Michael J. Skvarla

My duties as the head of the Insect Identification Laboratory at Penn State include identifying insects and other arthropods submitted by the public, writing and maintaining entomology fact sheets, presenting science-based information to the public via seminars and workshops, and conducting limited original research.

Since starting at Penn State in 2017, my research has often based on specimens that have been submitted to the Insect ID Lab. Past projects have included work on Sclerodermus wasps, which parasitize wood-boring beetles and can infest homes with beetle infestations, and European red-and-black melyrids, which are soft-winged flower beetles that can appear in homes during the spring and early summer. The bulk of my current research is focused on deer keds (Lipoptena cervi), including whether they are vectors of arthropod-borne pathogens; this work is done in collaboration with the Veterinary Entomology Laboratory.

Beyond specimens that are submitted to the Insect ID Lab, I am broadly interested in arthropod biodiversity, surveying arthropods using mass trapping techniques (e.g., Malaise traps, pitfall traps, and pan traps), and taxonomy and systematics of understudied groups (e.g., prostigmatid mites and aphids).

Selected publications

Skvarla, M.J., Kramer, M., Owen, C.L., Miller, G.L. 2020. Reexamination of Rhopalosiphum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) using linear discriminant analysis to determine the validity of synonymized species, with some new synonymies and distribution data. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e49102. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e49102

Skvarla, M.J. 2019. New information about Anthocomus equestris (Fabricius 1781) (Coleoptera: Melyridae), a soft-winged flower beetle commonly found in homes. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 121 (4): 693–699. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.121.4.693

Skvarla, M.J., Machtinger, E.T. 2019. Deer keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae: Lipoptena and Neolipoptena) in the United States and Canada: New state and county records, pathogen records, and an illustrated key to species. Journal of Medical Entomology, 56(3): 744–760.

Schneider, S.A., M.J. Skvarla, R. Ochoa, S. Schmidt, A. Polaszek, M. Gates. 2019. Range extension of false Meyer scale, Dynaspidiotus pseudomeyeri (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) in the United States, and newly recorded associations with a parasitoid and mite. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 121(2): 320–326.

Skvarla, M.J., Fleischer, S. 2018. First report of yellowmargined leaf beetle, Microtheca ochroloma Stål, 1860 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), in Pennsylvania. Coleopterists Bulletin, 72(4): 688–690. DOI.org/10.1649/0010-065X-72.4.688

Skvarla, M.J. 2018. A review of Sclerodermus Latrielle, 1809 (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) infestations and report of the first case in North America north of Mexico. Journal of Medical Entomology, 55(3): 752–756. doi: 10.1093/isd/ixy001

Skvarla, M.J., Miller, G.L., Bauchan, G., Lewis, M., Foottit, R., Maw, E. 2018. Taxonomy and natural history of cattail aphids, Rhopalosiphum enigmae Hottes & Frison, 1931 (Hemiptera: Aphidomorpha: Aphididae), including a new synonymy and notes on ant and parasitoid associates of Rhopalosiphum. Insect Systematics and Diversity, 2(2): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixy001

Skvarla, M.J., Dowling, A.P.G. 2017. A comparison of trapping techniques (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, and Curculionoidea excluding Scolytinae. Journal of Insect Science, 17(1); 4: 1–28. doi: 10.1093/jisesa/iew098

Skvarla, M.J., Fisher, J.R., Dowling, A.P.G. 2014. A review of Cunaxidae (Acariformes, Trombidiformes): Histories and diagnoses of subfamilies and genera, keys to world species, and some new locality records. ZooKeys, 418: 1–103.

For a full listing of publications, please see my Research Gate profile.