Department of Entomology
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What we don’t know could hurt us: the mystery of pesticide use and consequences for insects

11/27/2019

 
written by: Maria Cramer, PhD student, Hamby Lab and Veronica Yurchak, PhD student, Hooks Lab

​Dr. Maggie Douglas, an assistant professor from Dickinson College, managed to stump most of a room full of entomologists when she asked them if pesticide use in United States agriculture was going up or down over time. There were a few embarrassed laughs, but Douglas reassured everyone; “It’s a complicated question. There’s disagreement in the scientific community.”
​

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MacCracken Published in Biology Letters

11/25/2019

 
Congratulations to Gussie MacCracken (PhD Student, Shultz Lab) whose paper is out in Biology Letters today!  Her research extends the history of plant–mite mutualisms back another 25 million years.  

Publication: "Late Cretaceous domatia reveal the antiquity of plant–mite mutualisms in flowering plants."   https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0657

Pocomoke Middle School Makes Annual Visit to UMD Entomology

11/25/2019

 
Pocomoke Middle visits Entomology- Photos
Pocomoke Middle visits Entomology- Photos
Pocomoke Middle visits Entomology- Photos
written by: Nancy Harding
​

On November 5th the Entomology Department conducted an educational community outreach event that provided hands-on experience with insects and other arthropods to 27 students along with a couple of their teachers (Karen McCabe, Dan Hatfield and Brenda Stephens) from Pocomoke Middle School.  Dr. William Lamp welcomed and provided the students with a glimpse into the fascinating world of insects.  An overview of the innovative and important research currently being conducted in the department was provided by the following: Anna Noreuil, Ph.D. student (Fritz lab) gave a presentation and hands-on activity regarding the northern house mosquito; Rachel Kuipers, Lab Assistant (vanEnglesdorp lab) gave an overview of the research to further understand the loss in honey bee colonies in the United States; Maria Cramer, PhD student & Dr. Torsten Schöneberg (Hamby lab) spoke to the students about the important relationship between lady beetles (predator) and aphids (prey); Alexander Forde, Ph.D.student (Gruner lab) and Todd Waters, Agricultural Technician Supervisor and caretaker of the department’s Insect Zoo, gave the students an opportunity to look at and hold native and exotic arthropods.  Nancy Harding, Research Assistant, (Shrewsbury lab) and Todd Waters set up and coordinated the visit from Pocomoke Middle School. Feedback from the students and teachers was extremely positive (see Pocomoke Middle School facebook page). 

Where do genetically modified Cry proteins go after Bt crops are harvested?

11/22/2019

 
written by: Dylan Kutz, MS student, Lamp Lab
​

​Whenever we see the words “genetically modified” in the news these days, they’re usually followed by two things: the word “crops” and a lot of controversy. Genetically modified crops or “GM” crops are crops that have had their DNA altered through genetic engineering to gain a desirable trait, such as pest suppression. While some fear the effects of genetically modified crops on human health, numerous studies have thoroughly debunked the myth that GM crops are dangerous to humans. Still, much remains unknown about whether insect-resistant GMO crops affect non-target insects after harvest, or even how they degrade after crops are harvested. Veronica Yurchak, a Ph.D. student working in the Hooks Lab at the University of Maryland’s Department of Entomology got to the bottom of these after-harvest mysteries in her master’s thesis.

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A Tale of Two Food Webs: Algae, Insects, and Shaded Streams

11/18/2019

 
Written by: Anna Noreuil, PhD student, Fritz Lab and Maggie Yuan, MS student, College of Edu
​
Shaded headwater streams are often overlooked by the average hiker, who may only fleetingly consider how they might leap across them to avoid wet feet. However, these streams are critical to aquatic and terrestrial ecological food webs and shouldn’t be simply ‘jumped’ over in terms of research. These food webs illustrate the connections and interactions that can exist between many different species in a natural community. In these illustrations, we can describe the transfer of ‘food energy’ in a system from one group of organisms to another. For example, plants and algae use energy from the sun to grow, which is eaten by herbivores, who will, in turn, be consumed by carnivores. When the sun provides the initial source of energy for the food web, it is said to be a green food web. In contrast, if the system receives little energy input from the sun, and is instead sustained by dead organic debris (utilized by decomposers), it is a brown food web. One common example of a brown food web here in Maryland is a shaded stream in a forest ecosystem. 

​

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Floral Tea for Bees: Plant Secondary Metabolites May Defend Pollinators from Parasites

11/12/2019

 
Written by: Maggie Lewis, PhD Student, Hamby Lab and Tais Ribeiro, PhD student, Espindola Lab
​
​Do you know the bitter taste of kale? Or the spicy flavor of mustard greens? These flavors are created by the plants often for defending against herbivory. These chemicals are non-essential to the plant’s growth, with diverse properties and classes, such as alkaloids and terpenoids. Herbivores might find the taste too bitter – and they have no salad dressing to mitigate that – and avoid to feed on it, being the plant protected against their attacks. These compounds could be even deadly! But, just like the bitter tea you drink when you have a stomach ache, they can also have positive and medicinal properties, including anti-fungal and anti-parasitic effects. Although secondary metabolites are synthesized throughout the plant, they exist at different concentrations in different tissues. They can even be present in nectar and pollen, which could affect pollinator visitation and behavior.


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Professor Neel investigates long-term impacts of urbanization on natural ecosystems

11/11/2019

 
Forest
​Professor Maile C. Neel has a new publication out in Forest Ecology and Management titled, “Changes in vegetation structure and composition of urban and rural forest patches in Baltimore from 1998 to 2015” 

Check out full article: 
​https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117665

MRIGlobal and the Mercury Lab - Bringing Biosurveillance to the Field

11/4/2019

 
written by: Ted Striegel (MS student, Hawthorne lab) and Graham Stewart (MS student, Palmer lab)

​Dr. Joe Russell is a senior scientist at MRIGlobal, a nonprofit contract research institute that conducts research on a wide array of topics (including chemical and biological surveillance, biosafety and security). The institute receives much of its funding from contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense. Dr. Russell had a circuitous academic path to MRIGlobal, including time spent studying astrophysics and analysing marine sediment samples. His talk centered on a new technology developed by the institute - the Mercury Lab.


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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)