We've been working on installing some new features in the BugwoodWiki.  These are meant to be helpful additions to make editing easier and provide added functionality.  Here is a list of the new features (Click on the link for more details):
 

• In-line references in articles with semi-automated colation of references as footnotes
• RSS feeds for Recent Changes made to the Wiki
• New buttons added to the Edit window for Page Redirects, Subscripts, Superscripts, Bugwood Image Insert, Taxobox Insertion, Bugwood Image Gallery Insertions, Basic Tables and In-line references
• Exporting BugwoodWiki articles to PDF and Word Document

We have been working with the National Agricultural Pest Information System (NAPIS) to provide quality images of pests that may be of concern to the United States.  We've found a few species that we currently have no images to illustrate.  If you happen to have some images of these creatures that you would like to share, please contact Joe LaForest

Slugs and Snails

Tropical Leatherleaf Slug (Laevicaulis alte)
Veronicellid Slug (Leidyula moreleti)
Land Snail (Macrochlamys indica)
Two-striped Slug (Veronicella cubensis)
Veronicellid Slug (Veronicella sloanii)
Camaenidae Snail (Zachrysia provisoria)
Snail (Zachrysia trinitensis)
Ampullariid Snail (Pomacea sp./spp.)
Budapest Slug (Tandonia (Milax) budapestensis)
White Garden Snail (Helicid) (Theba pisana)
Yellow Shelled Slug (Parmarion martensi)

Nematodes

British Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne artiellia)
Columbian Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne chitwoodi)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne citri)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne donghaiensis)
False Columbia Root-knot Nema. (Meloidogyne fallax)
Citrus Root-knot Menatode (Meloidogyne fujianensis)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne indica)
Javanese Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne javanica)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne jianyangensis)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne kongi)
Apple Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne mali)
Citrus Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne mingnanica)
Pecan Root-knot Nematode (Meloidogyne partityla)
Coconut Palm Red Ring Nematode (Rhadinaphelenchus (Bursaphelenchus) cocophilus)
Stubby Root Nematode (Paratrichodorus sp./spp.)

Insects
Soybean Pod Borer (Leguminivora glycinivorella)
Pea Leafminer(south A.biotype) (Liriomyza huidobrensis)
Vine Mealybug (Planococcus ficus)
Lilac Mealybug (Planococcus lilacinus)
Oak Ambrosia Beetle (Platypus quercivorus)
Soft Scale (Protopulvinaria longivalvata)
Cottony Citrus Scale (Pulvinaria polygonata)
Cherry Fruit Fly (E.) (Cff) (Rhagoletis cingulata)
Western Cherry Fruit Fly (Rhagoletis indifferens)
Apple Clearwing Moth (Synanthedon myopaeformis)
Mango Aphid (Toxoptera odinae)
Little Fire Ant (Wasmannia (ochetomyrmex))

Mites

Laelapid Mite (Tropilaelaps clareae)
Rice Panicle Mite (Steneotarsonemus spinki)
Red Palm Mite (Raoiella indica)

Diseases

Flag Smut (Urocystis agropyri)
Soybean Dwarf (Soybean Dwarf Virus (SBDV)
Soybean Mosaic (Soybean Mosaic Virus (SMV)
Soybean Bacterial Blight (Pseudomonas syringae)
Potato Mop-top (Potato Mop-top Virus (PMTV)
New World Soybean Rust (Phakopsora meibomiae)

Weeds

Wand Loosestrife (Lythrum virgatum)
Horse Thistle; Stemless Thistle (Onopordum acaulon)

In the wake of introduced speices wreaking havoc in varoiu areas of the country, some states have begun to regulate the movement of firewood.  New York has just issued an emergency regulation to limit the movement of firewood to 50 miles from where it is harvested.  They have a very nice Frequently Asked Questions seciton explaining the rules and the reasoning behind it. 

The National Plant Diagnostic Network Training and Education Committee will be creating presentation materials that may be used to educate First Detectors such as master gardeners, garden clubs and homeowners about certain pests. Many of these species are exotic or newly introduced.

To help this effort, we are putting out a call for images on the following insect species.

• African Citrus Psyllid (Trioza erytreae)
• Arrowhead scale (Unaspis yanonensis)
• Asian Ambrosia Beetle (Xyleborinus saxeseni)
• Asian Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar dispar)
• Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis)
• Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius)
• Sweetpotato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci biotype Q)
• Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys)
• Cassava mealybug (Phenococcus manihoti)
• Chilli Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis)
• Coffee mealybug (Planococcus lilacinus)
• Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)
• Diaprepes Root Weevil (Diaprepes abbreviatus)
• Egyptian Cottonworm (Spodoptera littoralis)
• Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)
• European Crane Flies (Tipula spp.)
• Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar)
• Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae)
• Japanese wax scale (Ceroplastes japonicas)
• Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)
• Old World Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera)
• Pine Shoot Beetle (Tomicus piniperda)
• Potato psyllid (Russelliana solanicola)
• Red Palm Mite (Raoiella indica)
• Redbay Ambrosia Beetle (Xyleborus glabratus)
• Sirex Woodwasp (Sirex noctilio)
• Spodoptera litura
• Sugarcane silk floss aphid (Ceratovacuna lanigera)
• Suni Bug (Eurygaster integriceps)
• Swede Midge (Contarinia nasturtii)
• Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta virburni)
• Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

If you have some images of these species that you think would be useful, please let me know. We'll add the images to the Bugwood Image Database and forward copies to the individuals working on particular species presentations.

Customs and Border Protection has enough work to do monitoring cargo to catch incidental introductions of exotic pests.  Unfortunately, there are individuals who often miss the big picture and think that some of these critters might make a good pet!  MSNBC posted an article recently about one such interception. 

Wilmette, Illinois has started a very resourceful program to make use of the ash trees being removed from their city due to emerald ash borer infestations.  This was picked up by the Today Show.  You can watch the story at the MSNBC site.

We've just received a great set of images showing Agrilus planipennis laying eggs!  These images were taken by Marianne Prue from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry.  You can view them at her author page.

As many of you are aware, we have launched the BugwoodWiki; A wiki that has direct access to the Bugwood Image Archives.  Authorship for the wiki is restricted to "BugwoodWiki Scholars"; individuals who have asked to be authors and have some credentials or experience to back up their articles.  We also require the authors to put their name on their articles so that they can be properly credited if the article is used elsewhere.  All of the articles may be used in non-profit, educational publications as long as all of the citations are maintained.

One of the barriers to using any "wiki" is learning the "wiki language".  Although it is a very easy format to write in, the concept of learning a new language and flashbacks of past experiences with HTML is often a deterrent.  To help ease this dread, the Bugwood Network is offering online training sessions.  The first of these training sessions is a basic lesson to get people started.  It will provide people with a basic set of skills to use while editing any MediaWiki system (BugwoodWiki, eXtension, Wikipedia, etc.).

If you are interested in attending a session or just becoming a BugwoodWiki Scholar, contact our webmaster.

We've just added an excellent set of images from the book "Insects and their Natural Enemies Associated with Vegetables and Soybean in Southeast Asia" by B.M. Shepard, G.R. Carner, A.T. Barrion, P.A.C. Ooi and H.van den Berg.  You can see these images at their author page.

I recently traveled to Colorado State to train Howard Schwartz, Mark McMillan, and Janet Hardin on how images are entered into the Bugwood Image Database System.  They will be heading us the CSU node of the system, meaning they have all of the tool to upload images and enter information that we have at our main office in Tifton, GA. 

Colorado State was kind enough to let me present on the transition of CSU AgImages into BugwoodIDS.  They also recorded the presentation and have posted it on the web.  This presentation gives a good idea of how our system works and what will be happening with this cooperative effort between UGA and CSU.  To view the presentation, go to: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p70353759/

Two corrections on the presentation: 1) my e-mail address is laforest@uga.edu and 2) the address for the Bugwood Blog is www.bugwood.org/blog.