by: Alireza Shokoohi, Robert Salerno and Leo Kerner 
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​Native pollinators are the largely unsung heroes of our ecosystems, but they face an alarming risk that we've long underestimated. New research from Dr. Vera Krischik’s lab shows that the situation may be more dire than expected. Dr. Krischik is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Minnesota investigating the impact of neonicotinoid insecticide residues on pollinators such as wild bees and butterflies. Her research is crucial for understanding and protecting the lives of these beneficial insects that we often take for granted. 

By Amanda Brucchieri and Helen Craig

Imagine biking down a road, along the edge of a cornfield with stalks reaching far above your head. Drifting across your path, riding the breeze, is a monarch butterfly. It flutters and then glides as butterflies do, looking for the next patch of flowers to feed and rest. Bursting from this peaceful scene comes a team of scientists with nets, scopes, and chirping walkie-talkies. They are on a mission. They are tracking the same monarch that had just coasted by using radio telemetry. 

Professors Mike Raupp and Paula Shrewsbury team up with U.S. Department of Agriculture and Washington State University colleagues to help put to rest long standing uncertainty on whether or not adult Magicicada cicadas eat. Spoiler Alert! They do. See publication in the Journal of Insect Science  for the “full” story on cicadas' newly confirmed feeding behaviors.

For even more check out news articles interviewing lead researcher James R Hepler:  
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-adult-periodical-cicadas.html
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/debunk-periodic-cicada-myth-guts
https://www.earth.com/news/do-periodical-cicadas-eat-when-theyre-above-ground/

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Dr. Magdalene Ngeve and Postdoc Mentor (Dr. Maile Neel), as well as other fellow UMD and UMCES researchers, published a study in Ecology and Evolution. They examined how tropical storms Irene and Lee affected the genetic diversity of aquatic plants in the lower Hudson River Estuary. Researchers collected samples of Vallisneria americana Michx. (Hydrocharitaceae) before and after the storms. Checking DNA markers, they were surprised to find the plants as a whole were able to sustain genetic diversity. However, they celebrate these findings with caution. These plant populations were already small and reproduced mainly asexually relying on making exact copies of themselves, which doesn't add to genetic diversity. If more severe storms and human disturbances continue along the Hudson, these plants might struggle to recover. For a more complete understanding of long-term resilience, the authors would like to see more ongoing monitoring of genetic diversity and population size.

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written by: Jenan El-Hifnawi, Ben Gregory, and Minh Le
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​Imagine it’s a hot summer day and you’re slurping down a strawberry milkshake. Suddenly you’re interrupted by a pesky little ice chip clogging your straw. While this experience is all too familiar among your fellow humans, you may not have guessed that mosquitoes share a similar struggle!

University of Maryland #InsectTerps wrap up summer 2023 at EntoQuest. This meeting, hosted by the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America at Delmarva Bay, gave attendees a hands-on way to learn about what's going on with entomology as a profession. From fossil hunts to forensic workshops the group had a bug-last. ​

National Postdoc Appreciation Week was celebrated at academic institutions across the U.S. last week. For Ento postdocs, faculty and grad students events included a dept coffee-and-snacks get together and participation in the UMD Postdoctoral Research Symposium where postdocs across campus presented their research. At the symposium two members of our Department were highlighted for their contribution as postdoc researchers and mentors.  

Congratulations to Profs Anahí Espíndola and Macarena Farcuh for being named Runners Up for The Entomological Society of America's Science Communication Award. ESA recognized the pair for their increasingly popular blog, Extension en Espanol. 

From ESA's press release: The blog has published more than 100 posts since its creation, offering varied expert information that is inclusive, culturally relevant, accessible, and understandable to its target population. The blog currently reaches more than 9,000 monthly readers and has become a prime extension resource in Spanish for the state and beyond.

Help spread the word about your colleagues award and blog by sharing with your networks on social ( X and facebook) and other platforms. 

Meet one of the "craziest creatures" University of Maryland Professor Emeritus Mike Raupp has ever seen, the hammerhead worm. Not only is this worm aptly named for the shape of its head, it secretes the same neurotoxin found in puffer fish & has cannibalistic tendencies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/07/22/hammerhead-worms-invasive-poisonous-dc/

https://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2023/7/24/hammer-time-in-the-dmv-hammerhead-worms-bipalium-spp

Share this info on the "craziest creature" with friends, family and coworkers via facebook, twitter or other platforms. ​

Postdoctoral position in Fungal-Plant-Insect Associations, St. Leger Lab

Position summary: The St. Leger laboratory, Department of Entomology at The University of Maryland (UMD), invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee position starting when a qualified applicant is found-on a USDA/NSF funded project entitled “Determining the properties required for a genetically engineered biocontrol agent to work safely”. The candidate post-doctoral associate will work on a unique experimental system involving a radiating genus of fungi (Metarhizium spp) which have rapidly diversifying lifestyles that includes associations with plants and insects. The goal is to ask fundamental questions about invasion ecology (including persistence, propagation, potential horizontal gene transfer and biogeochemical impacts), potential adaptation in the field (e.g., divergence in insect and plant associations), mutational capacity (using genomic sequencing) and transgene stability. The project will provide insights into the genetic and molecular underpinnings determining evolutionary shifts in lifestyles that will be generally applicable to pathogens and hosts. Understanding these shifts is critical, especially in light of environmental change, invasive species and the laboratories work on transgenic approaches to controlling vectors of human disease. A combination of experimental approaches will be used, and there will be many opportunities to develop new projects to explore the evolution of lifestyle shifts.

Follow link to view full job announcement.

It is with great enthusiasm we share that Todd Waters has received the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ Staff Award for his “Extraordinary Public Service to the University & Greater Community.”

Todd has been a leader in implementing the educational and land grant mission of our university, using insects to educate students and the public about STEM. Since 2017, Todd has maintained a blistering pace with the Insect Zoo. The zoo has been featured in approx. 100 events, reaching approx. 10,000 people. In this short time, he has had an immensely positive influence on learners from across academic environments. At UMD, Todd has been instrumental in: the Insect Petting Zoo at Maryland Day, an event that President Pines and UMD’s First Lady eagerly wait alongside community members for their chance to hold an insect; Entomology minor recruitment events on Hornbake Plaza where Todd talks up insects’ impacts on our environment; and classroom visits where Todd and Entomology professors introduce undergrads to the incredible diversity of arthropods. A few examples of the type of impact Todd’s Outreach work has had include: a classroom discussion with a Montgomery College Biology Class about insects as models across interdisciplinary studies; a presentation at Rockview Elementary School on insect anatomy and metamorphosis; and an exhibit in St. Mary's County where attendees learned about the Arizona blonde tarantula, among other fascinating arthropods.

Join us in congratulating Todd on this well-deserved recognition! 

written by: ​Leo Kerner & Angela Saenz
 
Imagine a lush, highly diverse field of papaya that requires limited chemical interference to control insect and weed pests. This is the reality of living mulch. Dr. Robin Gomez, an associate professor of Weed Science at the University of Costa Rica, studies sustainable pest control methods in tropical ecosystems. He suggests that the key to successful implementation of sustainable agricultural practices relies on acquiring specialized knowledge of each system.

​When you see a honey bee buzzing around, or while you spread honey on your toast, have you ever wondered how old the honey bees that are visiting flowers or making honey are? The answer is: it depends. Worker honey bees assume different jobs in their life, and that role changes with age. Young workers take care of the colony, nursing and feeding the larvae. Later they become guards, protecting the hive. When the worker bee is even older, they take on the job of exploring the outdoors and foraging nectar and pollen for the colony. So, a bee pollinating a flower is probably older than the bee that made your honey. 

written by: Mariom Carvajal
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Insects are critical to the function of ecosystems and provide benefits to humans, such as pollination and biological control. Although many insects hold great economic and cultural value to humans and benefit our lives, some reduce agricultural productivity and others pose risks to human health. To find new ways to manage these pests, some Entomologists turn to the study of invisible cellular processes or insect-microbe interactions. Two research in progress talks presented on March 10th 2023 by University of Maryland researchers, Dr. Anastasia Naumenko and Mr. Brendan Randall, focused on how knowledge of these microscopic processes can be used for the benefit of agricultural and public health systems. 

​By Ben Gregory
 
These days, most Americans don’t worry too much about malaria, the deadly disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite and spread by Anopheles mosquitoes (Figure 1, left). That wasn’t always the case, however. In fact, during the nineteenth century, malaria was one of the leading causes of death in the United States, affecting nearly every corner of the country, but particularly the south (Hong 2008). Fortunately for those of us living here today, malaria is extremely rare. This is thanks to sweeping control and public health measures taken by the CDC and its predecessor organizations in the early and mid-twentieth centuries. But, more recently, another mosquito-borne disease of concern has spread across the country: West Nile fever.

​By Megan Ma
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Dr. Francisco Carmona-Aldana (he/him), a postdoctoral scholar at the New York University School of Medicine, recently presented his research on “Ants: studies on the plasticity of reproduction and lifespan” which focuses on how ants obtain tradeoffs between reproduction and longevity through caste-switching. In the collaborative projects led by Dr. Danny Reinberg and Dr. Claude Desplan, he and his team study ants of the species Harpegnathos saltator as an experimental model to understand how aging can be regulated. H. saltator ants are peculiar in that workers can become pseudo-queens and take reproductive control of their colonies when a queen is absent. A group of 4 to 6 ants will undergo antennal dueling, a behavioral interaction to determine who will become pseudo-queens, or “gamergates.” These gamergates will have active ovaries, lay eggs, and extend their lifespans to accommodate this reproductive caste-switching. They live for 3 years in comparison to their lifespan as a former worker (1 year) and the maximum lifespan found in queens (5 years). In addition to altering the duration of their lifespans, gamergates have the potential to revert back to their worker states (induced in laboratory conditions). They can return to their original, non-reproductive role to perform their worker duties and no longer produce eggs. 

Written by: Lindsay Barranco
 
Dr. Krisztina Christmon has measured approximately 100,000 mites during the course of her PhD studies at the University of Maryland, which may very well be a world-record. She recently presented her research exit seminar entitled “Varroa destructor: abiotic and biotic correlates to body size, and the effects of size and host type on mite tolerance to acaricide exposure” and described how her inquiry into mite size variability began in 2016, as a new PhD student in the UMD Bee Lab. The UMD Bee lab administers the National Honeybee Disease Survey (NHDS), and maintains collected data from large and small-scale beekeepers across the United States in order to detect honey bee disease and monitor for invasive species. Invasive species, particularly varroa mites, pose a serious threat to honey bee health which in turn, potentially impacts the important pollination services honey bees provide to fruit and vegetable growers nationwide.

Post-Doctoral Associate Position in Shrewsbury Lab - Biological Control / IPM

Position Summary: This position addresses the use of natural enemies (including pathogens) in the biological control of the invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF, Lycorma delicatula) in urban environments. The project is part of a collaborative effort with USDA and other university researchers with opportunities for networking and Extension. The incumbent will also participate in the statistical analysis and publication of existing data sets.

Click here for more information.