David Orr

Bio

The biological control program at NC State University is focused on instructional activities, providing graduate level courses in Biological Control, Organic Agriculture, and Soil Ecology, as well as graduate seminars. Extension activities provide printed and electronic media, presentations and workshops related to biological control and organic agriculture.

Teaching:

In addition to guest lectures in a variety of classes, I offer the following courses as either in-class or distance education:

ENT 110 (General Entomology)

ENT 212 (Basic Entomology)

ENT425 (General Entomology)

ENT 526 (Organic Production: Principles and Practices)

ENT 601/801 Seminars in:     Insect Pathology/Biological Control (with Wes Watson)       Teaching Techniques (with Clyde Sorenson)

ENT 726 (Biological Control)

PP/ENT 727 (Ecology of Soil Ecosystems; with Shuijin Hu)

Extension:

I interact with small farm owners, organic growers, Master Gardeners, and others to extend information about biological control. I maintain the following website and blog to help deliver this information:

Biological Control Information Center

Area(s) of Expertise

My research activities have focused on applied efforts in biological control, specifically the use of arthropod natural enemies for pest management, and especially on organic farms. I have an interest in the development and promotion of economical and practical habitat that serves the needs of multiple organisms (e.g. predatory and parasitic insects, seed predators, farmland wildlife, pollinators), and provides for multiple ecological services and aesthetics. I also have a fondness for egg parasitoids of insects, such as trichogrammatids and scelionids.

Publications

• Behavior of Telenomus podisi (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) Adults under Overwintering Conditions(1) , JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGICAL SCIENCE (2017)
• Longevity and fecundity of the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi provided with different carbohydrate diets , Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2017)
• Soil and Foliar Arthropod Abundance and Diversity in Five Cropping Systems in the Coastal Plains of North Carolina , ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY (2017)
• A Review of Organic Lawn Care Practices and Policies in North America and the Implications of Lawn Plant Diversity and Insect Pest Management , HORTTECHNOLOGY (2015)
• Overwintering refuge sites for Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) , Journal of Entomological Science (2015)
• The Influence of Habitat Manipulations on Beneficial Ground-Dwelling Arthropods in a Southeast US Organic Cropping System , ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY (2015)
• Differential response of Trichogramma wasps to extreme sex pheromone types of the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens , ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY (2014)
• Beneficial Insect Borders Provide Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat , PLoS ONE (2013)
• Crop and field border effects on weed seed predation in the southeastern U.S. coastal plain , Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2013)
• Overwintering sparrow use of field borders planted as beneficial insect habitat , The Journal of Wildlife Management (2012)

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