Lei Deng modeling our sweatshirt
The Colorado Potato Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a serious pest of potatoes. Due to the heavy use of pesticides to control this pest, it is also one of the most insecticide-resistant insects in North America. Fortunately, the beetle hasn't developed resistance to several biological control agents --- nature's way of controlling her own. One example of a biological control agent of the Colorado potato beetle is the twospotted stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). The twospotted stink bug survives by feeding on soft-bodied insects, most especially various beetle larva that feed on plants of the Solanaceae family (e.g., potato, tobacco, & bullnettle (horsenettle)).
The design of the t-shirt was a club effort. The LOGO was decided on first. The two insects were selected because of their coloration. In nature, the twospotted stink bug is as shown in the design. We took some artistic license with the color of the Colorado potato beetle because in real-life it isn't red, but pinkish white. The red admiral on the shoulder was selected by our former president.
Bill Wallin --- Artist/Graduate Student/Lab Technician --- took the idea, and with a photo of the insects drew the design in about 30 minutes.
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