Dr Sarah Mansfield

Research interests

My research interests focus on the ecology and behaviour of insect parasitoids and predators in relation to biological control of agricultural pests, with emphasis on non-target effects of biological control agents, parasitoid-host interactions and intraguild predation.

Current research projects include the management of elephant weevil borer in blueberries, silverleaf whitefly in greenhouse vegetable crops, pests and diseases in cultivated mushrooms, and thaumastocorids on eucalypts.

Background

Sarah Mansfield completed her Bachelor of Science in 1994 and her Master of Science (First Class Honours) in 1996 at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She did her PhD in Entomology at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 2000. From 2001-2003 she was a Post-doctoral Fellow with CSIRO Entomology, based at the Australian Cotton Research Institute in Narrabri, NSW. She was a Research Entomologist with Forest Research in Rotorua, NZ, from 2004-2005. She accepted a lectureship in Agricultural Entomology at the University of Sydney in 2005.

Recent publications

• Mansfield, S., Hagler, J.R. & Whitehouse, M.E.A. (2008) A comparative study of the efficiency of a pest-specific and prey-marking ELISA for detection of predation. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 127: 199-206.
• Berndt, L. A., Mansfield, S. & Withers, T. M. (2007) A method for host range testing of a biological control agent for Uraba lugens. New Zealand Plant Protection 60: 286-290.
• Mansfield, S., Scholz, B., Armitage, S. & Johnson, M.-L. (2007) Effects of diet, temperature and photoperiod on development and survival of the bigeyed bug, Geocoris lubra. BioControl 52: 63-74.
• Mansfield, S, Withers, TM Gous, S. F., Potter, K. J. B., Kriticos, D. J., Watson, M. C. & Kimberley, M. O. (2006) Potential of Selective Insecticides for Managing Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) on Eucalypts. Journal of Economic Entomology 99: 780-789.
• Berry, J. A. & Mansfield, S. (2006) Hyperparasitoids of the gum leaf skeletoniser, Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Nolidae), with implications for the selection of a biological control agent for Uraba lugens in New Zealand. Australian Journal of Entomology 45: 215-218.
• Mansfield, S., Dillon, M. L. & Whitehouse, M. E. A. (2006) Are communities really disrupted? An assessment of insecticide spray regimes (as measured by the Beneficial Disruption Index) on insect and spider communities in Australian cotton. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 113: 326-335.
• Withers, T. & Mansfield, S. (2005) Choice or no-choice tests? Effects of design on the expression of host range. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium of the Biological Control of Arthropods. Davos, Switzerland. 12-16 September 2005. M. S. Hoddle (Ed.) USDA Forest Service Publication FHTET-2005-08, p. 620-633.
• Mansfield, S., Kriticos, D. J., Potter, K. J. B., Watson, M. C. (2005) Parasitism of gum leaf skeletoniser (Uraba lugens) in New Zealand. New Zealand Plant Protection 58: 191-196.
• Mansfield, S. & Mills, N. J. (2004) A comparison of methodologies for the assessment of host preference of the gregarious egg parasitoid Trichogramma platneri. Biological Control 29: 332-340.
• Mansfield, S., Elias, N. & Lytton-Hitchins, J. A. (2003) Ants as egg predators of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in cotton. Australian Journal of Entomology 42: 349-351.

Contact

Email:
Website: www.agric.usyd.edu.au/staff/mansfield/index.shtml