Postdoc Alina Avanesyan and Professor Bill Lamp have another publication out on the invasive lanternfly. The paper entitled, "Use of Molecular Gut Content Analysis to Decipher the Range of Food Plants of the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula" was published in Insects special issue "Molecular Gut Content Analysis: Deciphering Trophic Interactions of Insects.” Their study is the first to show that host plant DNA can be identified within the gut contents of the spotted lanternfly. Molecular gut content analysis provides insight into the feeding behavior of lanternflies at all developmental stages and can be helpful in predicting host plant range. This research could improve the monitoring and management of this invasive species.

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/4/215

Krisztina Christmon (PhD student, vanEngelsdorp Lab), who is studying the host-parasite-pathogen interaction of honeybees, is co-author of a paper published in Viruses special issue: Advances in Honey Bee Virus Research. Follow link to read Krisztina’s first ever publication titled, “Development of a Honeybee RNA Virus Vector Based on the Genome of a Deformed Wing Virus.” Krisztina and her fellow researchers are hopeful that the development of these vectors could lead to the further understanding of viruses like deformed wing virus including similar viruses affecting different bee species.

https://doi.org/10.3390/v12040374

Congratulations on reaching this milestone Krisztina!

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

Gussie Maccracken (PhD student, Shultz Lab) co-authors paper published in Science looking at the recovery of ecosystems after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. The publication was featured in The NY Times and a corresponding NOVA special. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/science/fossils-mammals-dinosaurs-colorado.html

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/rise-of-the-mammals/

​Postdoc Torsten Schoneberg and Assistant Professor Kelly Hamby work with MSU & USDA to explore the use of microbial sterilants as a management tool for Spotted-Wing Drosophila infestations. Check out recently published paper on their research, “Exploring the Efficacy andMechanisms of a Crop Sterilant for Reducing Infestation by Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae)”

Study led by Professor Emerita Barbara Thorne looks into the origins of conehead termites in Florida. Publication featured in Entomology Today.  

Quote: 
“Our results show that human transport of infested materials is a significant risk for spreading populations of invasive conehead termites,” Thorne says. “The operational application of this result is that, beginning immediately upon discovery of invasive coneheads (or any species in the genus Nasutitermes), alerts and precautions must be implemented to prevent movement of potentially infested materials to a new location.”

​Read full article here>>
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Publications
Cato A, ^ Afful E, Nayak MK and Phillips TW. Evaluation of Knockdown Bioassay Methods to Assess Phosphine Resistance in the Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Insects. 2019.
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Finsects10050140

Dively GP, Huang F, Oyediran I, Burd T and Morsello S. Evaluation of gene flow in structured and seed blend refuge systems of non-Bt and Bt corn. Journal of Pest Science. 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10340-019-01126-4

Thompson BM, Bodart J and Gruner DS. Community resistance to an invasive forest insect–fungus mutualism. Ecosphere. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2609

^Lewis MT, and Hamby K.A. Differential impacts of yeasts on feeding behavior and development in larval Drosophila suzukii (Diptera:Drosophilidae).  Scientific Reports. 2019. (manuscript accepted)

Serrano-Brañas CI, Espinosa-Chávez B and ^MacCracken SA. Teredolites trace fossils in log-grounds from the Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 2019.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102316

Niu K, Xiang L, Jin Y…[& 10 others including Wang J]. Identification of LARK as a novel and conserved G-quadruplex binding protein in invertebrates and vertebrates. Nucleic Acids Research. 2019. DOI:  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz484

Shen C, Zhang Y, Xia D, Wang J and Tang Q. Sensilla on the Antennal Funiculus of the Maize Weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): A Morphological Investigation. The Coleopterists Bulletin. 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-73.2.443

Talks and Presentations
^Abell KJ,  ^Andrade RB,  Duan JJ, Gruner DS and Shrewsbury PM. “Do treated ash trees confer a protective ‘silhouette’ from emerald ash borer for neighboring trees? Joint meeting of IUFRO Working Parties: Population dynamics and integrated management of forest insects, Quebec City, Canada. 2019.

Gruner DS, Rankin EEW,  Knowlton JL, Flaspohler DJ, Giardina CP, and Fukami T. “Does forest fragment size mediate the impacts of introduced rodent predators? Foraging behavior of Hawaiian birds and their arthropod resources.” 56th Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Antananarivo, Madagascar.2019.

^Jayd K, R MacKenzie, M Apwong and DS Gruner. “Mangrove herbivory across a salinity gradient.” Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, St. Louis, MO.2019.

Pick L. "What is RNA interference, and how will it affect the future of food?" Tech Talk. USDA, Washington DC. 2019

^Tielens EK and Gruner DS. "Insect communities across a space for time chronosequence converge over time: analyzing patterns and drivers of beta-diversity on Hawai‘i." Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Louisville, KY.2019.

Bold ENTM Faculty; ^ENTM current/former graduate student or post-doc; *ENTM research staff

New paper, co-authored by UMD Entomology Lecturer Bretton Kent, describes the dental transition between megalodon ancestor, Carcharocles chubutensis, and Carcharocles megalodon. The study titled, "The transition between Carcharocles chubutensis and Carcharocles megalodon (Otodontidae, Chondrichthyes): lateral cusplet loss through time", was published this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Patricia L. Graham, Research Assistant Scientist and Entomology colleagues W. Ray Anderson, Elizabeth A. Brandt, JieXiang (PhD 17’, UMD MOCB, Pick Lab) and Leslie Pick, have a new paper out in Developmental Biology. Check out “Dynamic expression of Drosophila segmental cell surface-encoding genes and their pair-rule regulators” here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.01.015

​UMD Scientists, Postdoctoral Research Associate Alina Avanesyan and Professor William Lamp, assessed native Hawaiian plant responses to leafhopper injury. Read findings in their recent paper titled, "Short-Term Physiological Response of a Native Hawaiian Plant, Hibiscus arnottianus, to Injury by the Exotic Leafhopper, Sophonia orientalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)", published in Environmental Entomology.

A new study published by UMD Extension Agent, Alan Leslie ( PhD 14’, UMD ENTM) & Entomology Professor, William Lamp in the Journal of Aquatic Sciences showed that burrowing macroinvertebrates can alter dynamics of phosphorus storage and release in drainage ditches.
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Check out full paper, “Burrowing macroinvertebrates alter phosphorus dynamics in drainage ditch sediments” at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-019-0621-8
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Congratulations to Entomology researchers Samuel Ramsey, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, David Hawthorne, & their colleagues on their new paper, “Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research provides new details on the feeding habits of the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, which is one of the major threats to honey bee colonies worldwide.
​
Read the full CMNS press release here. 

Professor David Hawthorne has a paper out in Nature Sustainability titled, “Antibiotic and pesticide susceptibility and the Anthropocene operating space.”

​This first assessment of planetary boundaries for antibiotic and pesticide resistance shows several boundaries have already been crossed. “Based on current trends in antibiotic, insecticide and herbicide resistance, we conclude that the states of all six assessed variables are beyond safe zones, with three variables surpassed regionally or globally.”

Find full press release on SESYNC’s news page. 

UMD researchers Hanna Kahl, Alan Leslie and Professor Cerruti Hooks assess the effects of cover crops on arthropod communities. Read their findings in their recent paper, "Effects of Red Clover Living Mulch on Arthropod Herbivores and Natural Enemies, and Cucumber Yield", published in Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 

​Peter Coffey , University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Agricultural Science Agent, ENTM Graduate Student (Hooks Lab), has a paper out in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Check out full article, "Careers in Cooperative Extension" at
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1971

Professor Dr. Paula M. Shrewsbury has a paper out in Forest. Her research compares methods for monitoring establishment of the Emerald Ash Borer.

Check out full article, "Comparing Methods for Monitoring Establishment of the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis, Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Egg Parasitoid Oobius agrili (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) in Maryland, USA" at
https://doi.org/10.3390/f9100659