The overall objective of my program is to develop an understanding of the principal forces that influence the population dynamics and community structure of arthropod herbivores in agricultural and natural ecosystems and use this information to devise and implement multi-tactic pest management programs for grape and small fruit crops.    My more basic research is primarily focused on how host plant traits and other environmental factors influence interactions between plants and their herbivores, and herbivores and natural enemies with the specific applied goal of developing novel approaches to pest management.  For example, we have been studying the role of leaf morphology in mediating interactions between natural enemy mites (predatory and mycophagous species) and parasites of grapes.  This research has expanded to include a collaborative study to carry out QTL analysis of trichomes in grapes with the goal of learning how to breed for this trait in cultivated grapes to promote natural enemy mites. A second project investigates volatile cues used by female grape berry moth to find grapes as a basis for developing a trap for monitoring female moths and improving decision-making. A third project focuses on the influence of the landscape on pest and natural enemy movement, population dynamics, and pest management. Our study organism for this research is the strawberry sap beetle, a serious pest of strawberries in New York.  We hypothesize that movement from overwintering habitat to strawberries to alternative food sources and back to overwintering habitat are critical to understanding population dynamics and clues to management strategies. The project on sap beetles has expanded to include an effort to identify the aggregation pheromone used by male strawberry sap beetle, understand its role in pest ecology and its possible use in traps to attract and kill adult beetles.  My more applied research program focuses on the ecology and integrated control of specific arthropod pests of grapes and small fruit crops. Current projects include 1) the ecology and management of the strawberry sap beetle, 2) role of soft scale insects and mealybugs in spreading leafroll disease in New York vineyards, 3) use of mating disruption for control of grape berry moth, 4) ecology and chemical control of grape cane borer, and 5) testing IPM compatible pesticides in grape and small fruit crops.  As the grape and small fruit entomologist, 30% of my time is committed to extension activities.  My goal in extension is to translate and transfer results of applied research on pest biology and control to our grower clientele so that they will be better informed and better able to make sound pest management decisions. Educating growers and pest control advisors as to the proper and effective use of pesticides is an important aspect of my responsibilities.  In addition, however, I try to include other approaches to pest control such as the use of predators and parasites, cultural techniques and host plant resistance.

Professional Assignments, Honors, Awards

Teaching
Grape Pest Management, co-instructor
Field Plant Pathology/Entomology, co-instructor

• 2007 English-Loeb, G., Norton, A.P., Gadoury, D., Seem, R. and Wilcox, W. Biological control of grape powdery mildew using mycophagous mites. Plant Disease 91:421-429.
• 2006 English-Loeb, G.A. and A.P. Norton. Lack of trade-off between direct and indirect defence against grape powdery mildew in riverbank grape.  Ecological Entomology 31:415-422.
• 2005  English-Loeb, G., A. P. Norton, D. Gadoury, R.Seem, and W. Wilcox.  Tri-trophic interactions among grapevines, a fungal pathogen and a mycophagous mite.  Ecological Applications, 15: 1679-1688.
• 2003 Rhainds, M. and G. English-Loeb. Testing the resource concentration hypothesis with tarnished plant bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) on strawberry: Density of hosts and patch size influence the interaction between abundance of nymphs and incidence of damage. Ecological Entomology 28:348-358.
• 2003 English-Loeb, G., M. Rhainds, T. Martinson, and T. Ugine. Influence of flowering cover crops on Anagrus parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) and Erythroneura leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) in New York vineyards. Agriculture and Forest Entomology 5: 173-181.
• 2003 Rhainds, M. and G. English-Loeb.  Variation in Abundance and Feeding Impact of Tarnished Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) for Different Cultivars of Strawberry: Role of Flowering Phenology and Yield Attributes. Journal Economic Entomology 96: 433-440.
• 2002 English-Loeb, G. , A. Norton, and M. Walker.  Behavioral and population consequences of acarodomatia in grapes on phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) and implications for plant breeding. Entomologia Experimantalis et Applicata 104:307-319.
• 2001 Norton, A.P., G. English-Loeb, and E. Belden.  Host plant manipulation of natural enemies: Leaf domatia protect beneficial mites from insect predators.  Oecologia 126: 535-542.
• 2000 Norton, A., G. English-Loeb, D. Gadoury, and R. Seem. Mycophagous  mites and foliar pathogens: domatia mediate tri-trophic interactions in grapes. Ecology 81:490-499.
• 2000 Roda, A., J. Nyrop, M. Dicke, and G. English-Loeb.  Trichomes and spider mite webbing protect predatory mite eggs from intraguild predation.  Oecologia 125:428-435.
• 1998. Nyrop, J., G. English-Loeb, and A. Roda. Conservation biological control of spider mites in perennial cropping systems. In: P. Barbosa (editor), Perspectives on the Conservation of Natural Enemies of Pest Species. Academic Press, Pp. 307-333.