Photos from the WFIWC Archives:
Mexico
Frank Hawksworth at left and Venancio Andrade of Chapingo discussing a point of interest involving dwarf mistletoes at the Urapan symposium, 1980. (M. Furniss photo)
1st National Symposium on Forest Parasitology, 1980. In February 1980, Mexican workers in forest entomology and pathology met at Urapan, Michoacan, similar to the way that the Western Forest Insect Work Conference began in 1949-50. However, the disciplines of forest entomology and pathology were highly integrated in Mexico (hence "Parasitology") whereas in the USA and perhaps Canada the two disciplines had been traditionally separate. Early-on in the USA there was rivalry regarding which got credit for death of a pine tree. Gradually, such issues have subsided with better understanding of the relationships of insects, disease organisms, and their hosts. In the case of the WFIWC, a joint annual meeting with its forest pathology work conference counterpart now occurs every 5 years.
Because of my own work in Mexico, I was one of three foreign speakers invited to participate in the symposium. The others were Frank G. Hawksworth (1926-1993), a well known dwarf mistletoe specialist, and Stephen L. Wood, still the World authority on Scolytid taxonomy. My qualifications were far more humble. I had discovered Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1974 and had, in 1977, conducted a controlled breeding test with beetles from this population and those from Idaho. I presented the results at this symposium, which ... along with anatomical and behavioral data ... resulted in my describing the Chihuahua population as the sub-species, D. p. barragani in 2001.
The section on Forest Entomology was divided into Taxonomy, Detection & Evaluation, Biology & Ecology, and Control. Steve Wood spoke on the Scolytidae of Mexico. Hawksworth's paper, in the Phytopathology section, dealt with the dwarf mistletoe genus Arceuthobium and its importance in silviculture in Mexico. David Cibrián, University of Chapingo, was involved with 5 papers including both sections. He has become the most prominent forest entomologist in Mexico and I plan to feature his biography in a subsequent posting when information is available. In all, there were 25 entomological papers and 12 pathology papers (about the right proportion!).
The symposium clearly served its purpose. Young Mexicans, whom I presumed to be students, readily sought out others during breaks. They had no inhibition about introducing themselves to Wood, Hawkswoth and myself. I photographed Frank and Vanancio Andrade of Chapingo discussing a point of interest. Also, as noted in another posting, my own introduction to Frank Hawksworth led to our subsequent field trip through northern Mexico with David Cibrián in 1982. -- Malcolm M. Furniss
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