Name: Dr. James E. Carpenter
Title: Research Entomologist
Research: Integration of biological control, genetic control, and other biorational tactics leading to the development of local and regional, insect pest management systems.
Support Staff: Robert Caldwell and Susan Drawdy and Robert Giddens
Address: Crop Protection and Management Research Unit
USDA-ARS
P.O. Box 748
Tifton, GA 31793-0748
Phone: 229-387-2348
FAX: 229-387-2321
E-Mail: JCarpent@tifton.usda.gov
Education: B.S., Troy State University, Biology and Physical Science
M.S., University of Georgia, Entomology
Ph.D., University of Florida, Entomology
CRIS Project Title: Integration of Alternative Pest Management Strategies for the Management of Insects and Aflatoxin Contamination in the Southeastern Coastal Plain
Research Goals: Study insect behavior, natural enemies, and genetically altered insects with the goal of developing alternative management strategies for the corn earworm, fall armyworm, and other Lepidopteran pests. Identify biorational tactics that can be combined for more efficient prevention of seasonal increases of pest populations. Develop in vitro and mass rearing technology that will allow for the economic production of natural enemies of insect pests.
Major Accomplishments:
Dr. Carpenter and colleagues have conducted pioneering research which has resulted in the following accomplishments:
Demonstrated substerile doses of radiation induced deleterious effects in the corn earworm and fall armyworm, not only in the generation that was treated, but also for several subsequent generations.
Documented the mating competitiveness, sperm competitiveness, field survival and reproductive potential of substerile insects and their progeny relative to feral insects.
Developed concepts using mark-recapture techniques and chromosome translocations that could be used to determine the rate of infusion of deleterious genes into a pest population after genetically altered insects were released, and conducted a field tests that showed the effectiveness of inherited sterility for managing lepidopteran pests populations.
Developed an insect population model to predict the effects of inherited sterility on an insect population for several generations following the release of genetically altered insects. Also developed the theoretical framework for the integration of inherited sterility and other pest management strategies, such as insecticides, host plant resistance, and parasitoids, for controlling insect pest populations.
Demonstrated the potential of augmentative and classical biological control using natural enemies such as Ichneumon promissorius, Archytas marmoratus, and Cotesia plutellae to manage populations of major lepidopteran pests of row crops.
Developed new insect growth and development technologies that enhance the use of biological control tactics in integrated pest management of numerous insect pests, including (1) the discovery that certain allochemicals in host and non-host plants for corn earworm and fall armyworm were functioning as antinutritive factors that bind with ingested protein and prevent pest larvae from assimilating the protein for growth and development, (2) the development of a patented artificial diet and presentation system for rearing natural enemies (both parasitoids and predators) of insect pests, and (3) the improvement of artificial diet formulations for several lepidopteran pests.