Ac Van Der Westhuizen

I am a post graduate student and my honours project is about the susceptibility of Fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda) to selected insecticides in South Africa, testing if they have resistance to Betacypermethrin and Emametin Benzoate and what ranges are most effective. Most of our time for the project goes to the rearing of insects for the prelims and insecticide trials. The modules that this Honours consists of include: Principles of IPM, Pest phenology and damage symptoms, Economic damage and threshold values, Nematodes and crops, GM crops and Arthropoda plant interactions. Skills that I have obtained in this time include: Sampling and mass rearing of insects on artificial diet and plant material, basic laboratory skills, Identification of pest damage on maize, field sampling techniques and also assisting in the collection and of tobacco white flies for mass rearing for masters’ degree students along with conducting field surveys.

Skills that I have obtained in this time include: Sampling and mass rearing of insects on artificial diet and plant material, basic laboratory skills, Identification of pest damage on maize, field sampling techniques and also assisting in the collection and of tobacco white flies for mass rearing for masters’ degree students along with conducting field surveys.

busy completing honours in 2022