J.P. Michaud
Professor
Agricultural Research Center
1232 240th Avenue
Hays, KS 67601
Research
The entomology research program at ARCH has a long history of supporting plant breeding efforts to develop crop varieties with resistance to specific arthropod pests. Notable programs have contributed to greenbug resistance in grain sorghum, Russian wheat aphid resistance in wheat, and sorghum aphid resistance in sorghum. However, host plant resistance traits rarely provide sufficent crop protection without the support of biological control agents, i.e., predators and parasitoids that serve to naturally reduce pest numbers to levels more easily tolerated by the plants. More recently, research projects have focused on the fundamental biology and ecology of key beneficial insect groups that are important sources of natural mortality for field crop pests in Kansas, especially lady beetles (Coccinellidae), lacewings (Chrysopidae), and parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera). More effective conservation of these insects requires an improved understanding of their ecological requirements and environmental vulnerabilities. Improved preservation of these beneficial arthropod populations will render crop production more profitable with fewer pest outbreaks that require costly and environmentally harmful pesticide applications.