USDA, ARS, CMAVE

1700 SW 23^RD Drive

Gainesville, Florida  32608-1069

(352) 374-5988

Dr. Shapiro’s career with ARS spans more than 20 years.  His work has covered a wide range of disciplines from biochemistry and applied entomology to natural products chemistry.  He has studied biochemical and physiological processes that may confer resistance in citrus against root weevils, control of citrus leafminers with surfactants and Bt, and the basis of plant response to damage by whiteflies.  He currently applies concepts in insect nutrition toward development of dietary supplements for rearing insect predators, and develops tests to assess reproductive fitness and response of predators to their diet and their prey.

Collaborators:

Dr. Shapiro collaborates closely with Dr. Steve Ferkovich, CMAVE, and Dr. Jesusa “Susie” C. Legaspi, CBC, both also from the Behavior & Biocontrol Research Unit.  Their collective research will strive to develop improved rearing methods for insect predators, and to optimize their impact on populations of arthropod pests in the field (See A Fertility Test for Beneficial Insects, by Jim Core, Agricultural Research Magazine, June 2003, 51(6):11).

Other collaborators include:

R. T. Arbogast, Research Entomologist, USDA, ARS, CMAVE. Gainesville, Florida

James E. Carpenter, USDA, ARS, CPMRU, Tifton, Georgia

Thomas A. Coudron, Research Chemist, BCIRL, Columbia, MO

Dwight E. Lynn, USDA, ARS, IBC, Beltsville, Maryland