My students and I study the biology and management of insects associated trees, shrubs, and turf. We seek environmentally sustainable solutions to major pest problems, as well as insight about behavior, ecology, and interactions of plant-feeding insects and their natural enemies for their intrinsic interest, and as a foundation for responsible pest management in urban landscapes.
Much of our research is field-oriented; study sites include horse farms, parks, sport fields, commercial nurseries, golf courses, sod farms, cemeteries, gardens, orchards and vineyards, and our own back yards. We frequently interact with arborists, golf superintendents, landscape and nursery managers, industry scientists, and the public providing students with extension, applied teaching, and outreach experience. This opens diverse career opportunities for graduating students in academia, as well as industry, state, or federal positions.
We have an inordinate fondness for Japanese beetles and other plant-feeding scarabs, root-feeding white grubs, wood borers, scale insects, leafminers, and caterpillars that eat tree leaves or grass. Other emphases include biological control, and reducing pesticide impact on beneficial species. We readily take on new systems in response to emerging pest problems and students' interests.
On my web page you will find a brief personal
biography, a link to my textbook, a categorized list of publications, examples of past and present research
projects, brief course descriptions, and a list of current and past graduate students and selected recognitions they have received.
Selected Publications:
- Hammons, D.L., S.K. Kurtaral, M. C. Newman, and D.A. Potter. 2009. Invasive Japanese beetles facilitate aggregation and injury by a native scarab pest of ripening fruits. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 106: 3686–3691.
- Seagraves, B.L., K.F. Haynes, C.T. Redmond, S. Tittle, and D.A. Potter. 2008. Seasonal biology and management of the maple shoot borer, Proteoteras aesculana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in production nurseries. Pest Manag. Sci.64: 1040–1049.
- Potter, D.A., J.T. Stokes, C. T. Redmond, C. L. Schardl, and D.G. Panaccione. 2008. Contribution of ergot alkaloids to suppression of a grass-feeding caterpillar assessed with gene-knockout endophytes in perennial ryegrass. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 126: 138-147.
- Prater, C.A., C.T. Redmond, W.E. Barney. B. Bonnig, and D.A. Potter. 2006. Microbial control of the black cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in turfgrass using Agrotis ipsilon multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus. J. Econ. Entomol. 99: 1129-1137.
- Maier, R.M. and D.A. Potter. 2005. Factors affecting distribution of the mound-building turfgrass ant Lasius neoniger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and implications for management on golf course putting greens. J. Econ. Entomol. 98: 891-898.
- Potter, D.A. 2005. Prospects for managing destructive turfgrass insects without protective chemicals. Internat. Turfgr. Soc. Res. J. 10: 42-54.
- Held, D.W. and D.A. Potter. 2004. Floral affinity and benefits of dietary mixing with flowers for a polyphagous scarab, Popillia japonica Newman. Oecologia 140: 312-320
- Potter, D.A. and D.W. Held. 2002. Biology and management of the Japanese beetle. Annual Review of Entomology 47: 175-205.
- Rogers, M.E. and D.A. Potter. 2002. Kairomones from scarabaeid grubs and their frass as cues in below- ground host location by the parasitoids Tiphia vernalis and Tiphia pygidialis. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 102: 307-314.
- Eliason, E. and D.A. Potter. 2000. Biology of Callirhytis cornigera (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) and its associated gall community on pin oak. Environ. Entomol. 29: 551-559.
- Haynes, K.F. and D. A. Potter. 1995. Sexual response of a male scarab beetle to larvae suggests a novel evolutionary origin for a pheromone. American Entomologist 41: 169-175
Revised: 8 March 2010
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