written by: Minh Le
​Not many people have heard of the sorghum plant, so you might be surprised to know that it is grown in 21 states (Figure 1)! The “Sorghum Belt”, or area comprising states that have abundant sorghum production, stretches from South Dakota all the way down to southern Texas (National Sorghum Producers). The sorghum plant produces nutritious grain, which is an important ingredient for livestock feeds as well as a whole grain alternative to people with low gluten tolerance or who suffer from celiac disease. Besides its nutritional benefits, sorghum production can have a positive impact on the environment and sustainability efforts, as the sorghum bushels can be extracted for ethanol, a renewable source of fuel, and require one-third less water to grow compared to other feedstocks (National Sorghum Producers). Despite its agricultural and environmental importance, as with other widely cultivated agricultural crops, these plants are a buffet for pest insects whose voracious appetite cause significant economic damage every year. A prominent invasive pest feeding on sorghum in the US is the sorghum aphid (Melanaphis sorghi). These insects use their syringe-like mouthparts to pierce and suck juices from plant tissues, damaging them. In 2013 and 2014, it is estimated that these aphids caused 50 to 100% of crop loss, and in 2015, sorghum producers in the Rio Grande Valley lost approximately 31 million dollars. The entomology colloquium welcomes Dr. Jocelyn Holt, a researcher at Rice University, Texas, who provided insight into her research on the population genetics of sorghum aphids across the US and the symbiotic microbiota that is associated with them.

Varroa mites and viruses they vector are leading causes of honeybee losses. University of Maryland researchers Drs Eugene Ryabov (Bee Lab) and Zachary Lamas (Hawthorne Lab) team up with U.S. Department of Agriculture to study varroa mite infectiousness and the effect of the vectored viruses on varroa survival. Last month they published their findings in Frontiers in Insect Science entitled, “The vectoring competence of the mite Varroa destructor for deformed wing virus of honey bees is dynamic and affects survival of the mite.” The authors hope this work will provide new insights into the varroa mites' impact on colony disease and ways to manage it. 

Link to paper:  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/finsc.2022.931352/full

University of Maryland PhD candidate Kyle D. Brumfield and Drs. Rita Colwell and Michael Raupp, teamed up with colleagues from the University of Connecticut-Storrs, University of Connecticut-Hartford, University of California Berkeley, and EZbiome, Inc. to explore the rich diversity of the gut microbiome of periodical cicadas. For those interested in learning more about their research into these remarkable insects, check out publication out this week in Scientific Reports.

Link to article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20527-7

written by: Darsy Smith and Benjamin P. Gregory
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​How do insects that live in dry environments like deserts keep from drying out, and how might these adaptations help them adjust to our constantly changing world? For our first colloquium of October, the Entomology Department welcomed Dr. Henry Chung, an assistant professor at Michigan State. Dr. Chung’s research investigates the genetic mechanisms underlying insect adaptations to different environmental conditions, particularly dry ones. Just like humans, insects need water to live their lives, so making sure they don’t dry out–or desiccate–is vital to their survival. So how do insects that live in hot and dry conditions prevent desiccation? One of the most important pieces of an insect’s defense against desiccation is its epicuticle, the waxy top layer of its exoskeleton, and the chemical pieces that make up this epicuticle, called cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). 

Spiders of the genus Steatoda, known as false black widows, have a resemblance to the black widow but are less harmful. However, around the world, there has been an increase of reports that this "less harmful" genus has been causing quite a debilitating bite. Heightened public concern has researchers, like grad student Mariom Adriana Carvajal (Shultz Lab), revisiting this genus. Mariom has been studying 1 of the 7 species found in Chile, taking a second look at its characteristics and its distribution. Today, Mariom and collegues published some of that work in Revista Chilena de Entomología, entitled, “A new record of Steatoda porteri in Chile.” Their findings show that although Steatoda porteri has extended its range, it remains outside urban areas for now. ​

Sorry DMV residents, mosquitoes are predicted to follow us well into the fall season. University of Maryland Prof Emeritus Mike Raupp shares why with the Washington Post.

Quote: Because they’re coldblooded, insect development is very closely tied to ambient temperature, so the warmer it is, the faster they develop,” Raupp said. “Our mosquitoes can have multiple generations every year. So as we move into a warming world — because it gets warm earlier, it stays warm later and it’s generally hotter — we simply have more generations of these mosquitoes every single year.

link to article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/25/mosquito-season-washington/

Congratulations to Dr. Margaret Palmer for being awarded Honorary Membership at the British Ecological Society. This award recognizes Margaret's exceptional contribution at the international level to the generation, communication and promotion of ecological knowledge and solutions. See BES's press release here>>  

The bold beautiful colors of a 1 inch long adult spotted lanternfly are pretty hard to miss. Their striking attributes allow for researchers to make many experimental observations about the insects, including discoveries about their feeding preferences as adults. However, at the earliest instars the spotted lanternflies are smaller and muted in color making feeding preferences much more difficult for researchers to track by observation alone. To overcome the difficulties of the observational approach, the Lamp Lab turns to DNA metabarcoding to get more insights about their diet. The results of their study were published earlier this summer in a special issue of Insects.
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Focusing exclusively on the first nymphal instars, the Lamp Lab used a novel approach, utilizing “bulk” DNA extracts for DNA metabarcoding of nymphal gut contents, to identify plants that the nymphs had ingested prior to being collected. Through this novel approach they were able to identify 13 novel host plants that have not been previously included in host plant lists for spotted lanternfly in the U.S. The Lamp Lab is hopeful that discoveries like these, on the diet of the spotted lanternfly across development stages, will lead to better management of this invasive species.

Share your colleagues work with your networks on facebook, twitter, the car ride with your friends who are always asking you about bugs b/c you work in Entomology.

Metarhizium is a common fungus that is found in soil and widely used in insect pest control today. It is known for its ability to kill a wide range of insects, protect surrounding plants and provide plants with much sought after nitrogen. St. Leger Lab has a new paper out in Current Opinion in Microbiology that looks into the current research on this fungi and its–plant–insect interactions. Although experimentation has led to detailed knowledge of how this fungus interacts with plants and insects, most of these studies have focused on highly controlled interactions between single species in the lab, leading to a knowledge gap when it comes to understanding Metarhizium plant–insect interactions in natural communities. The authors hope an increase in Metarhizium studies on natural ecosystems will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of this fungi’s plant protection ability.

Before concluding a shout out is needed. Congrats to Huiyu Sheng, this is her 1st first-authored paper, and to Raymond St. Leger her proud UMD mentor.
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Please share news with friends, colleagues & that one fungi you met while at your last conference: facebook and twitte

In honor of #NationalPollinatorMonth the U.S. Department of Agriculture highlights the amazing work of an incredible person, Dr. Anahi Espindola, Asst Prof at the University of Maryland. Anahi shares details on current NIFA projects, provides sage advice to up and comers & promotes DEI.

Read article her: https://go.umd.edu/cTJ

Share news about your awesome colleague with your friends and fam on facebook and twitter and whatever other platforms you use. 

writen by: Demian A. Nuñez and Darsy Smith 

​The end of the semester is here! For the last weekly seminar series, the Entomology Department welcomed Dr. Jason Rasgon to speak about his research and experience with new molecular tools for gene editing in arthropods. Dr. Rasgon completed his Ph.D. at the Entomology Department of the University of California, Davis. There he had the opportunity to conduct research on Wolbachia infection dynamics, a naturally occurring bacteria that lives within several insect taxa and is passed from one generation to the next through their eggs. Since early in his career, he has successfully answered research questions in various systems, which has given him the experience to lead projects across a wide range of biology-subdisciplines. Currently, he is a professor of Entomology and Disease Epidemiology at Pennsylvania State University, where he integrates population biology, ecology, molecular tools, and theory to answer both fundamental and applied questions in genetics. The main goal of Dr. Rasgon’s lab is the development of new methods that can be used to introduce transgenes into natural disease vector populations.