NC State University
Apperson, Charles
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William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Program area: 

Public Health Entomology

112 Dearstyne Entomology Building, 3230 Ligon Rd.
Box 7647, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-7647

Phone: 
919.515.4326
Fax: 
919.515.7746
charles_apperson@ncsu.edu
Education: 

B.A. Humboldt State College
M.S. University of California, Riverside
Ph.D. University of California, Riverside

Research: 

RESEARCH (48%)

  • Vector biology: basic and applied research on the ecology, behavior and/or control of arthropods of public health importance, principally mosquitoes and ticks.
  • Biology and ecology of the container-inhabiting mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti,and Ochlerotatus triseriatus.
  • Arthropod-host interactions: blood feeding habits and pathogen transmission.
  • Environmental and behavioral factors affecting mosquito oviposition: chemical ecology of mosquito oviposition attractants and stimulants.
  • Microbial ecology of mosquito habitats, focusing on the oviposition response of gravid Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus to the species structure of bacterial communities.
  • Ecoepidemiology of mosquito-transmitted diseases, such as La Crosse encephalitis.
  • Ecoepidemiology of tick-borne diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis and Lyme disease.

 

Extension: 

EXTENSION (52%)

  • Development of extension demonstration and education programs on community pests such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fire ants.
  • Integrated pest management of mosquitoes, ticks, and other bloodfeeding arthropods.
  • Pesticide certification and recertification training for public operators licensed to control public health pests.
  • Mosquito IPM. Field and laboratory activities to demonstrate and promote adoption of balanced, environmentally compatible management techniques.

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  1. Ponnusamy, L., K. Boroczky, D. M. Wesson, C. Schal, and C. S. Apperson.  2011.  Bacteria stimulate hatching of yellow fever mosquito eggs.  PLos One  6(9):e24409.
  2. Kimps, N. W., B. W. Bissinger, C. S. Apperson, D. E. Sonenshine, and R. M. Roe.  2011.  First report of repellency of 2-tridecanone to ticks.  Medical & Veterinary Entomology  25:202-208.
  3. Bissinger, B. W., C. S. Apperson, D. W. Watson, C. Arellano, D. E. Sonenshine and R. M. Roe.  2011.  Novel field assays and comparative repellency of BioUD, DEET and permethrin against Amblyomma americanum.  Medical & Veterinary Entomology  25:217-226.
  4. Smith, M. P., L. Ponnusamy, J. Jiang, L. Abu Ayyash, A. L. Richards, and C. S. Apperson. 2010. Bacterial pathogens in ixodid ticks from a Piedmont county  in North Carolina: Prevalence of rickettsial organisms. Vector Borne & Zoonotic Diseases 10:939-952.
  5. Ponnusamy, L., N. Xu, K. Böröczky, D. M. Wesson, L. Abu Ayyash, C. Schal, and C. S. Apperson. 2010. Oviposition responses of the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus to experimental plant infusions in laboratory bioassays. Journal of Chemical Ecology 36:709-719.
  6. Ponnusamy, L., D. M. Wesson, C. Arellano, C. Schal, and C. S. Apperson. 2010. Species composition of bacterial communities influences attraction of mosquitoes to experimental plant infusions. Microbial Ecology 59:158–173.
  7. Bissinger, B. E., C. S. Apperson, D. E. Sonenshine, D. W. Watson, and R. M. Roe. 2009. Efficacy of the new repellent BioUD® against three species of ixodid ticks. Experimental & Applied Acarology 48:239–250.
  8. Ocampo, C. B., C. González, C. A. Morales, M. Perez, D. M. Wesson, and C. S. Apperson. 2009. Evaluation of community based strategies for Aedes aegypti control in houses in Cali, Colombia. Biomedica 29:282–297.
  9. Bissinger, B. W., J. Zhu, C. S. Apperson, D. E. Sonenshine, D. W. Watson, and R. M. Roe. 2009. Comparative efficacy of BioUD to other commercially available arthropod repellents against the ticks Amblyomma amercanum and Dermacentor variabilis on cotton cloth. American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene 81:685–690.
  10. Nojima, S., C. S. Apperson, and C. Schal. 2008. A simple, convenient, and efficient preparative GC system that uses a short megabore capillary column as a trap. Journal of Chemical Ecology 34:418–428.
  11. Ponnusamy, L., N. Xu, D. M. Wesson, C. Schal, and C. S. Apperson. 2008. Identification of bacteria and bacteria-associated chemical cues that mediate oviposition site preferences by Aedes aegypti. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105:9262–9267.
  12. Ponnusamy, L., N. Xu, G. Stav, D. M. Wesson, C. Schal, and C. S. Apperson. 2008. Diversity of bacterial communities in the container habitats of mosquitoes. Microbial Ecology 56:593–603.
  13. Richards, S. L., S. K. Ghosh, B. C. Zeichner, and C. S. Apperson. 2008. Impact of source reduction on the spatial distribution of larvae and pupae of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in suburban neighborhoods of a piedmont community in North Carolina. Journal of Medical Entomology 45:617–628.
  14. Witting-Bissinger, B. E., C. F. Stumpf, K. Donohue, C. S. Apperson, and R. M. Roe. 2008. Novel arthropod repellent, BioUD, is an efficacious alternative to DEET. Journal of Medical Entomology 45:891–898.
  15. Apperson, C. S., B. Engber, W. L. Nicholson, D. G. Meade, J. Engel, K. Dail, J. Johnson, D. W. Watson. 2008. Tick-borne diseases in North Carolina: Is “Rickettsia amblyommii” the cause of rickettsiosis identified as Rocky Mountain spotted fever? Vector Borne & Zoonotic Diseases 8:597–606.