Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Chris T. Maier

Department of Entomology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Voice: (203) 974-8476 Fax: (203) 974-8502
E-mail: Chris.Maier@ct.gov

Expertise:
Dr. Maier’s research specialty is the ecology and the management of exotic fruit and forest pests.  He is an expert on the biological control and host preferences of leafminers and leafrollers that damage fruit trees and on the detection and host preferences of wood-boring beetles that injure trees and shrubs.

Education:
B.S. in Zoology, University of Michigan 1971
M.S. in Entomology, University of Illinois 1973
Ph.D. in Entomology, University of Illinois 1977

Station career:
Assistant Scientist 1977-1982
Associate Scientist 1982-1995
Scientist 1995-2019
Emeritus Scientist 2019-current

Past research:
Orchardists, foresters, and landscapers face many challenges as they attempt to manage insect pests with minimal use of insecticides.  Research conducted by Dr. Maier has focused on the biological control, the host preferences, and the pheromone communication of leafminers and leafrollers in fruit orchards.  He has investigated methods for detecting and sampling forest insects, especially wood-borers and defoliators.  He also has studied the distribution, host preferences, and damage of new foreign pests recently discovered in Connecticut forests. In 2004, he and his coworkers completed a color identification guide to caterpillars on coniferous trees; a revised edition of this guide will be published in August 2011.

Current research:
Dr. Maier is studying the detection, biology, distribution, and host preferences of several invasive orchard and forest insects.  In orchards, he is investigating the biological control of apple leafminers, the distribution and damage of the brown marmorated stink bug, and new trapping techniques for insects. In forests, he is conducting research on improved trapping methods, host preferences, and seasonal activity of wood-boring beetles, particularly longhorned beetles or Cerambycidae.  He routinely oversees detection surveys for exotic insects that may or do occur in Connecticut.

Dr. Maier is a member of the Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, the Entomological Society of Washington, and the Coleopterists’ Society.  He has been President of the Connecticut Entomological Society three times.  He currently serves on the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey Advisory Committee and on the Invertebrate Subcommittee of Connecticut ’s Endangered Species Committee.  He is a Curatorial Affiliate of the Yale Peabody Museum.

Selected publications available from author, Chris.Maier@ct.gov

  • Maier, C. T.  (2002).  Exotic lepidopteran leafminers in North American apple orchards: rise to prominence, management, and future threats. Biological Invasions, 3, 283-293.
  • Maier, C. T.  (2003).  Distribution, hosts, abundance, and seasonal flight activity of the exotic leafroller, Archips fuscocupreanus Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in the northeastern United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 96, 660-666.
  • Maier, C. T.  (2005).  Hosts, pattern of seasonal emergence and flight, and new distributional records of palearctic Pasiphila rectangulata (L.) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in the northeastern United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 98, 214-218.
  • Maier, C. T. and C. R. Lemmon.  (2000).  Discovery of the small Japanese cedar longhorned beetle, Callidiellum rufipenne (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in live arborvitae in Connecticut. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 102, 747-754.
  • Maier, C. T., C. R. Lemmon, J. M. Fengler, D. F. Schweitzer, and R. C. Reardon.  (2004). Caterpillars on the foliage of conifers in the northeastern United States.  Technology Transfer Bulletin FHTET–2004-01.  Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. 151 pp.
  • Maier, C. T.  (2005).  First records of alien insects in Connecticut (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae; Coleoptera: Buprestidae, Chrysomelidae; Diptera: Rhagionidae, Tephritidae; Hymenoptera: Megachilidae).  Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 107, 947-959.
  • Maier, C. T. (2007).  Distribution and hosts of Callidiellum rufipenne (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an Asian cedar borer established in the eastern United States. Journal of Economic Entomology, 100, 1291-1297.
  • Maier, C. T.  (2008).  Emergence, trapping, and seasonal abundance of adult Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) associated with Cupressaceae in Connecticut.  Journal of Economic Entomology, 101, 430-437.
  • Maier, C. T. (2009). Distributional and host records of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) associated with Cupressaceae in New England, New York, and New Jersey. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 111, 438-453.
  • Maier, C. T. (2009). New distributional records of three alien species of Megachilidae (Hymenoptera) from Connecticut and nearby states. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 111, 775-784.