YHC Beetle Lab Update

This is the fourth of our monthly updates on the progress of Sasajiscymnus beetle production in the Young Harris College Beetle Laboratory for the year 2008.

I. Brief Statement of Financial Condition

As of May 4, 2008, we have a balance of $38, 523 in our Hemlock Project restricted account. Since the last newsletter, we have received gifts from 10 individuals, totaling $231. The big news this month is a donation or $5000 that we received from the Lumpkin Coalition at our Open House. Forest Hilyer, representing the Lumpkin Coalition, presented the check to our Provost, Dr. John Wells. We are forever in the debt of these folks as they toil hard to save our hemlocks! We also want to thank all of the individual donors, many who were at our open house, for your support! In addition to the monetary support, we have also had 5 volunteers (4 of them YHC students) who have worked a total of 38 hours this past month! Thank you so much!!!!! Expenses this month added up to $729. Most of these expenses were for student wages (5 students @ 7.50 per hr.). The remaining expenses were for the purchases of wet foam, gauze, and other rearing supplies.

II. Beetle Production Progress

This month has been a very busy one, both for the beetle lab and Young Harris College. Our beetle lab open house on April 18th was a great success, largely due to the hard work of folks from our advancement office, especially Celeste Ferris. I cannot begin to express my appreciation for the inventive "beetle house cake", etc. We had several visitors from the community during this event, as well as Sarah Osicka (from the NGCSU lab), LayLa Burgess (from the Clemson lab), and Mark Dalusky (from the UGA lab), as well as Forest Hilyer (from the Lumpkin Coalition). In addition to the fun, Sarah, LayLa, Mark & I were able to further discuss ideas and strategies. It is important for folks to realize that we are all working together in order to try to find the best solutions to the adelgid issue. Also, on April 26th, the YHC beetle lab was represented in the Expo on Brasstown Bald that was associated with the Tour de Georgia bicycle race. Angee DelConte, one of our student workers, represented the laboratory well. . and even sold some T-shirts! I also want to thank one of our student volunteers, Mallory Holland, for making a poster for this event. The laboratory also has been the host of school groups this month, including homeschoolers from Grace COOP in Union County.

April is one of the busiest months as far as beetle production is concerned. We are continuing to remove adult beetles from rearing cages and putting them in containers for release. Also, beginning mid-April, we began our egg release program. In egg releases, we put approx- imately 100 eggs in a "clip cage" which is attached to a branch on an infested hemlock tree. These eggs will hatch, the larvae will emerge on the hemlock branches, and then eventually adults will emerge from the pupa. We think that this eggrelease strategy should result in adult beetles that have been "born" in the field, and thereby well-conditioned to their release environment. In past years, we have recovered some adult beetles from egg-release areas, although the efficiency of this strategy still needs to be more thoroughly examined.

Here is the YHC beetle release information for 2008 thus far:

#1 - 11 March 2008, Coopers Creek (HWA #74, Union County) - 507 beetles

#2 - 22 March 2008, Sea Creek (HWA #79, Fannin County) - 798 beetles

#3 - 27 March 2008, Waters Creek (HWA #72, Lumpkin County) - 962 beetles

#4 - 4 April 2008, Watkins Branch (HWA #88, Fannin County) - 503 beetles

#5 - 4 April 2008, Rock Creek (HCA #82, Fannin County) - 598 beetles

#6 - 4 April 2008, Cooper Creek (HCA #74, Union County) - 522 beetles (Note: This site will be monitored by Atlanta Audubon volunteers in order to obtain data on beetle effects on infestation which will be examined by Dr. Joe Culin at Clemson University)

#7 - 10 April 2008, Canada Creek (HCA #78, Union County) - 589 beetles

#8 - 11 April 2008, Little Rock Creek (HCA #81, Fannin Co

#9 - 11 April 2008, Rock Creek (HCA #82, Fannin County) - 524 beetles

#10 - 19 April 2008, Cooper Creek (HCA #74, Union County) - 2676 beetle eggs (clip cage release)

#11 - 21 April 2008, Mart Helton Creek (HCA #140, Union County) - 1037 beetles

#12 - 21 April 2008, Mulky Gap Rd. (HCA #75, Union County) - 1128 beetles

#13 - 24 April 2008, Coopers Creek (HCA #74, Union County) - 2891 beetle eggs (clip cage release)

#14 - 24 April 2008, Stanley Creek (HCA #86, Gilmer County) - 535 beetles

#15 - 1 May 2008, Blood Mountain Cove (HCA #69, Lumpkin County) - 1664 beetle eggs (clip cage release)

#16 - 1 May 2008, Blood Mountain Cove (HCA #69, Lumpkin County) - 581 beetles

#17 - 1 May 2008, Waters Creek (HCA #72, Lumpkin County) - 1751 beetle eggs (clip cage release)

#18 - 1 May 2008, Waters Creek (HCA #72, Lumpkin County) - 501 beetles

#19 - 1 May 2008, Waters Creek (HCA #72, Lumpkin County) - 501 beetles

So far, we have released a total of 9787 adult beetles and 8982 beetle eggs in 2008. We are considerably behind last year's numbers, but ahead of our first year of production. The lower numbers are a result of a few factors: 1) our early season pesticide kill, 2) our holding the beetles longer for better "conditioning", and 3) our packaging fewer beetles per release container in order to spread releases over a wider area in areas of new infestation. An examination of the above release list shows that we are primarily focusing on newly infested areas with the hopes of bringing down the adelgid population in these "leading edges" of infestation. This month is the first month that our beetles have been released in Gilmer County. We will continue to release beetles & eggs through the month of May and into the month of June until egg production drops off. One other interesting thing to note is that many of the above releases have been "piggybacked" on releases of other predatory beetle species (Scymnus & Laricobius). We are hoping that the release of multiple predators in these leading areas of infestation will help establish a good "1, 2, 3 punch" in order to limit the population of adelgids in these areas.

III. A Final Word

Unfortunately, when you have students as your primary labor force, you lose them after the school year ends. I have been fortunate to have been able to work with a dedicated group of students. Thomas Caudell, Angee DelConte, Alan Guilfoyle, Jonathan May, and Emily Parker, unfortunately, have left us for the summer (and some of them have graduated and are moving on). I will be recruiting students and additional workers during the summer school months of May through July as the work of the lab continues. I want to continue to express my appreciation to my colleagues at the other rearing labs, and especially to the Lumpkin Coalition for their very generous support! Jim Wentworth, Rachelle Powell, and Milton Bradley of the US Forest Service continue to put in long hours helping us disperse our beetles. We appreciate their hard work!!

For those of you who do not know where our new laboratory is located, here are some directions: At the light on highway 76 in Young Harris (there is only one in the actual town of Young Harris!) turn into the college campus (this is College Street). Follow that street until it dead ends at a 3-way stop. Turn left onto Duckworth St. and follow it until it dead ends at another 3-way stop. Turn right onto Maple Street and follow it past the tennis courts. The street will veer off to the left. As you veer to the left you will see the sign for the YHC predatory beetle-rearing facility to the right.

Our laboratory hours during the month of May will be 9 - 10 a.m., and 1 - 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Our laboratory phone is 706-379-4210 and my office phone is 706- 379-5131, or you can contact the office of our College President, Cathy Cox (706-379- 5111), or our Advancement Director, Bert Huffman (706- 379-5112). For more information on our project, you can also visit our web page: http://www.yhc.edu/academics/ math--science/yhc-hemlock project.aspx. This web site also contains links to all of our past newsletters.

If you are interested in making a donation to our "beetle project": Checks can be made out to "Young Harris College" with "Hemlock Project" in the memo portion of the check. Checks can be sent to: Dr. Paul T. Arnold, Hemlock Project Director, P.O. Box 68, 1 College St., Young Harris College, Young Harris, GA, 30582. For donations greater than $25, you can get a YHC Predatory Beetle Lab Tshirt. Be sure to give us your shirt size, and an address where we can mail the shirt!

Respectfully,

Paul T. Arnold, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology & Director of the YHC Predatory Beetle Rearing Facility

Young Harris College