About

Thomas Kuhar is a Professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech, with a focus on vegetable and turf entomology. His research aims to develop, evaluate, and implement integrated pest management practices that enhance the profitability and sustainability of crop production in Virginia, while also improving food and environmental quality by minimizing the use of toxic pesticides. His work investigates the biology, ecology, and control of arthropod pests, providing valuable pest management information to agricultural clients and the scientific community. Kuhar's research projects include studying the biology, ecology, and pest management strategies for pests such as the brown marmorated stink bug, spotted lanternfly, wireworms, and various other insect pests affecting crops like vegetables, hemp, turfgrass, and edamame. He has also contributed to understanding the control of pests in crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, and soybeans. His efforts support the development of sustainable pest management practices, including the use of pheromone traps, entomopathogenic fungi, and novel insecticides. Kuhar has advised numerous graduate students and served on multiple graduate committees, contributing significantly to the field of entomology through research, teaching, and extension activities.

Research topics

• Biology
• Horticulture
• Ecology
• Political Science
• Botany
• Agronomy
• Toxicology
• Genetics
• Biotechnology
• Environmental resource management
• Public relations
• Food science
• Agroforestry
• Veterinary medicine
• Animal science
• Geography
• Environmental planning
• Chemistry
• Business

Selected publications

• ‘VT Sweet’: A vegetable soybean cultivar for commercial edamame production in the mid‐Atlantic USA

  Journal of Plant Registrations · 2021 · 17 citations

  • Biology
  • Horticulture

  Abstract Commercially viable cultivars adapted to U.S. production regions that meet consumer acceptance criteria are desperately needed by the growing domestic edamame industry. Here, we report the development and release of ‘VT Sweet’ (Reg. no. CV‐542, PI 699062), the first vegetable soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar released by Virginia Tech. VT Sweet is a late maturity group (MG) V cultivar (relative maturity 5.6, 129 d to harvest) with determinate growth habit, purple flowers, gray pubescence, tan pod wall, and yellow hila. VT Sweet has superior characteristics for edamame such as large pod size (13.9 g/10 pods; 40.4 mm long, 11.4 mm wide, and 7.6 mm thick) and low one‐bean pod proportion (15%), as well as low pod pubescence density (359 hairs/2.4 cm 2 ). VT Sweet also showed high overall consumer acceptability (6.0 ± 1.7; 9 = like extremely) and favorable tolerance to native pests. When compared with the commercial edamame check ‘UA Kirksey’, VT Sweet showed 102% of the check yield, a higher average field emergence rate (74.9 vs. 68.1%), and comparable consumer acceptability (6.05 vs. 6.10). Therefore, VT Sweet is an ideal cultivar for growers who are interested in commercial edamame production in the mid‐Atlantic region of the United States.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Chemical Compositions of Edamame Genotypes Grown in Different Locations in the US

  Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2021 · 24 citations

  • Chemistry
  • Food science
  • Animal science

  The consumption of edamame [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in the US has rapidly increased due to its nutritional value and potential health benefits. In this study, 10 edamame genotypes were planted in duplicates in three different locations in the US—Whitethorne, Virginia (VA), Little Rock, Arkansas (AR), and Painter, VA. Edamame samples were harvested at the R6 stage of the bean development when beans filled 80–90% of the pod cavity. Afterward, comprehensive chemical composition analysis, including sugars, alanine, protein, oil, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), starch, ash, and moisture contents, were conducted on powdered samples using standard methods and the total sweetness was calculated based on the measured sugars and alanine contents. Significant effects of the location were observed on all chemical constituents of edamame ( p < 0.05). The average performance of the genotypes was higher in Whitethorne for the contents of free sucrose (59.29 mg/g), fructose (11.42 mg/g), glucose (5.38 mg/g), raffinose (5.32 mg/g), stachyose (2.34 mg/g), total sweetness (78.63 mg/g), and starch (15.14%) when compared to Little Rock and Painter. The highest soluble alanine (2.67 mg/g), NDF (9.00%), ash (5.60%), and moisture (70.36%) contents were found on edamame planted in Little Rock while edamame planted in Painter had the highest crude protein (43.11%) and oil (20.33%) contents. Significant effects of genotype were observed on most of the chemical constituents ( p < 0.05) except NDF and raffinose. Among the 10 genotypes, R13-5029 consistently had high sucrose content and total sweetness across the three locations, meanwhile it had relatively high protein and fiber contents. Overall, the results indicate that to breed better edamame genotypes in the US, both genotype and planting location should be taken into considerations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Phenology of <i>Lycorma delicatula</i> (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) in Virginia, USA

  Environmental Entomology · 2021 · 29 citations

  • Biology
  • Ecology
  • Horticulture

  Abstract The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an invasive planthopper that was first discovered in North America in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014. Currently, L. delicatula has spread to eight additional states and threatens agricultural, ornamental, and timber commodities throughout the United States. The timing of insect life events is very important in the development of pest management tools and strategies. In 2019 and 2020, L. delicatula phenology was successfully documented in Winchester, Virginia using weekly 5-min observational surveys at established monitoring plots. Each year, L. delicatula were active in the environment from May to November with initial detections of first, second, third, fourth, and adults occurring in May, May, June, June, and July, respectively. Cumulative average growing degree days were also calculated for the onset of each L. delicatula life stage using local weather data and a lower developmental threshold of 10°C. First-instar L. delicatula were initially observed at 135 and 111.5, adults at 835 and 887, and egg masses at 1673.5 and 1611.5 in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Combined, these data can be used by growers and land managers to facilitate timing of effective pest management strategies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluation of Common, and One Novel, Insecticides to Control Stink Bug in Edamame, 2020

  Arthropod management tests · 2020 · 13 citations

  • Biology
  • Toxicology
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sweet Corn Sentinel Monitoring for Lepidopteran Field-Evolved Resistance to Bt Toxins

  Journal of Economic Entomology · 2020 · 59 citations

  • Biology
  • Agronomy
  • Veterinary medicine

  As part of an insect resistance management plan to preserve Bt transgenic technology, annual monitoring of target pests is mandated to detect susceptibility changes to Bt toxins. Currently Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) monitoring involves investigating unexpected injury in Bt crop fields and collecting larvae from non-Bt host plants for laboratory diet bioassays to determine mortality responses to diagnostic concentrations of Bt toxins. To date, this monitoring approach has not detected any significant change from the known range of baseline susceptibility to Bt toxins, yet practical field-evolved resistance in H. zea populations and numerous occurrences of unexpected injury occur in Bt crops. In this study, we implemented a network of 73 sentinel sweet corn trials, spanning 16 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces, for monitoring changes in H. zea susceptibility to Cry and Vip3A toxins by measuring differences in ear damage and larval infestations between isogenic pairs of non-Bt and Bt hybrids over three years. This approach can monitor susceptibility changes and regional differences in other ear-feeding lepidopteran pests. Temporal changes in the field efficacy of each toxin were evidenced by comparing our current results with earlier published studies, including baseline data for each Bt trait when first commercialized. Changes in amount of ear damage showed significant increases in H. zea resistance to Cry toxins and possibly lower susceptibility to Vip3a. Our findings demonstrate that the sentinel plot approach as an in-field screen can effectively monitor phenotypic resistance and document field-evolved resistance in target pest populations, improving resistance monitoring for Bt crops.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Invasion of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) into the United States: Developing a National Response to an Invasive Species Crisis Through Collaborative Research and Outreach Efforts

  Journal of Integrated Pest Management · 2020 · 22 citations

  • Political Science
  • Business
  • Environmental planning

  Abstract Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug, is a globally invasive stink bug species. Its first major outbreak was in the United States, where it has caused millions of dollars in damage, threatened livelihoods of specialty crop growers and impacted row crop growers, and become an extreme nuisance pest in and around dwellings. The BMSB IPM Working Group, funded by the Northeastern IPM Center, was central to providing a mechanism to form a multidisciplinary team and develop initial and subsequent research, Extension, regulatory and consumer priorities. Ultimately, a project team consisting of over 50 scientists from 11 institutions in 10 states obtained the largest ever USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative CAP grant, totaling over $10.7 million, to tackle this crisis over a 5-yr period (2011–2016). Researchers and Extension educators integrated stakeholder feedback throughout the course of the project, and priorities evolved according to needs of affected growers and public stakeholders. Initially, the team focused on identification of H. halys, its damage symptoms and crop-specific risks, and short-term mitigation strategies for crop protection. Subsequently, work focused on its biology, ecology, and behavior leading to the development of potential longer-term IPM tactics and landscape level management solutions, including biological control. This work continues under a second SCRI CAP grant (2016–2021). The information from the initial team reached an estimated 22,000 specialty crop stakeholder contacts via Extension efforts, and over 600 million people via mainstream media. We highlight the main lessons learned from coordinating a national response to the threat posed by H. halys to agriculture in the United States.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Hélène Doughty

  Virginia Tech

  132 shared

• John Speese

  53 shared

• Peter B. Schultz

  Virginia Tech

  52 shared

• James Jenrette

  Virginia Tech

  46 shared

• Adam Wimer

  41 shared

• Meredith Cassell

  Virginia Tech

  39 shared

• Vonny M. Barlow

  37 shared

• Anna Wallingford

  35 shared

Labs

• Thomas Kuhar LabPI

Awards & honors

• Virginia Entomological Society – Founder and President
• Virginia Academy of Science – Lifetime Member

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