Department of Entomology
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    • IPM & Biological Control of Agricultural, Urban & Forest Pests
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    • Insect Camp
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Evolution, Systematics, and Evo-Devo


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Systematics is the science that aims to reconstruct and explain the origins and evolution of organismal diversity as well as its distribution in space and time. The field encompasses or overlaps such diverse disciplines as taxonomy, phylogenetics, paleontology, morphology, ecology, genetics, and biogeography.

Evidence derived from analysis of molecular sequence data has become increasingly central to many of these disciplines and is an important component of systematics research in the Department of Entomology. However, morphology — the study of organismal form — remains an integral component of our program, with particular focus on functional morphology and development.

Entomology faculty address evolutionary questions from a variety of perspectives and at different scales of biological organization. Fundamental questions are explored through empirical laboratory and field studies using a variety of approaches including genetic, genomic, and theoretical and computational analyses.

​Evolutionary research interests of the Entomology faculty include a diverse array of subjects and insect species. Areas of current focus include phylogenetics and systematics, the evolution of development, host-pathogen interactions, pesticide resistance, plant-insect interactions, sociality, ecologically important traits.


Participating Faculty


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David Hawthorne, Associate Professor & Director of Education, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) 
PLS 4132 | 301-405-2401 | djh@umd.edu

The Hawthorne Lab uses population genetics to understand how insects become pests, how they evolve to counter control efforts, and how to use evolutionary thinking to manage them. The Lab also dissects the genetic basis of host-plant associated divides among pest populations and uses phylogeographic analyses to investigate issues in conservation genetics.


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Leslie Pick, Professor & Chair
PLS 4114 | 301-405-3914 | 
lpick@umd.edu

The Pick Lab uses the fruit fly to track the evolution of the Hox gene fushi tarazu (ftz) and its partner, the orphan nuclear receptor Ftz-F1, through arthropod phylogeny. These studies have led to a widely accepted model for the evolution of this Hox gene, which has undergone changes in both its expression pattern and protein sequence to switch its function from an ancestral homeotic gene to a segmentation gene in Drosophila. 

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Jeffrey Shultz, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies
PLS 4134 | 301-405-7519 | jshultz@umd.edu

​Research in the Shultz Lab deals with the evolutionary morphology, biomechanics behavior, and systematics of arachnids and other arthropods. Much of the ongoing work focuses on the taxonomy, evolution and reproductive biology of leiobunine harvestmen (daddy longlegs) of eastern North America, but they have experience with a wide diversity of taxa and research problems (such as the hydrodynamics of gill ventilation in mayfly naiads, mechanics of elastic sclerites and hydraulics in arachnid locomotion, molecular systematics of major arthropod groups, comparative anatomy of scorpions and many others).

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Department of Entomology 
University of Maryland 
4112 Plant Sciences Building 
College Park, MD 20742-4454
USA

Telephone: 301.405.3911 
Fax: 301.314.9290
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Web Accessibility
  • About
    • At a Glance
    • Welcome From the Chair
    • Code of Conduct
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion >
      • DEI Working Group
      • Resources
    • Departmental History
    • For Alumni
    • Support Entomology >
      • Steinhauer Scholarship Fund
    • Proposal Resources
    • Contact >
      • Directions
  • News
    • News
    • Seminar Blog
    • Seminar Schedule
    • Awards
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Post Docs
    • Students
    • Staff
    • Alumni
  • Academics
    • Graduate >
      • Admissions
      • MS Degree Requirements
      • PhD Degree Requirements
      • Graduate Student Resources
      • Financial Assistance
      • Award & Funding Opportunities
      • Entomology Student Organization
    • Online Masters in Applied Entomology
    • Undergraduate >
      • Entomology Minor
      • Honors Program
  • Research
    • IPM & Biological Control of Agricultural, Urban & Forest Pests
    • Ecology, Conservation, Restoration, Climate Change >
      • Pollinator Science and Apiculture
    • Evolution, Systematics and Evo-Devo
    • Genetics & Genomics and Medical Entomology
  • Extension/Outreach
    • Educational Outreach
    • Insect Camp
    • Insect Drawings
    • Insect Identification
    • Pesticide Education and Assessment Program
    • Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL)