The University of Pretoria conferred 20 postgraduate degrees – 13 PhD degrees and seven MSc degrees – to FABIans during the Spring graduation ceremony. Congratulations to these FABIans on their remarkable achievements! PhD Istifanus Aiki Title of thesis: Diversity, nesting behaviour, thermoregulation and cephalic secretions of termites from two Nigerian savannahs. Supervisor: AA Yusuf Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk Mahukpe Ayelo Title of thesis: Identification of kairomones for the biological control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), two major pests of tomato Solanum lycopersicum L. Supervisor: AA Yusuf Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk External co-supervisor: ÉMM Delétré (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France) Bethelihem Bekele Title of thesis: Semiochemicals from the African weaver ant Oecophylla longinoda (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their repellency on mango fruit flies. Supervisor: AA Yusuf Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk External co-supervisor : ÉMM Delétré (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France) Juanita Engelbrecht Title of thesis: Population genetics and genomics of Phytophthora cinnamomi . Supervisor: N van den Berg Quentin Guignard Title of thesis: Visual and chemical ecology of Sirex noctilio . Supervisor: JD Allison Co-supervisor: B Slippers Minette Havenga Title of thesis: Biology and pathology of the Eucalyptus foliar pathogen Teratosphaeria destructans . Supervisor: J Aylward Co-supervisors: BD Wingfield , MJ Wingfield , LL Dreyer (Stellenbosch University), F Roets (Stellenbosch University) Caroline Kung'u Title of thesis: Biological traits, plant sugar feeding patterns and chemical ecology of Aedes aegypti . Supervisor: CL Sole Co-supervisors: CWW Pirk, B Torto Mammoloro Malefo Title of thesis: Functional characterization of transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the maize Bowman-Birk serine protease inhibitor gene under biotic and abiotic stress. Supervisor: BG Crampton Co-supervisor: BJ Vorster Marja Mostert O'Neill Title of thesis: Genomic consequences of natural and artificial selection in wild and advanced breeding populations of Eucalyptus grandis . Supervisor: AA Myburg External co-supervisors: JOC Borevitz (Australian National University, Australia), JJ Acosta Jaramillo (North Carolina State University, United States of America) Wilma Nel Title of thesis: Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with fungus farming insects in South Africa. Supervisor: TA Duong Co-supervisors: ZW de Beer , MJ Wingfield Mmatshepho Phasha Title of thesis: Functional characterization of pathogenicity genes in Fusarium circinatum . Supervisor: ET Steenkamp Co-supervisor: MPA Coetzee , BD Wingfield, MJ Wingfield Joséphine Queffelec Title of thesis: Influence of reproductive biology on the invasion dynamics of Sirex noctilio . Supervisor: B Slippers Co-supervisors: JM Greeff, JD Allison Yosef Hamba Tola Title of thesis: Characterization of the honey bee and stingless bee gut microbiota: A hidden diversity and host-specific microbiomes from sub-Saharan-African region. Supervisor: B Slippers External co-supervisor: JC Paredes Escobar (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya) MSc Nhlanhla Shabangu Title of dissertation: Effect of long-term inorganic fertilizer combinations on weed abundance and diversity in maize. Supervisor: D Marais Co-supervisor: BJ Vorster Juanita Hanneman Title of thesis: Analyses of the in vitro effects of phosphite on Phytophthora cinnamomi isolates. Supervisor: N van den Berg Co-supervisor: SA Prabhu , J Engelbrecht Stephan Henning Title of thesis: Genome-wide diversity assessment for genetic resource management of Eucalyptus dunnii , E. grandis , E. nitens and E. urophylla . Supervisor: AA Myburg Co-supervisor: NA van der Merwe Lomile Khoete Title of thesis: Population genetic tools for Gonipterus sp. 2 and its egg parasitoid Anaphes nitens. Supervisor: MPA Coetzee Co-supervisors: I Barnes , BP Hurley , B Slippers, ML Schröder Pozisa Majaja Title of thesis: Fusarium species diversity from maize and teff in the northern Free State. Supervisor: NA van der Merwe Co-supervisor: N Yilmaz Shannon Wilson Title of thesis: Systemic defence responses induced by Chrysoporthe austroafricana in Eucalyptus grandis . Supervisor: S Naidoo External co-supervisor: LS Shuey (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Australia) Garyn Townsend Title of thesis: Initial assessment of the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB) in indigenous afrotemperate forests. Supervisor: ZW de Beer External co-supervisors: MP Hill (Rhodes University), F Roets (Stellenbosch University)