July-August 2026

In the News

Bees

• Bumblebees can learn to associate new smells with their queen
• Behind the Paper: When Bees Learn What Matters - How Social Context Shapes Odor Learning in Bumblebees

Fleas

• 'Primarily an itchy nuisance' in Pennsylvania, fleas still pose health risks

Lanternfly

• Allegheny County again leads Pennsylvania in spotted lanternfly reports. So where are they?

Master Gardeners

• Penn State Master Gardeners to share gardening expertise at Ag Progress Days

Mosquitoes

• NIH grants $2.8M to develop tools for study of mosquito-microbe interactions

Moths

• Why moths are very valuable as pollinators in our area

Pests

• 7 Invasive Pests Causing Big Damage to Agriculture

Screwworms

• Penn State expert explains threat posed by flesh-eating screwworm

Student Awards and Research

• Doctoral student leads grain processing project for Team Pennsylvania
• College of Ag Sciences student receives Future Leaders Fellow Scholarship

Ticks

• Penn State experts: Why ticks are a growing concern in Pennsylvania
• Tick-Borne Illnesses Increase in PA, Experts Urge Preventive Measures

Western Corn Rootworm

• Scout for Western Corn Rootworm in Your Corn Fields

Promotions, Awards, and Accolades

Nancy and John Steimer Professorship

Margarita López-Uribe, previously the Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor, has been awarded the Nancy and John Steimer Professorship in Agricultural Sciences. The professorship is named after College of Agricultural Sciences alumnus John T. Steimer and his wife Nancy, and is granted to outstanding University faculty members to help support their contributions to research and education.

Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor

Heather Grab, Assistant Professor of Entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences,  has been awarded the Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professorship in Entomology. Heather Grab's research seeks to reveal new understanding of pollinator biology while developing tools that help anticipate changes in pollinator communities and support informed decision-making in agriculture.

Student Awards

Lloyd E. Adams Memorial Grant-In-Aid

• Sahil Pawar

Michael E. Duke Memorial Scholarship in Entomology

• Camilo Florez Valencia
• Ella Messner

William and Melonie Ettinger Excellence Fund in Entomology

• Zachary Bunch
• Neetu Khanal

Paul R. Heller Memorial Award

• Grace Tiwari

Vartkes Miroyan Memorial Award

• Sahil Pawar

International Society of Chemical Ecology

• Sahil Pawar
  • ISCE Student Travel Award
  • ISCE Crystal Clear Award
• Elsa Chen
  • ISCE Student and Postdoc Travel Awards

Ralph O. Mumma Graduate Award

• Sukhman Singh

Jack Root and Bob Snetsinger Graduate Award in Entomology

• Anju Poudel

Dr. Zane Smilowitz Endowment for Student Excellence

• Jaime Manzano Alvarez

William T. Yendol Memorial Research Fund in Entomology

• Paige Alexander

Penn State Graduate Student International Travel Grants

• Ella Messner

GNSI's 58th Annual Juried Member's Exhibit

Michael Tribone, Graphic Design Specilaist in Entomology, was selected as a finalist for The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators 2026 Juried Members Exhibition. Every year, GNSI members are given the opportunity to submit works to a juried exhibit representing the best work being created by practicing visual science communicators today.

The jury selected the science figure for Jessica T. Kansman, Jorge L. Jaramillo, Jared G. Ali, and Sara L. Hermann's research on conservation biological control. The paper was published in Trends in Plant Science, Volume 28, Issue 10, October 2023, Pages 1166-1177.

Conferences, Workshops, and Events

Thrips Identification and Preservation Techniques

The thrips identification workshop was held on July 16, 2026 from 9a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Buckhout Lab, University Park PA. There were 16 participants for this hands-on workshop. The learning was focused on basic biology, collection, preparation, and identification of thrips in the mid-Atlantic region.

The workshop was co-led by Patricia Prade, Michael Skvarla, and Mykala Robertson. Jonah Ulmer, who is the USDA APHIS Thysanoptera curator, was also a lecturer for the event.

Publications

• A Common Regulatory Architecture Shapes Queen Chemical Signals Across Multiple Exocrine Sites, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Orlova, Margarita, Amsalem, Etya, 2026
• The functional role of ants in no-till cropping systems, Pest Management Science, Fajemisin, Adegboyega O., Suarez, Andrew V., Tooker, John F., 2026
• A social bee (Bombus terrestris) learns to associate a novel odor with social context, Communications Biology, Amsalem, Etya, Hefetz, Abraham, 2026
• Banana bunchy top virus in Sub-Saharan Africa: emergent threats, technological solutions, and the imperative for integrated management, Tropical Plant Pathology, Kiruwa, Fatma Hussein, Ouedraogo, Rimnoma Serge, Aloyce, Agatha, Shimwela, Mpoki Mathew, Mwaipopo, Beatrice, Mbega, Ernest, Hughes, David, 2026
• Development of the vector education, communication, and training online resource (VECTOR) library: a vector-borne disease education database, BMC Public Health, Lysaker, Drew T., Struckhoff, Emily D., Chakravarti, Indira, Bognanni, Olivia J., Machtinger, Erika T., 2026
• Beescape and BeeSpatial: Making multi-scale environmental indicators of bee habitat accessible across audiences, Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, Li, Kevin, Grab, Heather, Buckner, Mark A., Houtman, Lily, Kammerer, Melanie, McLaughlin, Dave, Ostroski, Anaís, Douglas, Margaret R., Goslee, Sarah C., Khanna, Vikas, Lonsdorf, Eric V., Robinson, Anthony C., Grozinger, Christina M., 2026
• Spotted Lanternfly Feeding Induces Systemic Defense Responses in Grapevines, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Singh, Sukhman, Peiffer, Michelle, Felton, Gary, Acevedo, Flor, 2026
• Structural and Functional Insights into a Honey Bee Omega-Class Glutathione S-Transferase Mediating Chemical Sequestration and Antioxidative Stress, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Koirala, Sonu, Moural, Timothy W., Bhattarai, Gaurab, Phan, Ngoc T., Rajotte, Edwin George, Biddinger, David J., Zhu, Fang, 2026
• Larval deltamethrin exposure causes severe cross-stage carryover toxicity and male reproductive failure in Osmia cornifrons, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Mokkapati, Jaya Sravanthi, Boyle, Natalie K., Grozinger, Christina M., 2026
• Dietary lipids shape honey bee (Apis mellifera) feeding and resilience to pesticide stress, Journal of Insect Physiology, Mokkapati, Jaya Sravanthi, Grozinger, Christina M., 2026
• Tropical Bee Assemblage Diversity Decreases With Elevation While Body Size Increases, Biotropica, Turley, Nash E., Pulido-Guarín, Harold, Nossa-Suárez, Daniel, Hoffmann, Gabriella, Martín-Rojas, Ruben D., Aguilar-Benavides, Lucia, López-Uribe, Margarita M., 2026
• Trap color influences capture rates of Aphelinus mali, a key parasitoid of woolly apple aphid (Eriosoma lanigerum) in apple orchards, Journal of Economic Entomology, Joshi, Neelendra K., Leslie, Timothy, Biddinger, David J., 2026
• Generation cycles in experimental populations of a multivoltine insect, Journal of Animal Ecology, Yamanaka, Takehiko, Sato, Yasushi, Nelson, William A., Bjørnstad, Ottar N., 2026