John Tooker

Professor of Entomology

John Tooker

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Publication Tags

Pest Control Insecticide Insecticides Pest Crop Insect Pests Biological Control Neonicotinoid Pesticide Arthropod Predation Soil Integrated Pest Management Glucose Oxidase Insects Arthropods Cover Crops Crops Predator Life History Neonicotinoid Insecticides Predators Effect Seed Treatment Maize

Most Recent Publications

Planted-green cover crops in maize/soybean rotations confer stronger bottom-up than top-down control of slugs

Marion Le Gall, Matthew Boucher, John F. Tooker, 2022, Agro-Ecosystems

Oak Galls Exhibit Ant Dispersal Convergent with Myrmecochorous Seeds

Robert J. Warren, Antoine Guiguet, Chloe Mokadam, John F. Tooker, Andrew R. Deans, 2022, American Naturalist on p. 292-301

Early-season plant cover supports more effective pest control than insecticide applications

Elizabeth K. Rowen, Kirsten A. Pearsons, Richard G. Smith, Kyle Wickings, John F. Tooker, 2022, Ecological Applications

Insecticide-contaminated honeydew: risks for beneficial insects

Miguel Calvo-Agudo, John F. Tooker, Marcel Dicke, Alejandro Tena, 2022, Biological Reviews on p. 664-678

More phylogenetically diverse polycultures inconsistently suppress insect herbivore populations

Angela M. Coco, Eric C. Yip, Ian Kaplan, John F. Tooker, 2022, Oecologia on p. 1057-1072

The effect of zinc fertilizer on maize growth, leaf mineral nutrition, and caterpillar herbivory

Elizabeth K. Rowen, John F. Tooker, 2022, Arthropod-Plant Interactions

Preventative pest management in field crops influences the biological control potential of epigeal arthropods and soil-borne entomopathogenic fungi

Lindsay Johnston-Fennell, John Tooker, Brian A. Nault, Kyle Wickings, 2021, Field Crops Research

Life History, Biology, and Distribution of Pterostichus melanarius (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in North America

Anna K. Busch, Briana E. Wham, John F. Tooker, 2021, Environmental Entomology on p. 1257-1266

Newer characters, same story: neonicotinoid insecticides disrupt food webs through direct and indirect effects

John F. Tooker, Kirsten A. Pearsons, 2021, Current Opinion in Insect Science on p. 50-56

Wheat intraspecific diversity suppressed diseases with subdued yield, economic return and arthropod predation services

Julie Baniszewski, Amanda Burton, Armen R. Kemanian, Greg Roth, John Tooker, 2021, Agro-Ecosystems

Most-Cited Papers

A framework for evaluating ecosystem services provided by cover crops in agroecosystems

Meagan E. Schipanski, Mary Barbercheck, Margaret R. Douglas, Denise M. Finney, Kristin Haider, Jason P. Kaye, Armen R. Kemanian, David A. Mortensen, Matthew R. Ryan, John Tooker, Charlie White, 2014, Agricultural Systems on p. 12-22

Large-scale deployment of seed treatments has driven rapid increase in use of neonicotinoid insecticides and preemptive pest management in U.S. Field crops

Margaret R. Douglas, John F. Tooker, 2015, Environmental Science & Technology on p. 5088-5097

Herbivore exploits orally secreted bacteria to suppress plant defenses

Seung Ho Chung, Cristina Rosa, Erin D. Scully, Michelle Peiffer, John F. Tooker, Kelli Hoover, Dawn S. Luthe, Gary W. Felton, 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 15728-15733

Biology, ecology, and management of brown marmorated stink bug (Hemiptera

Kevin B. Rice, Chris J. Bergh, Erik J. Bergmann, Dave J. Biddinger, Christine Dieckhoff, Galen Dively, Hannah Fraser, Tara Gariepy, George Hamilton, Tim Haye, Ames Herbert, Kim Hoelmer, Cerruti R. Hooks, Ashley Jones, Greg Krawczyk, Thomas Kuhar, Holly Martinson, William Mitchell, Anne L. Nielsen, Doug G. Pfeiffer, Michael J. Raupp, Cesar Rodriguez-Saona, Peter Shearer, Paula Shrewsbury, P. Dilip Venugopal, Joanne Whalen, Nik G. Wiman, Tracy C. Leskey, John F. Tooker, 2014, Journal of Integrated Pest Management

Bee nutrition and floral resource restoration

Anthony D. Vaudo, John F. Tooker, Christina M. Grozinger, Harland M. Patch, 2015, Current Opinion in Insect Science on p. 133-141

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Anthony D. Vaudo, Harland M. Patch, David A. Mortensen, John F. Tooker, Christina M. Grozinger, 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. E4035-E4042

Genotypically diverse cultivar mixtures for insect pest management and increased crop yields

John F. Tooker, Steven D. Frank, 2012, Journal of Applied Ecology on p. 974-985

Role of trichomes in defense against herbivores

Donglan Tian, John Tooker, Michelle Peiffer, Seung Ho Chung, Gary W. Felton, 2012, Planta on p. 1053-1066

Neonicotinoid insecticide travels through a soil food chain, disrupting biological control of non-target pests and decreasing soya bean yield

Margaret R. Douglas, Jason R. Rohr, John F. Tooker, 2015, Journal of Applied Ecology on p. 250-260

Salivary glucose oxidase from caterpillars mediates the induction of rapid and delayed-induced defenses in the tomato plant

Donglan Tian, Michelle Peiffer, Erica Shoemaker, John Tooker, Eric Haubruge, Frederic Francis, Dawn S. Luthe, Gary W. Felton, 2012, PLoS One

News Articles Featuring John Tooker

Sep 05, 2022

A boy’s backyard discovery two years ago uncovered an incredibly intricate insect-plant interaction

A chance discovery by a professor’s son reveals a surprisingly complex interaction between plants and insects.

Full Article

Mar 21, 2022

The Fight to Save the Embattled Monarch Butterfly

In the depths of the Californian winter, an ember of hope has flickered for the monarch butterfly, the charismatic and beloved visitor that has seemingly been on a graceful descent into oblivion.

Full Article

Mar 09, 2022

EPA Expected to Extend Use of Bee-Killing Pesticides

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to approve a proposal to extend the use of four neonicotinoids for the next 15 years. These pesticides are known to be especially dangerous for essential pollinators, like bees and butterflies, and have been linked to the widespread decline of insect populations.

Full Article

Mar 08, 2022

Fears for bees as US set to extend use of toxic pesticides that paralyse insects

The US Environmental Protection Agency is poised to allow the use of four of the most devastating chemicals to bees, butterflies and other insects to continue in America for the next 15 years, despite moves by the European Union to ban the use of toxins that have been blamed for widespread insect declines.

Full Article

Feb 22, 2022

Farmers are overusing insecticide-coated seeds, with mounting harmful effects on nature

Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. will begin as soon as March in Southern states and then move north. As farmers plant, they will deploy vast quantities of insecticides into the environment, without ever spraying a drop.

Full Article

Apr 05, 2021

US Pesticide Use Is Down, but Damage to Pollinators Is Rising

The use of pesticides has decreased in the US by more than 40 percent since 1992, but the emergence of more-potent chemicals means that they are far more damaging to many species.

Full Article

Apr 01, 2021

Birds versus bees: Here are the winners and losers in the great pesticide trade-off

Farms are battlefields, pitting growers against rapacious pests and aggressive weeds in never-ending, costly campaigns that often involve chemical weapons. Those weapons, alas, also harm innocent bystanders such as bees, fish, and crustaceans. Now, a large study charts epic shifts that have occurred in recent decades as U.S. farmers have changed their arsenal of pesticides.

Full Article

Jan 12, 2021

Climate change reduces the abundance and diversity of wild bees, study finds

Wild bees are more affected by climate change than by disturbances to their habitats, according to a team of researchers led by Penn State. The findings suggest that addressing land-use issues alone will not be sufficient to protecting these important pollinators.

Full Article

Jul 09, 2020

Gall fly outmaneuvers host plant in game of 'Spy vs. Spy'

Over time, goldenrod plants and the gall flies that feed on them have been one-upping each other in an ongoing competition for survival. Now, a team of researchers has discovered that by detecting the plants’ chemical defenses, the insects may have taken the lead.

Full Article

Aug 22, 2019

Half a billion dead honey bees in Brazil show what happens when you roll back pesticide regulations

Insecticides kill insects. It should be no surprise, then, that in Brazil, which has seen a 27% increase in pesticide sales since last year, roughly 500 million honey bees were found dead in piles across four states in early spring.

Full Article