Yasmine Helbling (B.S. '25, biological sciences; minor in entomology) took home first place in the Undergraduate 10-Minute Presentation Competition at the Entomological Society of America's Entomology 2025 meeting in November 2025.
Helbling is currently a laboratory assistant in the University of Maryland Department of Entomology.
Her talk, "Comparison of Aphidius ervi behavior on Medicago sativa stems with and without glandular trichomes," highlighted research she is conducting in Bill Lamp's lab.
Host-plant resistance in Medicago sativa has warded off Empoasca fabae as a primary pest with glandular trichomes, but may reduce the biological control efficacy of Aphidius ervi. Previous studies on parasitoids and glandular trichomes showed that parasitoid activity is reduced in the presence of these trichomes, but these studies were conducted on a limited number of cultivar types.
In their study, Helbling and Lamp are investigating A. ervi behavior on many M. sativa cultivars with and without glandular trichomes and with varying trichome density. They plan to measure biological control efficacy by the number of green and pink morphotypes of Acyrthosiphon pisum parasitized. Before the experiments begin, an ethogram will be developed after a period of behavioral observation.
