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Interactions between insects, predators and plants may be difficult to observe, but they contain powerful clues to how we could save our crops and natural spaces. Enter the world of entomology, where plants and beetles are the masters of natural chemical weapons and the risk of being eaten is real.

Penn State Entomology graduate students were able to bring aspects of their research to the public at the annual Great Insect Fair (GIF). Located in the Snider Agricultural Arena, the GIF theme for 2019 was “A world with(out) insects” and students were able to showcase what our world would look like without some key critters and certainly what outreach efforts look like with graduate students at the forefront.

Spotted lantern flies have been destroying fruit trees and vineyards in the Philadelphia area.

A $7.3 million grant awarded to Penn State will support an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers as they conduct research and develop strategies to combat the spotted lanternfly.

Invent Penn State's Tech Tournament is a showcase of disruptive technologies and early-stage companies

In the Great Spotted Lanternfly War, Pennsylvania’s citizen-soldiers are fighting back with fly swatters and vacuums, dish soap and sticky tape. They’re stomping and spraying and zapping and bragging about their kills on social media. “DESTROY THEM,” a propaganda poster urges. “Die, die, die, spotted lanternfly,” a balladeer sings.

The spotted lanternfly is damaging Pennsylvania vineyards and threatening other farm goods and trees. Researchers are looking at a fungus and tiny wasps as options to kill it.

Researchers testing a biopesticide to control spotted lanternfly in areas of Norristown Farm Park this past summer are encouraged by the results and say they may have discovered a very effective weapon to stamp out the invasive pests.

With summer now behind us and autumn nectar flows drawing to close, your honey bees will likely spend less time foraging as the temperature continues to drop.

As the fall season approaches, we at Beescape hope you’ve all had a productive spring/summer

The Barbercheck Lab is seeking one Master’s student to start in the Summer or Fall of 2020.

I didn’t think it would happen to me, but I have become one of those parents. You know the ones: the type who are always bragging about their children’s latest achievements, proudly showing photos to anyone who displays even the vaguest interest, and vocally declaring that their progeny are geniuses.

What kinds of ethical considerations, if any, are relevant to research, management, or conservation efforts involving insects? What limits might be appropriate for those actions? These are questions we ask as members of a profession—one that’s devoted to the study of certain organisms.

Marjorie A. Hoy is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research with the first laboratory-modified natural enemy deployed in a pest management program. The natural enemy had been genetically improved through selection to be resistant to three pesticide classes. Hoy is also highly regarded for the development of classical biological control of invasive pests of Florida citrus.

Rudolf Schilder, assistant professor of entomology at Penn State University, took some time to explain why Pennsylvania residents are seeing so many dragonflies this month. He studies dragonfly factors that impact their flight performance, usually in a laboratory.

With a theme of “Living With(out) Insects,” the 2019 edition of Penn State's Great Insect Fair will explore the widely publicized, worldwide decline of insects from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. Saturday, September 28, at the Snider Agricultural Arena on the University Park campus.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Pensylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) is waging an all-out war on a tiny insect called the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). Researchers at the Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit (BIIRU), a subdivision of the PADA, in Newark, Delaware, have come up with a plan to eradicate the invasive insect once and for all, using a curious weapon: wasps.

Hordes of spotted lanternflies are flapping through the state, threatening agriculture. “They jump, they’re big, they’re scary,” one Pennsylvanian said. “It’s like all of your worst nightmares coming to fruition.”

The Department of Entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all members of the department, and the faculty, students, postdocs and staff wanted to make clear that this commitment was not just “lip service.”

Christina Grozinger is the director of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State. She joined us to talk about the health of Pennsylvania's bee population, and how we can help.