Participants in the forum were from industry, research, extension and stakeholders. The aims of the IPM Forum were to exchange the latest information about research and projects and to maintain linkages between IPM projects and people across industries.

The Forum mostly focused on R,D & E being conducted in NSW and Qld, in the broadacre farming system. The broad range of topics covered in presentations included some key pests – green mirids, stink bugs, helicoverpa and silverleaf whitefly.

Of particular interest were presentations by a number of postgraduates from The University of Queensland.

• James Hereward – Dispersal and host plant interactions of green mirids (or ‘Where do mirids come from – are we dealing with locals or immigrants from far inland?’)
• Corinna Lange – The population genetic structure of native budworm, Helicoverpa punctigera, in the Australian landscape (or ‘My trip to pick grubs off wildlowers in the middle of Australia’)
• Jamie Hopkinson – Host acceptance behaviour of an aphid parasitoid (or ‘How I learnt to dissect tiny aphids and find even tinier wasp eggs inside them’).

It was interesting that many IPM Forum participants were noticeably envious of Corinna’s work – but less so of Jamie’s!

Other welcome participants included the Grains Research and Development Corporation Crop Protection Program Team who seized the opportunity to meet with project leaders and discuss research results.

If you have any questions about the 2007 IPM Forum, leave a post below.

Until next time, Big Bug.

Photo: The GRDC Crop Protection Program Team includes (L to R) John Sandow, GRDC Crop Protection Manager, Ralph Burnett, Western Panel member, Allan Mayfield, Southern Panel member, Rohan Rainbow, GRDC Project Manager, and Bill Yates, Northern Panel member. Photo provided by GRDC.

Until now, The Beat Sheet has simply been a newsletter circulated via email and snail mail (going back further, its orginal name was the Heliothis Hotline). While the newsletter format will continue for the time being, we are excited about the potential for this move into the world of blogs and blogging.

So who are we? The team looking after this blog is made up of the the following Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries entomology staff.

• Big Eyed Bug (a.k.a. Austin McLennan, Development Extension Officer – IPM)
• Big Bug (a.k.a. Dr Dave Murray, Principal Entomologist)
• Lady Bug (a.k.a. Dr Melina Miles)

To all our longstanding readers of the newsletter format, we’re confident you’ll find The Beat Sheet blog is a much more convenient and timely way to receive updates on insect pest management issues relevant to the grain cropping regions of Queensland and northern NSW.

To both new and old readers, if you have any ideas about how to improve The Beat Sheet, please let us know by posting your comments to this blog.

Welcome and Enjoy!