Department of Entomology
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    • Insect Camp
    • Insect Drawings
    • Insect Identification
    • Pesticide Education and Assessment Program
    • Plant Diagnostic Laboratory (PDL)

Departmental Awards

9/27/2016

 
On Saturday, September 18th faculty, staff, and graduate students participated in the highly successful 2016 Entomology Retreat. Talks, discussions, and delicious food were shared by all attendees and the overall consensus was that our retreat was a grand time. One of the highlights was the distribution of the Departmental Awards. If you were unable to attend the retreat, be sure to congratulate the following folks on their achievements:

Steinhauer Award
Jessica Grant
Gussie MacCracken

Teaching Achievement Award
Rebecca Eckert
Jonathan Wang
Rebecca Wilson

Great work, guys! We are so lucky to have you as part of our entomology family.

Resurrecting the Work of Gordon Alexander: Grasshopper Communities and our Changing Climate

9/23/2016

 
Dr. César Nufio has examined a vast number of grasshoppers to understand the impacts of climate change on insects in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To be precise, the number of specimens he has captured and processed over the last 10 years has exceeded 180,000 from grassland communities found along a high plains to subalpine gradient. Nufio’s National Science Foundation funded research combines extensive field surveys with comparisons of museum collections, weather data, and laboratory and field experiments.  The entire project started with his discovery of a collection of 25,000 pinned and label grasshopper specimens and three data notebooks at the University of Colorado’s Natural History Museum. These pinned specimens and notebooks, which are part of the Gordon Alexander Collection, were part of several field studies conducted over 50 years ago.


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Gordon Alexander and assistants at the subalpine field site Brainard Lake (Roosevelt National Forest, 3200 m in elevation) on August 17th, 1958. Photo courtesy of The Gordon Alexander Project.
Dr. Gordon Alexander (1901-1973) was a professor at the University of Colorado and chair of the Biology Department for over 20 years. In the springs and summers of 1958-1960, Alexander conducted field surveys of grasshoppers found across the Front Range of Colorado. He was interested in determining which species were present where and when, and how grasshoppers adapted to living on mountains.  Four of these surveyed sites, which were associated with high prairie, lower montane, upper montane, and subalpine meadows, were sampled on a weekly basis. During each of these surveys, Alexander record the species, and life stage of all grasshoppers that were captured. Fortuitously, each of these sites were associated with weather stations that have been collecting data since 1953.  Despite the importance of Alexander’s surveys and data collections for serving as a baseline for addressing how insect development and communities have been affected by climate change   over the last 50 years, the potential for such a collection was nearly forgotten.

In 2006, Nufio began resurveying the same sites that Alexander had nearly half a century ago. Nufio wanted to understand how climate had changed along the gradient and how this change might impact the timing of grasshopper life history events (when they hatched and how fast they developed), their elevational ranges and demography (population size, longevity, reproductive rates), and body sizes. All of these questions could be addressed comparing his recent findings to the observations made by Alexander.  
To Nufio’s surprise, the sites had not warmed equally across the elevational gradient. Temperatures in the high prairie had not significantly changed since the 1950s but the montane and sub-alpine sites had warmed a great deal (more on temperature: Article). As such it was not surprising that the grasshoppers appeared to hatch and reach adulthood at roughly the same time they did 50 years prior at the lowest site. At the higher sites, however, temperatures had warmed by  ~1.5°C during Nufio’s initial resurvey (2006-2008) and consequently, the grasshopper communities were found to have hatched and became adults much sooner than they did during Alexanders time by 2-4 weeks! (more on phenology: Article).  During 2009 to 2011, seasonal temperatures across the mountains declined and the grasshoppers across the mountain no longer hatched early or reached adulthood earlier than they previously had. However, in 2012 which was the second warmest year in the last 118 years in Colorado, the communities at all of the sites advanced their development by nearly a month. One population even matured 52 days earlier than previously recorded!  Interestingly, a second study examining flowering times at one of the sites showed that the grasshoppers have changed their timing to adulthood by twice as much as the plants had changed their flowering times. As grasshoppers are herbivores, changes in a plants phenology can have major impacts on the grasshoppers. For example, if a grasshopper population prefers a certain plant and they emerge before the plant is available then the grasshoppers will most likely experience starvation.  
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Grasshoppers go through five nymph stages (instars) (top five sketches) before becoming an adult. Generally nymphs and adults look similar in shape with the exception that adults have fully developed wings (bottom sketch). Some grasshopper species the nymphs and adults have strikingly different colors or patterns. Image: Utah State University
In addition to examining phenology, Nufio more recently was interested in the demographic changes among species over the elevational gradient. He observed that species with short wings showed a reduction in body length with no change in reproductive output with increasing elevation. Conversely, grasshoppers with long wings showed no change in body size but a reduction in reproductive output. Nufio also examined changes in weight, longevity, and reproduction over time in response to temperature using a caged field experiment. During a warm year, he found that females tended to be heavier, live longer, and laid more eggs (more on demography: Article).  While these subalpine grasshoppers appear to be benefiting from warming, his surveys suggest that those at the bottom of the mountain may be negatively affected by warm years.
   


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Grasshoppers in the historical collection assembled by Dr. Gordon Alexander. (Photos courtesy of Dr. Cesar Nufio)
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Living grasshopper as part of Dr. Nufio's current research. Photo credit to Jeff Mitton.
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Grasshoppers in the historical collection assembled by Dr. Gordon Alexander. (Photos courtesy of Dr. Cesar Nufio)
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vanEngelsdorp Study Published in Nature Scientific Reports

9/16/2016

 
News outlets have sure been buzzing this year with the publications and research being cranked out by Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp and his lab. Most recently, a publication with contributing author and post-doc Kristen Traynor titled In-hive Pesticide Exposome: Assessing risks to migratory honey bees from in-hive pesticide contamination in the Eastern United States appeared in Nature Scientific Reports yesterday. The same day, UMD Science Writer/Media Coordinator Matthew Wright published an extensive overview article on Dr. vanEngelsdorp's work and publication. Be sure to check out the publication and article!  

Fall Colloquium Schedule

9/9/2016

 
Please join us for as many as you can! Lunch will be provided for all attendees.
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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Summer Publications, Presentations & Talks

9/1/2016

 
PUBLICATIONS:
  • Gruner DS, MES Bracken, SA Berger, BK Eriksson, L Gamfeldt, B Matthiessen, S Moorthi, U Sommer, and H Hillebrand (2016). Effects of experimental warming on biodiversity depend on ecosystem type and local species composition. Oikos doi:10.1111/oik.03688
 
  • Harpole, WS, LL Sullivan, EM Lind, J Firn, PB Adler, ET Borer, J Chase, PA Fay, Y Hautier, H Hillebrand, AS MacDougall, EW Seabloom, R Williams, JD Bakker, MW Cadotte, EJ Chaneton, C Chu, EE Cleland, C D’Antonio, KF Davies, DS Gruner, N Hagenah, K Kirkman, JMH Knops, KJ La Pierre, RL McCulley, JL Moore, JW Morgan, SM Prober, AC Risch, M Schuetz, CJ Stevens, and PD Wragg. (2016). Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity. Nature doi:10.1038/nature19324
 
  • Rominger, AJ, KR Goodman, JY Lim, EE Armstrong, LE Becking, GM Bennett, MS Brewer, DD Cotoras, CP Ewing, J Harte, ND Martinez, PM O'Grady, DM Percy, DK Price, GK Roderick, KL Shaw, FS Valdovinos, DS Gruner†, and RG Gillespie† (2016). Community assembly on isolated islands: macroecology meets evolution. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25:769-780  †co-senior authors
 
  • Burns MM, Shultz JW. 2016. Mechanical properties of male genitalia in Leiobunum harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones, Sclerosomatidae). Journal of Arachnology 44: 199-209.
 
  • Hébert, J. B., Scheffer, S. J. and Hawthorne, D. J. (2016), Evidence for ecological speciation via a host shift in the holly leaf miner, Phytomyza glabricola (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Ecol Evol. doi:10.1002/ece3.2358
 
  • Former student Dr. Alan Leslie and Dr. Bill Lamp published the article, “Taxonomic and functional group composition of macroinvertebrate assemblages in agricultural drainage ditches” in the journal Hydrobiologia. This publication is another chapter of Leslie’s dissertation. The article can be viewed here.
 
  • Dan Gruner had a recent publication in Nature titled, “Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity”.
PRESENTATIONS & TALKS:
  • Via, Sara. “Climate change and native plants.” Native Plant Fest, Mountain Chapter of Maryland Native Plant Society. May 14, 2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Life in the Underground: Healthy Soil, Healthy Planet”. Annapolis Climate Stewards and Maryland Climate Coalition, May 18,2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Life in the Underground: Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants, Healthy Planet”. Keynote Address at the Annual Master Gardener and Master Naturalist Annual Training Conference. May 26, 2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Air pollution, climate change and your health”, Waldorf Community Association. June 9,2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Climate change and native plants”. Meadowside Nature Center, Montgomery Co. June 29,2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Gardening successfully and sustainably in a changing climate”. Montgomery County Master Gardeners. August 4,2016.
 
  • Via, Sara. “Life in the Underground: Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants, Healthy Planet”. Calvert County Master Naturalists. August 8,2016.
 
  • Elske Tielens and Dan Gruner each delivered talks on Hawaiian arthropod diversity at the July 2016 International Conference on Island Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation in the Azores, Portugal.
 
  • Dan Gruner also presented a poster at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Montpellier, France: “Centennial impacts of forest fragmentation on arthropod biodiversity.”
 
  • Cora Johnston presented a talk at the Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Ft. Lauderdale, FL: “Community structure emerges across scales in a dynamic, patchy landscape.”
 
  • Cora also delivered a second presentation at the 4th Mangrove and Macrobenthos Meeting in St. Augustine, FL: “Marine community structure emerges across scales in a patchy mangrove-marsh landscape.”
 
  • Mayda Nathan also presented a poster at the 4th Mangrove and Macrobenthos Meeting: “Range-edge fecundity of a range-expanding species, the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans).”
 
  • Ray St. Leger gave the opening talk "designer pathogens" at the Mycological Society of China meeting in Fuzhou August 18th, and was the first recipient of the Tai Fung-Lan Award for International Cooperation.
 
  • Jonathan Wang (speaker), Hsiao-Ling Lu, and Raymond St. Leger (2016) A Genome Wide Association Study of Resistance to Metarhizium anisopliae. Mycological Society of China 2016 Annual Conference, Fuzhou, China.
 
  • Jonathan Wang (speaker), Hsiao-Ling Lu, and Raymond St. Leger (2016) A GWAS Analysis of Genetic Variation in Drosophila melanogaster Pathogen Susceptibility. The Allied Genetics Conference 2016, Orlando, Florida.
 
  • Brian Lovett (Speaker) and Raymond St. Leger (2016) Big Data and Little Metarhizium: Evolution and interactions of an endophytic insect pathogenic fungus. The Society for Invertebrate Pathology Conference 2016, Tours, France.
 
  • Brian Lovett, Yueqing Cao, and Raymond St. Leger (poster) (2016) Consistent Risk Assessment of a Genetically Modified Microorganisms in the Field. Annual BRAG Project Meeting 2016, Riverdale, Maryland.
 
  • Brian Lovett (Co-Chair/Panelist) (2016) Next Generation Sequencing Symposium. The Society for Invertebrate Pathology Conference 2016, Tours, France.
 
  • Hsiao-Ling Lu, Jonathan Wang, and Raymond St. Leger (poster) (2016). Identification of Drosophila mutants affecting defense to an entomopathogenic fungus. The Allied Genetics Conference 2016, Orlando, Florida.
 
  • Etienne Bilgo (speaker), Brian Lovett, Abdoulaye Diabate, and Raymond St. Leger (2016) Metarhizium in MosquitoSphere Progress Report. Annual Project Meeting 2016, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
 
  • Bretton Kent gave a talk, "Hunting Giant Sharks" on June 28th at the annual Paleo Camp for students at Stratford Hall, VA.
 
  • Jeff Shultz was an invited at the “Symposium: Locomotion and kinematics: from joints and legs to whole-body performance” at the 20th International Congress of Arachnology in July in Golden, Colorado. His talk was titled, “Muscles, hydraulics and springs: perspectives on joint mechanics in arachnid locomotion”.
 

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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
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  • News
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  • People
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      • 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)