Lab Personnel
| Name | Position |
| Brett Byous brett@uga.edu |
Research Professional |
Courses Taught
ENTO 4000/6000 & lab: General Entomology (Fall Semester in-person in Griffin and synchronous remote), co-taught with Dr. Shimat Joseph and Ms. Lisa Ames
ENTO 8820: Concepts of Integrated Pest Management (2 hours, Spring semester in odd years, synchronous remote), co-taught with Drs. Will Hudson, David Riley and Ash Sial
Research
My research program focuses on the integrated pest management (IPM) of grain, forage and alternative agronomic crops. I have responsibility for insect pest management of field corn, sorghum, cereal grains and smaller or minor agronomic crops in Georgia with the exception of soybean. The objective is a mission-oriented effort to develop and improve biologically-based pest management systems for these agronomic crops with relevance to Georgia agriculture. My research addresses existing, emerging, and invasive pest management issues of these crops. Research projects aim to enhance our understanding of the biology of the pest and beneficial species in these crops to develop and refine monitoring, economic thresholds and management strategies. I also work on plant resistance to insects in conjunction with the UGA cereal grain breeding program team to develop wheat cultivars with improved resistance to insect pests such as the Hessian fly.
Extension / Outreach
My extension efforts deliver timely research results on insect management of grain, forage, and alternative crops to county agents, agricultural industry personnel, crop consultants, and growers through traditional training sessions, as well as via annual crop production guides both in print and online/web format.
Selected Publications
(383 total publications, 170 refereed journal articles and book chapters, *indicates papers by graduate students)
1. Towles, T. B., G. D. Buntin, A. L. Catchot, J. Gore, D. R. Cook, M. A. Caprio, and C. Daves. 2021. Quantifying the contribution of seed blended refugia in field corn to Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations. J. Economic Entomology. 114: 1771-1778. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toab097.
2. Mergoum, M., Johnson, J. W., Buck, J. W., Sutton, S., Lopez, B., Bland, D., Buntin, G.D. . . . Cambron, S. E. (2021). A new soft red winter wheat cultivar, 'GA 07353-14E19', adapted to Georgia and the US Southeast environments. J. Plant Registrations, 8 pages. doi:10.1002/plr2.20113\
3. Mergoum, M., Johnson, J. W., Buck, J. W., Sutton, S., Lopez, B., Bland, D., Buntin, G.D.. . . Boyles, R. (2021). Soft red winter wheat 'GA 051207-14E53': Adapted cultivar to Georgia and the US Southeast region. J. Plant Registrations, 15(1), 132-139. doi:10.1002/plr2.20102
4. Tillman, G., Toews, M., Blaauw, B., Sial, A., Cottrell, T., Talamas, E.,…Buntin, G.D. . Lahiri, S. (2020). Parasitism and predation of sentinal eggs of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in the southeastern US. Biological Control, 145. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104247
5. Bostick, N., Laforest, J. H., Bargeron, C. T., Culbreath, A. K., Brenneman, T. B., Schmidt, J. M., Buntin, G. D., and Toews, M. T. 2020, Assessment of consensus-based scouting for management of sugarcane aphid (Heteroptera: Aphididae) in Georgia. J Entomological Science 55: 1-13.
6. Lahiri, S., Ni, X., Buntin, G. D., and Toews, M. D. (2020). Parasitism of Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae) by Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in the Greenhouse and Field. J. Entomol. Science, 55(1), 14-24. doi:10.18474/0749-8004-55.1.14.
7. Sulc, R. M., Lamp, W. O., & Buntin, G. (2020). Insect management. In K. Moore (Ed.), In: K. Moore et al. (ed.) Forages, the science of grassland agriculture. Vol. II, 7th ed. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, UK. (Vol. II, 7th ed., pp. 20 pages). John Wiley & Sons
8. *Haar, P. J., Buntin, G. D., Jacobson, A., Pekarcik, A., Way, M. O., & Zarrabi, A. (2019). Evaluation of tactics for management of sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in grain sorghum. Journal of Economic Entomology, 112(6), 2719-2730. doi:10.1093/jee/toz215.
9. Balusu, R. R., Talamas, E. J., Cottrell, T. E., Toews, M. D., Blaauw, B. R., Sial, A. A., G.D. Buntin,... Tillman, G. (2019). First record of Trissolcus basalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) parasitizing Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in the United States. Biodiversity Data Journal 7, 9 pages. doi:10.3897/BDJ.7.e39247.
10. Lahiri, S., Ni, X., Buntin, G. D., Punnuri, S., Jacobson, A., Reay-Jones, F. P. F., & Toews, M. D. (2019). Combining host plant resistance and foliar insecticide application to manage Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in grain sorghum. Internat. J. Pest Management, 10 pages. doi:10.1080/09670874.2019.1660830.
11. Ni, X., Cottrell, T. E., Buntin, G. D., Li, X., Wang, W., & Zhuang, H. (2019). Monitoring of brown stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) population dynamics in corn to predict its abundance using weather data. Insect Science, 26(3), 536-544. doi:10.1111/1744-7917.12545.
12. Gordy, J. W., M. J. Brewer, R. D. Bowling, G. D. Buntin, N. J. Seiter, D. L. Kerns, F. P. F. Reay-Jones, and M. O. Way. 2019. Development of economic thresholds for sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in susceptible grain sorghum hybrids. J. Econ. Entomol. 122: 1251-1259 doi: 10.1093/jee/toz028.
13. *Haar, P. (2018). Integrated pest management systems for sugarcane aphid on grain sorghum. (Master's Thesis, University of Georgia).
14. Bibb, J. L., Cook, D., Catchot, A., Musser, F., Stewart, S. D., Leonard, B. R., Buntin, G. D., Kerns, D. Allen, T. W. and Gore, J. (2018). Impact of corn earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on field corn (Poales: Poaceae) yield and grain quality. J. Econ. Entomology, 111(3), 1249-1255. doi:10.1093/jee/toy082
15. Johnson, J. W., Chen, Z., Buck, J. W., Buntin, G. D., Babar, M. A., Mason, R. E., . . . Mergoum, M. 2018. 'Savoy', an adapted soft red winter wheat cultivar for Georgia and the Southeast regions of the United States. J. Plant Registrations, 12(1), 85-89. doi:10.3198/jpr2017.06.0039crc
16. *Haar, P. J., Bowling, R., Gardner, W. A., & Buntin, G. D. 2018. Epizootics of the Entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium lecani (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) in sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) populations infesting grain sorghum in Georgia and Texas. J. Entomol. Science, 53(1), 104-106. Retrieved from http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/
17. Buntin, G. D., & Murphy, T. R. (2018). Biological control of musk thistle (Asteraceae) by the weevil Rhinocyllus conicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and its establishment on non-target thistles in Georgia, USA. J. Entomological Science, 53, 141-152
18. Johnson, J. W., Chen, Z., Buck, J. W., Buntin, G. D., Babar, M. A., Mason, R. E., . . . Mergoum, M. (2018). 'Savoy', an adapted soft red winter wheat cultivar for Georgia and the Southeast regions of the United States. J. Plant Registrations, 12(1), 85-89. doi:10.3198/jpr2017.06.0039crc
19. Johnson AJ, Abdel Moniem HEM, Flanders KL, Buntin GD, Reay-Jones FPF, Reisig D, Stuart JJ, Subramanyam S, Shukle RH, Schemerhorn BJ. 2017. A Novel, economical way to assess virulence in field populations of Hessian Fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) utilizing wheat resistance gene H13 as a model. Journal of Economic Entomology 110(4):1863-1868. Doi: 10.1093/jee/tox129.
20. Ni, X., Cottrell, T.E.; Buntin, G.D.; Li, X-Chun, Wang, W. and Zhuang, H. 2017. Monitoring of brown stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) population dynamics in corn to predict its abundance using weather data. Insect Science DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12545.
21. *Blount, J. L., P. M. Roberts, M.D Toews, W.A. Gardner, J.N. All, J.W. Davis, G.D. Buntin. 2017. Seasonal population dynamics of Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) in kudzu and soybean, and implication for insecticidal control in soybean. J. Economic Entomology 110:157-167.
22. Harris-Shultz, K.; Ni, Xinzhi; Wadl, P.A; Wang, X., Wang, H., Huang, Fangneng; Flanders, K., Seiter, N., Kerns, D., Meagher, R., Xue, Q., Reisig, D., Buntin, D.; Cuevas, H., Brewer, M,J, Yang, X.. 2017. Microsatellite markers reveal a predominant sugarcane aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) clone is found on sorghum in the United States. Crop Science 57: 2064-2072.
23. Bowling, R.D., Brewer, M.J., Kerns, D.L., Gordy, J., Seiter, N., Elliott, N.E., Buntin, G.D., Way, M.O., Royer, T.A., Biles, S. and Maxson, R. 2016. Sugarcane Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae): A new pest on sorghum in North America. J. Integrated Pest Management 7(1): 12; 1–13; doi: 10.1093/jipm/pmw011.
24. Crespo, A. L., a. p. Alves, Y. Wang, B. Hong, J. L. Flexner, A. Catchot, D. Buntin, D. Cook. 2016. Survival of corn earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Bt maize and cross-pollinated refuge ears from seed blends. J. Econ. Entomol. 109(1): 288-298. DOI: 10.1093/jee/tov272,
25. *Blount, J. L., Buntin, G. D., and P. M. Roberts. 2016 Effect of planting date and maturity group on soybean yield response to injury by the kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria F. (Hemiptera: Plataspidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 109 (1): 207-212.
26. Pan, Z., Onstad, D., Crain, P., Crespo, A., Hutchison, W., Buntin, G. D., Porter, P., Catchot, A., Pilcher, C., Flexner, L. and Higgins, L. (2016). Evolution of resistance by Helicoverpa zea infesting insecticidal crops in the Southern United States. J. Economic Entomology. 109 (2): 821-831 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jee/tov340
27. Ni, Xinzhi, Cottrell, T. E., Toews, M. D., Tillman, P. G., Buntin, G. D. 2016. Diurnal activities of the brown stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in and near tasseling corn fields. J. Entomological Science 51: 226-237.
28. Shukle RH, Cambron SE, Moniem HA, Schemerhorn BJ, Redding J, Buntin GD, Flanders KL, Reisig DD, Mohammadi M., 2016. Effectiveness of genes for Hessian fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) resistance in the southeastern United States. J. Econ. Entomol. 109: 399-405. doi:10.1093/jee/tov292
29. Reisig, D. D., Akin, D. S., All, J. N., Bessin, R. T., Brewer, M. J., Buntin, G. D., Cachot, A. L., Cook, D., Flanders, K. L., Huang, F. N., Johnson, D. W., Leonard, B. R., McLeod, P. J., Porter, R. P., Reay-Jones, F.P. F., Tindal, K. V., Stewart, S. D., Troxclair, N. N., Youngman, R. R., Rice, M. E. (2015). Lepidoptera injury to corn containing single and pyramided Bt traits, and a refuge blend with Cry1Ab x Cry1F in the southern United States. J. Economic Entomology. 108(1): 157-165.