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Could soilborne fungi found nearly everywhere in North America be the kryptonite that can help control the spotted lanternfly?

Penn State Extension has established a new vector-borne disease team that focuses on diseases transmitted by ticks and mosquitos. To ensure that its efforts address community needs, the team is launching a survey, the results of which will allow extension educators to deliver responsive programming to educate the public on vector-borne diseases, how to prevent them, and how people can protect themselves.

Pennsylvania agriculture communities need residents to help stamp out an invasive species responsible for decimating fruit crops in eastern and central counties, a Penn State University spokesman said.

Despite the buzz in recent years about other invasive insects that pose an even larger threat to agriculture and trees — such as the spotted lanternfly, the stink bug and the emerald ash borer — Penn State researchers have continued to study another damaging pest, the Asian longhorned beetle.

Elected officials and leaders of government agencies will use the opportunity afforded by Penn State's Ag Progress Days, set for Aug.13-15, to inform — and get feedback from — the public and industry stakeholders about agricultural programs and policy priorities at the state and federal levels.

Spotted lantern flies are not a problem in Tioga County, and the state Department of Agriculture would like to make sure they don’t become one.

In Amityville, Pennsylvania, 10 acres of grapevines sprawl across the family-owned Manatawny Creek Winery. Owner Darvin Levengood is no stranger to vineyard pests. But he was met with calamity in the fall of 2017 when grape pickers were bombarded by swarms of a new invasive insect, the Spotted Lanternfly. Winery guests couldn’t drink on the open porch without finding the bug, and its “honeydew,” in their glass.

The insect fluttered around her garden, a strange, pretty bug with mottled red, tan and gray wings, and Piper Sherburne admired its beauty.

Deer keds – flat-bodied flies with grabbing forelegs and deciduous wings that are parasites on deer – are more widely distributed across the U.S., and Pennsylvania, than previously known.

Experts and Gov. Tom Wolf toured an area near Harrisburg on Tuesday to inspect the harm wreaked by the colorful, menacing spotted lanternfly. As they did, at least one researcher was already looking hundreds of miles past that damage to the potentially dire implications for Erie County.

Penn State Extension and the Center for Pollinator Research hosted a two-day in-service meeting in July 2019 to train Extension Educators and Master Gardeners on the latest information about pollinator diversity, health, and management.

Creating pollinator-friendly landscapes again will be the focus of the Yard and Garden Area at Ag Progress Days, Aug. 13-15, but many other activities will be going on there, as well.

Researchers dissected the jaws of ants infected with the Ophiocordyceps fungus to determine how the fungus hijacks the ants' behavior. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Dinner and dancing will highlight a Gala in the Gardens event from 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the opening of The Arboretum at Penn State’s H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens.

Centre County has seen a “dramatic increase” in hospitalizations over the past two years for an infectious bacterial disease primarily spread by deer ticks, according to a Mount Nittany Physician Group infectious disease specialist.

The 2019 Authentic Plant Pollinator Landscape Research for Educators (APPL-RED) Workshop at Penn State attracted thirteen K-12 educators from across Pennsylvania and beyond (one educator is currently teaching in the Spangdahlem region in Germany). The workshop allowed educators to work closely with members of Penn State’s Center for Science and the Schools and Center for Pollinator Research.

Sulav Paudel, a doctoral candidate in entomology and in international agriculture and development in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, traveled to Washington, D.C., in June to participate in two conferences aimed at advancing international agriculture and rural development.

Plants may induce "leaky gut syndrome" — permeability of the gut lining — in insects as part of a multipronged strategy for protecting themselves from being eaten, according to researchers at Penn State. By improving our understanding of plant defenses, the findings could contribute to the development of new pest control methods.

Honey bees are critical for crop pollination in the United States. The US is the first global producer of almonds and blueberries, and both of these crops require large numbers of managed honey bee colonies to maximize yields.

Governor Tom Wolf and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding were in Harrisburg to view the treatment being conducted across the Commonwealth concerning Spotted Lanternflies. They were joined by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), Penn State University, and USDA at a Harrisburg site populated with Spotted Lanternflies.