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Yuma's new U of A bug scientist has a question: can a mild winter predict a bad whitefly spring?
New U of A pest specialist Leonardo Salgado plans to compare years of insect counts with weather records to test whether mild winters help predict spring whitefly outbreaks.
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Leonardo Salgado was collecting insect-trap data by his second day at the University of Arizona. That's according to KYMA's Oct. 20 profile of the new assistant professor and Extension specialist in vegetable integrated pest management at the Yuma Agricultural Center. He started Oct. 12.
His whitefly project asks a useful question: could a mild winter warn growers of a rough spring?
A hypothesis, with years of records behind it
KYMA reports that Salgado plans to compare historical weather with insect counts from the university's 15 monitoring stations between Tacna and San Luis. Some stations have 10 to 15 years of data. Whiteflies can spread viruses that damage melons, and the report describes a significant local outbreak earlier this year.
The proposed connection between mild winters and larger spring populations is a hypothesis, not an established forecast. A pattern might emerge, or the records might show that the relationship is less useful than hoped. Either outcome would be worth knowing before anyone starts making decisions around it.
I like the question because it gives patient record-keeping a practical purpose. A stack of old insect counts sounds fairly unexciting until you consider what an earlier warning might mean to a grower. Whether those records can deliver one is what the research has to establish.
From Honduras to Yuma
The Entomological Society of America's 2022 award announcement documents Salgado's agricultural-sciences degree from Honduras' Universidad Nacional de Agricultura and subsequent entomology master's studies at Louisiana State University. It identified him then as a Cornell doctoral student. KYMA's current profile reports that he completed his doctorate.
His other planned work, according to KYMA, includes tracing leafy-green pests and evaluating an insecticide with colleagues while establishing baseline resistance data.
The traps were already there. The next job is finding out what all those counts can tell us.
Sources 2
- Primary source · Public statementEntomological Society of America: 2022 Professional and Student Award Honorees
Professional society award announcement independently documents Leonardo Salgado education and Cornell doctoral-student status in 2022. Historical record does not verify his current Arizona appointment.
- Secondary source / research lead · News reportKYMA: New U of A researcher takes hands-on approach to protecting Yuma crops
Manoah Tuiasosopo profile. Source for current appointment, Oct. 12 start, field work by second day, monitoring network, mild-winter hypothesis and planned research. Forecast relationship is unproven.