mycoinsecticides. The MycoHarvester MH1 is now available for purchase. Price (not including postage and packing) for single units: UK£3890/US$6300. CABI member countries reduced price: £2590/$4200. Discounts for multiple orders. Contact: Roy Bateman, CABI Bioscience, Silwood Park, Ascot,
Berks. SL5 7TA, UK Records of European Whitefly Enemies Under the auspices of EWSN (the European Whitefly Studies Network), a list is being compiled of predators and parasitoids of whitefly species within Europe by a group of experts including A. Polaszek and J. Noyes (UK), O. Alomar (Spain), J. Fransen (Netherlands) and D. Gerling (Israel), and in cooperation with C. Rapisarda (Italy), who is compiling a host list of whiteflies in Europe. A literature survey has been undertaken, but to make the final list as complete as possible, the compilers would be pleased to hear from anyone familiar with records on natural enemies of whiteflies that are not within the mainstream literature. Suggestions on how to employ and utilize the forthcoming list are also welcome. Contact: Dan Gerling, |
