Jacob Wenger, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Entomology

Office: Ag 117
Phone: (559) 278-7754
Email: jawenger@csufresno.edu 

Courses: 

Plant 162 (formerly PLTH 103) - Economic Entomology
Plant 163 (formerly PLTH 108) - Integrated Pest Management
Plant 170T - Molecular Techniques in Plant Science
Plant 170T - Bee Bio Apiculture
Plant 151 - Agricultural Biotechnology
Plant 261 - Advanced Pest Management

Plant 270 - Seminar in Plant Science

 

Education: 

Ph.D. Entomology - The Ohio State University, OARDC - August 2015
B.Sc. Biology & Environmental Studies - Manchester University - May 2010 

Recipient of 2021 Entomological Society of America Early Career Professional Teaching Award

Research Interest; Agricultural Entomology & Molecular Ecology: 
As a researcher I am broadly interested in the sustainable management of insect pests of California’s tree nuts (almonds, pistachios & walnuts). My work is a combination of genetic analyses, field and laboratory trials to better understand the ecological interactions that drive pest movement and adaptation both in the orchard and post-harvest. Current projects include the use of gut-content analysis to identify alternative hosts of western leaf-footed bug, genetic transformation of navel orangeworm, and the investigation of silica based insecticides for control of insect pests in harvested nuts and beehives.

Research: 

Vulchi, R., Daane, K.M., Wenger J.A. (2021). Development of a DNA Melt Curve Analysis for the Identification of Lepidopterous Pests in Almond and Pistachio. Insects. 12, 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12060553

Reger, J., Wenger, J. A., Brar G., Burks C., Wilson, S.H. (2021). Evaluating Flight Performance of Mass-Reared and Irradiated Navel Orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) for Sterile Insect Technique. Economic Entomology. toab114, https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toab114.

Wilson, H., Burks, C.S., Reger, J.E., Wenger, J.A. (2020).  Biology and Management of Navel Orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in California.  Journal of Integrated Pest Management.  11(1):25

Reger, J., Wenger, J. A., Brar G., Burks C., Wilson, S.H. (2020). Evaluating response of mass-reared and irradiated navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to crude female pheromone extract. Insects. 11(10): 703.

Wenger, J. A., Cassone, B. J., Legeai F., Johnston, J. S., Bansal, R., Yates, A. D., Coates, B. S., Pavinato, V. A. C., and Michel, A. (2017) Whole Genome Sequence of the Soybean Aphid Aphis glycines. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Cassone, B. J., Wenger, J. A., Michel, A. P. (2015) Whole Genome Sequence of the Soybean Aphid Endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola and Genetic Differentiation among Biotype-Specific Strains. Journal of Genomics. 3: 85-94.

Wenger, J. A. and Michel, A. P. (2014) The Use of Refuge in Host Plant Resistance Systems for the Control of Virulent Biotype Adaptation in the Soybean Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Economic Entomology. 11: 1599-1609.

Wenger, J. A. and Michel, A. P. (2013) Integrating an evolutionary framework for understanding genetic relationships of phenotypically defined insect biotypes in the invasive soybean aphid (Aphis glycines). Evolutionary Applications. 6(7): 1041-1053.

Jun, T. H., Michel, A. P., Wenger, J. A., Kang, S. T., Mian, M. A. R. (2013) Population genetic structure and genetic diversity of soybean aphid collections from the USA, South Korea, and Japan. Genome. 56: 345‐350.