Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Anacardiaceae) (Brazilian peppertree) is one of the most serious terrestrial invasive plants in Florida. The leaf galling psyllid, Calophya latiforceps Burckhardt (Hemiptera: Calophyidae), was discovered feeding on Brazilian peppertree in Bahia, Brazil in 2010, and is being evaluated for release as a biological control agent. In order to understand how this candidate biological control agent affects the growth of S. terebinthifolia, we measured the effect of the psyllid on photosynthesis, leaf chlorophyll content, and plant growth. Infested plants had lower photosynthesis compared to uninfested plants 30 and 45 d after gall initiation, and chlorophyll content was lower over a 70 d period. Plant height was reduced 31% and biomass 11% after three months of infestation. Results of these studies suggest that C. latiforceps will negatively affect the growth of Brazilian peppertree if released in Florida.

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The Brazilian peppertree thrips, Pseudophilothrips ichini (Hood) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), is an insect native to Brazil (Figure 1). This species has been studied for the last 20+ years as a potential biological control agent of Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae), in Florida (Cuda et al. 2008; Cuda et al. 2008; Manrique at al. 2014; Wheeler et al. 2016a, b). Host specificity experiments demonstrated that Pseudophilothrips ichini has a limited host range (Cuda et al. 2008; Cuda et al. 2009; Wheeler et al. 2017) and can cause a severe reduction of Brazilian peppertree biomass (Manrique at al. 2014).https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1270

The 2020 Student Debates of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) were live-streamed during the Virtual Annual Meeting to debate current, prominent entomological issues of interest to members. The Student Debates Subcommittee of the National ESA Student Affairs Committee coordinated the student efforts throughout the year and hosted the live event. This year, four unbiased introductory speakers provided background for each debate topic while four multi-university teams were each assigned a debate topic under the theme ‘Technological Advances to Address Current Issues in Entomology’. The two debate topics selected were as follows: 1) What is the best taxonomic approach to identify and classify insects? and 2) What is the best current technology to address the locust swarms worldwide? Unbiased introduction speakers and debate teams began preparing approximately six months before the live event. During the live event, teams shared their critical thinking and practiced communication skills by defending their positions on either taxonomical identification and classification of insects or managing the damaging outbreaks of locusts in crops.