News

EPA developing new pesticide labels
The EPA has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present.

The new labels will have a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. The label change affects products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. The EPA will work with pesticide manufacturers to change labels so that they will meet the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) safety standard.

Monrovia to acquire Imperial Nurseries
Monrovia Nursery Co. announced it will purchase the inventory and either purchase or lease the other operating assets of Imperial Nurseries in Granby, Conn. In addition, Monrovia will enter into a lease, with an option to purchase, the land Imperial uses for nursery production.

Throughout September, the companies will be finalizing the details of the acquisition, including the integration of the Imperial business into Monrovia’s operations. In a released statement, the two companies said, “This change will strengthen the sales, production, and distribution capabilities of both companies. Combining our resources will help ensure we remain a preferred supplier to our customers.”

Study predicts best trees for warming Midwest cities
A Chicago Botanic Garden study evaluating the effects of a warming climate on the region’s urban forest has identified 40 tree varieties likely to thrive in 2050, but predicts other types now flourishing in the area will begin to decline.

The results hold significant implications for municipal planners, city park departments, arborists, landscape designers, growers, nurseries and property owners throughout the upper Midwest. The research also underscores the importance of planting a wide variety of trees to ensure plant diversity, and taking the best possible care of existing trees to protect the vital natural resource.

The Chicago Botanic Garden Adaptive Planting List includes Autumn Gold Ginkgo, the Valley Forge American Elm, Accolade  Elm and the Village Green Japanese zelkova.

See the planting list at www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/tree_alternatives.

Group aims to strengthen pesticide safety education
The Weed Science Society of America announced that the National Stakeholder Team for Pesticide Safety Education Program Funding has created a three-year initiative to enhance the education of pesticide applicators.

Goals of the initiative include:

• Establishing a national website for training materials
• Creating more online distance education classes
• Compiling, updating and producing training materials for the national website
• Focusing appropriate time on pesticide safety in certification and recertification classes
• Increasing collaborative efforts among states to fill training material gaps
• Pursuing additional direct and indirect sustainable support for PSEPs at the state level

Initial funding for the initiative has been provided by BASF Corporation, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Crop Protection and Syngenta, and will be distributed by CropLife Foundation at the direction of the Board.

For more: www.wssa.net

Kansas State makes major pest control breakthrough
Kansas State University entomologists have helped identify a neuropeptide named natalisin that regulates the sexual activity and reproductive ability of insects.

The team is the first to observe and name the neuropeptide, which is composed of short chains of amino acids in the brain of insects and arthropods. The finding may open new possibilities for environmentally friendly pest management, said Yoonseong Park, professor of entomology at Kansas State University.

The study looked at natalisin in fruit flies, red flour beetles and silk moths. The researchers saw that in all three insects, natalisin was expressed in three to four pairs of neurons in the brain.

Using a genetic tool called RNA interference, or RNAi, the researchers looked at what happened when natalisin was silenced or knocked out from the insects' brains.

They found that the absence of natalisin in the brain led to the insects’ physical inability to reproduce as well as reduced their interest in mating.

For more: Yoonseong Park, ypark@k-state.edu.