From understanding arthropod biology and ecology to economically and socially sustainable pest management

Interactions between insects and plants date back hundreds of millions of years and continue to shape agricultural systems today. In the Rio Grande Valley, the subtropical climate with mild and warm fall and winter conditions provides ideal conditions for insect populations to develop and damage crops, making effective pest management essential for crop production. Our lab integrates fundamental research on insect biology, ecology, and behavior with applied approaches such as biological control, cultural practices, host plant resistance, and optimized pesticide use to develop and test practical, economically and environmentally sustainable pest management strategies.

PI Bio Dr. Alisson da Silva Santana joined the Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center, Weslaco and the Department of Entomology as an Assistant Professor in October 2025. His research and extension activities focus on integrated pest management (IPM) of arthropods in diverse cropping systems, including field crops, vegetables, and specialty crops. Dr. Santana’s program emphasizes understanding arthropod biology, ecology, and behavior, and applying this knowledge to improve management strategies.

Faculty 1 Title TAMU scholars link

Faculty 2 Title TAMU scholars link

Faculty 3 Title TAMU scholars link

Publications

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=875UYLMAAAAJ&hl=enORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-275X:: da Silva Santana’s publications at TAMU Scholars-Link button to TAMU scholars::

Project 1 – Integrated Bioecology, Monitoring, and Management of Arthropod Pests in diverse Cropping Systems

Arthropod pests threaten agricultural productivity through direct feeding injury, transmission of plant pathogens, and the increasing challenges posed by invasive species and insecticide resistance. Effective and sustainable management requires a better understanding of the biological, ecological, and behavioral factors that drive pest establishment, population growth, dispersal, and interactions with crop hosts. This is an overarching project to advance the understanding and management of economically important arthropod pests affecting agricultural crops in the United States. Research integrates behavioral, ecological, physiological, and molecular approaches to investigate pest biology, movement, host utilization, population dynamics, and interactions with cultivated and non-cultivated plants. This project also develops and evaluates integrated pest management strategies through field monitoring, host plant resistance, cultural practices, biological control, and targeted chemical interventions. This work will generate practical solutions that improve the sustainability, resilience, and profitability of U.S. cropping systems.

Project 2 – Insect dispersal in agroecosystems: applications of protein immunomarking and novel marking techniques

Insects are constantly moving within and between plants and fields as they respond to changes in crop growth, resource availability, and environmental conditions, while seeking mates and suitable sites for development. Movement determines how quickly populations spread, which crops are at risk, and how pests interact with natural enemies and the landscape. In the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas, diverse cropping systems and crops distributed across time and space create a complex environment that strongly influences insect movement and dispersal patterns. Natural enemies, such as predators and parasitoids, also move across plants and fields in search of prey, shelter, alternative food sources, or suitable sites for reproduction. Protein immunomarking (PIT) uses proteins applied to insects or plants that can later be detected with immunological assays. This technique allows tracking insect movement, dispersal distances, and habitat use, providing valuable information for monitoring populations and improving pest management. The objectives of this project are to use PIT in mark-release-recapture (MRR) and mark-capture (MC) experiments to quantify movement patterns of pests and natural enemies, to evaluate emerging techniques such as fluorophore markers for tagging arthropods in MRR and MC-type studies, and to generate data that can inform monitoring strategies and integrated pest management decisions.

Project 3 – Invasive species monitoring and management strategies

The Rio Grande Valley offers ideal conditions for insect pest populations to develop and cause significant crop damage. In addition, its geographic location makes the region a major entry point for invasive pest species. Several insect pests that are now economically important in Texas and the US were first reported or became established in the Rio Grande Valley, including the corn leafhopper and pasture mealybug, and others. The region may also be among the first areas to experience the arrival and establishment of additional invasive pests in the future, such as the two-spot cotton leafhopper and the Central American locust. Given this context, the objectives of this project are to actively monitor the early signs of new pest invasions using conventional and novel monitoring techniques; to characterize pest movement and early population dynamics in the Rio Grande Valley; and to develop management strategies that minimize dispersal risk and economic damage caused by these pests.

Project 4 – Enhancing the IPM toolbox: evaluating ecologically based pest management strategies

Integrated pest management (IPM) provides a sustainable framework for reducing pest damage by integrating multiple control tactics while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Many alternative management practices within IPM emphasize ecological processes and crop–pest interactions to suppress pest populations, offering effective and environmentally sound options that reduce reliance on conventional insecticides. This project focus on evaluating such approaches, including trap cropping, push-pull systems, temporal and spatial escape, crop improvement, the use of bioinsecticides, and other complementary strategies, while also measuring their economic and environmental impacts, both individually and in combination, to better understand their overall benefits and trade-offs.