The 61st Annual Meeting of the Illinois Mosquito and Vector Control Association (IMVCA)was held in Champaign Illinois in honor of the Association’s birthplace and first annual meeting location (as reported by resident IMVCA historian Jack Swanson).  We had an excellent meeting and a great time was had by all!

The  IMVCA also held its Henry Lawicki Student/Intern Competition on November 20th at their 61st Annual Meeting in Champaign, Illinois.  Seven graduate and undergraduate students participated from the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Illinois University (WIU), the Department of Entomology at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)  and the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS).  Despite the excellence of all seven presentations, judges awarded three with cash prizes:  Allison Gardner (UIUC), Tanya Josek (UIUC), and Michele Rehbein (WIU).  The other students (Jason Hunt, Sarah Warren, Surendra Karki, and Tyler Hedlund) were presented framed mosquito prints photographed by Alex Wild.  The mentors of the students, Brian Allan (UIUC), Juma Muturi (INHS), and Catherine Miller-Hunt (WIU), were among over one hundred attendees at the meeting.

Please enjoy the following photos from this year’s meeting.  See you in Springfield in 2016!

2015 IMVCA Meeting Program

Thursday, November 19th, 2015

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Refreshments – Courtesy of ADAPCO

10:30 – 10:35 President’s Welcome – Bob Berry

10:35 – 10:55 Sam Davis, Illinois Department of Public Health, Back to the Basics: Traps, Testing, and Submission

10:55 – 11:10 Kevin Dixon, DuPage County Health Department, Update on Prediction of Mosquito Infection in Real-Time

11:10 – 11:30 Roger Nasci, North Shore Mosquito Abatement District, Chikungunya, Powassan and Zika…Oh My! – OR – Exotic Arboviruses Coming to a Community Near You

11:30 – 11:45 John Kane, Orkin Pest Control, Residential and Small Business Services – What We Do.

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch – Courtesy of VALENT BIOSCIENCES

1:00 – 1:10 President’s Welcome, Bob Berry

1:10 – 1:40 Steve Mulligan, AMCA past president, Invasive Aedes aegypti in Central CA.

1:40 – 2:10 Linn Haramis, Illinois Department of Public Health, The ‘Mosquito Paradox’ and other Vector Control Issues for 2015

2:10 – 2:40 John-Paul Mutebi, CDC, A National Review of Mosquito-Borne Arbovirus Activity in 2015

2:40 – 3:00 Justin Harbison, Loyola University Chicago,  Extended-Release Larvicides May Not Provide District-Wide Protection: Evidence From 2011-2015 Studies

3:00 – 3:10 Sponsor Introductions: VDCI, CLARKE, UNIVAR, ADAPCO, VALENT, ZOECON, CENTRAL LIFE SCIENCES

3:10 – 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Break – Courtesy of  VDCI

3:30 – 3:45 Nancy Westcott, Illinois Natural History Survey, West Nile Virus Model and Resources at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.

3:45 – 4:45 District Reports

4:45 – 4:50 Closing Remarks, Announcements

5:00 – 5:45 Business Meeting

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Hospitality Hour – Courtesy of CLARKE

7:00 p.m. – 8:50 p.m. Banquet, Barbara O’Meara: President’s Address, Guest Speaker – John Paul Mutebi, CDC, Mosquitoes of Uganda

8:50 – 9:00 Charity Raffle – Courtesy of UNIVAR

Friday, November 20, 2015

6:30 – 8:15 Breakfast – Courtesy of Homewood Suites & IMVCA at Hilton Garden Inn

8:15 – 8:25 Henry Lawicki STUDENT/INTERN COMPETITION, Jack Swanson & Joy Joyce – Introduction

8:25 – 8:40 Jason Hunt, Western Illinois University, Aedes mosquito surveillance in western Illinois: The first record of the invasive species, Aedes japonicus, in Fulton and Schuyler Counties, Illinois.

8:40 – 8:55 Michele Rehbein, Western Illinois University, West Nile Virus Surveillance in Rural Western Illinois.

8:55 – 9:10 Sarah Warren, Western Illinois University, Evaluating the effects of prescribed forest burning in relation to tick species abundance and distribution.

9:10 – 9:25 Allison Gardner, University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, Eradication of Amur honeysuckle alters mosquito abundance and distribution.

9:25 – 9:40 Surendra Karki, University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, Statewide estimates of mosquito infection rate and weather-based models to improve local West Nile virus risk response for public health.

9:40 – 9:55 Tyler Hedlund, University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, The Spread of Ixodes scapularis and associated pathogens throughout the Chicago, IL Metropolitan Area

9:55 – 10:10 Tanya Josek, University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, Morphometric analysis of the Haller’s organ found in males and females of the hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae): Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum, and Dermacentor variabilis

10:10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Mid-Morning Break – Courtesy of Zoecon

10:25 – 10:30 Awards – Henry Lawicki Student/Intern Competition

10:30 – 10:50 Ephantus Muturi, Chang-Hyun Kim, Elizabeth Bach, & Maddura Siddapaji, Illinois Natural History Survey. Unexpected differences in microbial communities of Culex pipiens and Culex restuans and potential implications for West Nile Virus transmission.

10:50 – 11:10 Bryan Price , Indiana State Department of Health, Arborvirus Surveillance Report for Indiana 2015.

11:10 – 11:30 Chang-Hyun Kim, Ephantus Muturi. Illinois Natural History Survey, The impact of pesticides on midgut microbiota of Aedes albopictus.

11:30 – 11:55 Door Prizes, Courtesy of IMVCA

Adjournment

See you in Fall of 2016 at our next meeting in Springfield!