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.
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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

​ENTM Postdoc, Dr. Alina Avanesyan has a review paper out in Plants.  This review looks into the feeding preferences of acridid grasshoppers on native vs. introduced plants.

Check out full article, "Should I Eat or Should I Go? Acridid Grasshoppers and Their Novel Host Plants: Potential for Biotic Resistance" at
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants7040083. 

​Dr. Megan Fritz has a new publication out in Insect Systematics and Diversity.

Check out full article, “Opening the Door to the Past: Accessing Phylogenetic, Pathogen, and Population Data From Museum Curated Bees” at
​​https://academic.oup.com/isd/article-abstract/2/5/4/5133258?redirectedFrom=fulltext

The Pick Lab contributed to a new paper published on October 10th in the New England Journal of Medicine (link below), specifically to disease testing in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Contributing authors from Pick Lab: Leslie Pick (professor & Chair), Alys Jarvela (postdoc ENTM) & Bijal Kikani (Undergraduate Biological Sciences Major). The paper was covered by the Associated Press.

Publication: "Effect of Genetic Diagnosis on Patients with Previously Undiagnosed Disease"

Congratulations to Brett Kent on his latest publication, “The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA”, published on Sept. 25th in Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology.

Over 100 years have passed since the last comprehensive review of fossils from Calvert Cliffs was published.  This new publication updates us on the new discoveries found among the cliffs.  Within this multi-authored volume, “Bretton W. Kent describes the cartilaginous fish fauna, consisting of 54 species—3 ratfishes, 39 sharks, and 12 skates and rays—a fauna rich in large predatory sharks and large neritic rays. In an addendum to Kent’s chapter, he and David J. Ward describe a new species of giant thresher shark with serrated teeth.”
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Read the full release here.

UMD Scientists, Heather H. Disque, Kelly A. Hamby , Aditi Dubey , Christopher Taylor and Galen P. Dively, assessed the effects of clothianidin‐treated seed on arthropod communities. Read their findings in their recent paper, "Effects of clothianidin‐treated seed on the arthropod community in a mid‐Atlantic no‐till corn agroecosystem", published in Pest Management Science.
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Congratulations to Maile C. Neel, whose paper, “Predictability of demographic rates based on phylogeny and biological similarity” was recently published in Conservation Biology.

​This study examines the efficacy of using data from biologically similar or closely related species to inform conservation status assessments.
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Check out the full article at ​https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13135

Congratulations to Dilip Venugopal and Galen Divley on their publication released today in Royal Society Open Science!

Climate change, transgenic corn adoption and field-evolved resistance in corn earworm. ​
​Pests aggravate the agricultural costs of climate change. Understanding climate change interaction with transgenic crops, a key insect pest management strategy, helps minimize agricultural losses. We found that increasing temperature anomaly and its interaction with high Bt acreage probably accelerated Bt resistance development in a major crop pest, corn earworm. Bt resistant corn earworms may spread further given extensive Bt adoption, and their range expansion due to climate change. We highlight the need to incorporate evolutionary processes affected by climate change into Bt resistance management programs, and the challenges posed by climate change for Bt biotechnology based insect pest management.

Check out the full article here. 

Dilip Venugopal completed his Ph.D. in the Entomology Department in 2014, co-advised by Drs. William Lamp and Galen Dively. He is now a AAAS Science & Technology Fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. 

Dr. Leslie Pick has a new book out through Academic Press publishers titled Fly Models of Human Diseases. More information on her book can be found here. Check out the flyer below for more details!

Post-doc Christopher Taylor (Hamby Lab), graduate student Veronica Johnson (Hooks Lab), and Professor Emeritus Dr. Galen Dively have a new publication titled, "Assessing the use of antimicrobials to sterilize brown marmorated stink bug egg masses and prevent symbiont acquisition" in Journal of Pest Science. You can read the abstract below and find the full feature here. Congratulations on your achievement!

Building engineered structures, such as dams and dikes, has been the conventional approach to water management.  Some suggest that such "gray" infrastructure make way for "green" ecosystem-based approaches.  Margaret Palmer, Director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) co-authored in support of managing water in a green way.