Faculty/Staff Detail

Terrence Fitzgerald, Biological Sciences Department, Frank Rossi, Chemistry Department, and alumni Mike Kelly ’14, and Tyler Potter ’14, are coauthors of an article titled “Trail Following Response of Larval Cactoblastis cactorum to 2-Acyl-1,3 Cyclohexane Diones” appearing in the current issue of the Journal of Chemical Ecology. The paper reports the isolation and identification of a pheromone that might serve as a bio-rational substitute for a chemical pesticide in the management of the caterpillar.  The caterpillar is an invasive species originally from Argentina that attacks prickly pear cactuses in the Gulf Coast states.  Kelly is currently a graduate student at SUNY Cortland and Potter is in the Chemistry Ph.D. program at Yale University.  Both students worked on the study as Cortland undergraduates. The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service supported the study.