About

Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Department of Entomology. She was born in Lima, Peru, and holds a B.S. in Biology from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, as well as a Ph.D. in Entomology and an M.S. in Agronomy from Louisiana State University. Her research interests lie in both applied and fundamental aspects of plant-insect interactions and the influence of soil microbes, predominantly mutualistic fungi such as arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF), on plant defense and interactions with other organisms. Her work specifically focuses on the interactions of rice with its major insect pests in Texas. Dr. Bernaola employs multidisciplinary tools, including agronomy, plant biochemistry and physiology, insect physiology, and ecology, to study these complex interactions. Her research aims to identify and develop sustainable and cost-effective management programs for insect pests of rice.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Botany
• Agronomy
• Horticulture
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Environmental planning
• Biotechnology
• Environmental resource management
• Agroforestry
• Biochemistry
• Business

Selected publications

• Efficacy of selected insecticides on the stink bug complex in Texas soybean, 2024

  Arthropod management tests · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Susceptibility to Eight Common Chemical Insecticides in Helicoverpa Zea Populations from the Southern United States

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of foliar-applied insecticides for control of the invasive rice delphacid in Texas rice, 2024

  Arthropod management tests · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How Cucumber Roots Call Their Bodyguards With Odor Signals

  Frontiers for Young Minds · 2025-03-12

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Did you know that plants use smells to communicate? Some plants even use odors to send important information to other organisms in their environment. Scientists are now starting to understand how plants use odors underground, too. In this study, we discovered that the roots of cucumber plants release odors into the soil that change the way insects, and natural enemies of those insects, find their food. When below-ground caterpillars eat cucumber roots, the roots release specific smells into the soil that repel other insects. These same odors attract tiny insect-killing worms called nematodes. In a way, the plants recruit “bodyguards” to kill insects that are eating their roots and to prevent more caterpillars from eating them.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of foliar insecticides for control of the planthopper rice delphacid in rice, 2022

  Arthropod management tests · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploiting plant phenotypic plasticity in promoting crop resistance to insect pests

  Burleigh Dodds series in agricultural science · 2025-03-25

  book-chapter

  This chapter explores how an understanding of crop phenotypic plasticity might inform and improve pest management. In crops, plant-mediated interactions among herbivores and other organisms may have implications for pest management by, for example, altering thresholds or recommendations for scouting or management interventions; however, insufficient data exist to determine whether plant-mediated interactions are strong enough to warrant modifications to management practices. In addition, plasticity may enable stimulation of resistance in anticipation of herbivore attack through the application of substances that induce plant defense mechanisms, including chemical elicitors, soil microorganisms, and soil amendments. Greater understanding of the mechanisms by which these substances increase resistance and of the factors that influence their effectiveness will be needed to leverage phenotypic plasticity for improved pest management.

  PublisherDOI

• Recent history and future trends in host–plant resistance

  Annals of the Entomological Society of America · 2024-02-28 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Host–plant resistance (HPR) is a subdiscipline in entomology that aims to understand, develop, and deploy crop varieties resistant to arthropod herbivores. The seminal figure in HPR was Reginald Painter, whose 1951 monograph Insect Resistance in Crop Plants established a conceptual framework and methodological approach for applied research on plant resistance. In the 75 years since the publication of this book, the empirical and multidisciplinary approach established by Painter has led to the development and use of hundreds of arthropod-resistant crop varieties. Much of the success of HPR research has been, and will continue to be, tied to advances in scientific disciplines related to HPR, such as plant breeding and genetics, analytical chemistry, and plant–insect interactions. However, given the challenges facing agriculture and pest management over the coming decades, increased attention will need to be given to the deployment of resistant varieties and the integration of resistant varieties into integrated pest management (IPM) programs. Recent advances in our understanding of fundamental aspects of the interactions between plants and herbivores provide insights that can facilitate the increased use of plant resistance in IPM programs, and the diverse membership of the Entomological Society of America can play a critical role by increasing communication between scientists interested in applied and fundamental aspects of plant resistance to insects.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of foliar insecticides for control of rice stink bug in Texas rice, 2023

  Arthropod management tests · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of foliar and seed treatments for rice water weevil and stem borer control in Texas rice, 2023

  Arthropod management tests · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of Selected Seed and Foliar Chemistries on Rice Water Weevil, Lissorhoptrus Oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Control in Multiple Locations in Texas

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Michael J. Stout

  Louisiana State University Agricultural Center

  10 shared

• R. A. Pearson

  6 shared

• M. O. Way

  5 shared

• Nupur Sarkar

  4 shared

• Adrian T Marshall

  U.S. Vegetable Laboratory

  3 shared

• James M. Villegas

  Louisiana State University

  3 shared

• Kayleigh Hauri

  Michigan State University

  3 shared

• Morgan Roth

  Virginia Tech

  3 shared

Labs

• Department of Entomology, Texas A&M UniversityPI

Education

• B.S., Biology

  Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

• M.S., Agronomy

  Louisiana State University

• Ph.D., Entomology

  Louisiana State University