Tel: (972)-8948-9220
Fax: (972)-8946-6768
E-mail: gerson@agri.huji.ac.il

Education and Promotions
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture. 1960: B.Sc. Agr.; 1962: M.Sc. Agr.; 1967: Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer in Entomology; 1976, Associate Professor of Entomology; 1981, Professor of Entomology; 1998, Professor Emeritus.

Teaching
Introduction to Entomology (laboratory); Soil Biology (zoological aspects); Pests of Fruit Trees; Acarology; Arthropod Pests of Domestic Animals; Laboratory Safety.

Research Interests
Biology and systematics of phytophagous and predatory mites; the associations of arthropods and the lower green plants.

Publications
Ca 160, mostly on the biology, ecology and taxonomy of mites (Acari). Other papers on scale insects (Coccoidea) and arthropods on lower green plants.

I have been publishing on the taxonomy and biology of pestiferous and beneficial mites (Acari) for the past 35 years. Studies on the taxonomy of pest species include the Eriophyiidae and Tenuipalpidae, whereas biological investigations were concerned with plant pests, such as spider mites, Rhizoglyphus and Polyphagotarsonemus, and more recently with bee mites.  Studies on beneficial mites  include the Cheyletidae, Stigmaeidae and their close relatives, predators of armored scale insects, including Hemisarcoptes, Phytoseiidae and the book “Acarine Biocontrol Agents”. I have collaborated in various projects with scientists from Australia, Belgium, China, Israel, Italy, South African, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, and the United States.

Recent selected publications.

Gerson, U., R.  Mozes-Koch and E. Cohen.  1991. Enzyme levels  used  to monitor pesticide resistance in Varroa jacobsoni. Journal of Apicultural Research  30:17-20.

Gerson, U. 1992.  Biology and control  of  the broad  mite Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) (Acari: Tarsonemidae). Experimental and Applied Acarology 13: 163-178.

Smiley, R.L. and U. Gerson. 1995. A review of the Tenuipalpidae (Acari: Prostigmata) of Australia with descriptions of two new genera and four new species. International Journal of Acarology 21: 33-45.

Gerson, U. and M. K. P. Smith Meyer. 1995. Neilstigmaeus, a new Australian genus in the family Stigmaeidae (Acari: Prostigmata). Acarologia 36: 219-222.

Gerson, U. 1996. Secondary associations: eriophyoid mites on ferns. In: Lindquist, E.E., M.W. Sabelis and J. Bruin (eds), Eriophyoid Mites, Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 227-230.

Reuveny, H., E. Palevsky and U. Gerson. 1996. Laboratory life history of the predaceous mite Typhlodromus athiasae. Systematic and Applied Acarology 1: 45-54.

Ji, L., S. Izraylevich, S. Gazit and U. Gerson. 1996. A sex-specific tri-trophic-level effect in a phoretic association. Experimental and Applied Acarology 20: 503-508.

Gerson,   U.   and   S. Izraylevich. 1997. A  review  of  host utilization by Hemisarcoptes (Acari: Hemisarcoptidae). Systematic and Applied Acarology 2: 33-42.

Mozes-Koch, R. and U.  Gerson. 1997. Guanine visualization: a new method for diagnosing tracheal mite infestation of honey bees. Apidologie 28: 3-9.

Sztejnberg, A., S. Doron-Shloush,  and U. Gerson. 1997. The biology of the acaropathogenic  fungus Hirsutella kirchneri.  Biocontrol Science and Technology 7: 577-590

Walter, D.  E. and U. Gerson. 1998. Dasythyreidae, new family, and  Xanthodasythyreus n. g. (Acari: Prostigmata: Raphignathoidea)  from Australia.  International Journal of Acarology 24: 189-197.

Palevsky, E., H.  Reuveny, O. Okonis and  U. Gerson. 1999. Comparative behavioural studies of larval and adult stages of the phytoseiids (Acari:  Mesostigmata) Typhlodromus athiasae and Neoseiulus californicus.  Experimental and Applied Acarology, 23: 467-485.

Gerson, U., A. Fain and R.L. Smiley. 1999. Further observations on the Cheyletidae (Acari), with a key to the genera of the Cheyletidae and a list of all known species in the family. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 69: 35-86.

Sammataro, D., U. Gerson and G. Needham. 2000. Parasitic mites of honey bees: life history, implications and impact. Annual Review of Entomology, 45: 517-546

Gerson, U., R.L. Smiley and R. Ochoa. 2003. Mites   (Acari) in Biological Control. Blackwell Science, pp. 539.

Boekhout, T.,  B. Theelen, J. Houbraken, V. Robert,  G. Scorzetti, A. Gafni, U. Gerson and A. Sztejnberg. New anamorphic mite-associated fungi belonging to the Ustilaginomycetes: Meira geulakonigii gen. nov., sp. nov., Meira argovae sp. nov. and Acaromyces ingoldii gen. nov., sp. nov. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, in press.