August 30, 2019
Insecticides kill insects. It should be no surprise, then, that in Brazil, which has seen a 27% increase in pesticide sales since last year, roughly 500 million honey bees were found dead in piles across four states in early spring. The country’s pesticide use has grown by 770% between 1990 to 2016, as reported by Bloomberg.
August 30, 2019
Health officials are touting a new protection against bloodsucking insects amid reports of a rare mosquito-borne disease that has infected four people in Massachusetts, killing one woman.
August 30, 2019
Her other options exhausted, Sonia Jung reached for the self-closing forceps. Neither the reed of grass, the cotton swab, nor the nylon foam had been enough to lure one of Philadelphia’s most secretive animals.
August 30, 2019
Waking up with a fresh set of itchy bug bites can bring on its own set of worries. What, exactly, was biting you in the middle of the night? Was it a spider? Mosquito? Or—possibly the worst case scenario — could it have been bed bugs?
August 30, 2019
Marten Edwards knows just what to say when friends come to him and admit that they think they’ve seen an alien.
August 30, 2019
A pest that sparked quarantines across the region and struck terror into the hearts of fruit farmers, timber exporters, and homeowners may have met its match.
August 29, 2019
The Entomological Society of America congratulates the winners of its 2019 awards. The awards recognize scientists, educators, and students who have distinguished themselves through their contributions to entomology.
August 28, 2019
Stopping the spread of the spotted lanternfly, one of the most destructive pests to hit the U.S. in years, is a priority for Pennsylvania.
August 27, 2019
More than half of the people in the world, including in the United States, live alongside Aedes aegypti — the mosquito that transmits dengue, Zika and other often deadly viruses. Dengue virus, alone, infects nearly 400 million people worldwide each year. To reduce transmission of dengue to humans, scientists have introduced Wolbachia bacteria to A. aegypti mosquitoes. Now a team of international researchers has found that Wolbachia’s ability to block virus transmission may be maintained by natural selection, alleviating concern that this benefit could diminish over time.
August 26, 2019
The Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) has elected 10 new Fellows of the Society for 2019. Election as a Fellow of ESA acknowledges outstanding contributions to entomology in research, teaching, extension and outreach, administration, or the military.
August 26, 2019
Follow these steps to banish bed bugs from your home and prevent an infestation in the first place.
August 21, 2019
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.
August 19, 2019
Could soilborne fungi found nearly everywhere in North America be the kryptonite that can help control the spotted lanternfly? Studies underway in the Philadelphia region -- carried out by scientists from Penn State and Cornell University -- aim to answer that question, with early findings showing promise against what has been described as the worst invasive pest to hit the U.S. since the gypsy moth.
August 15, 2019
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.
August 13, 2019
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.
August 12, 2019
The recent Authentic Plant Pollinator Landscape Research for Educators Workshop at Penn State attracted 13 kindergarten through 12th grade educators from across Pennsylvania and beyond, and it allowed educators to work closely with members of Penn State’s Center for Science and the Schools and Center for Pollinator Research.
August 12, 2019
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.
August 8, 2019
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.
August 2, 2019
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.
August 2, 2019
The insect fluttered around her garden, a strange, pretty bug with mottled red, tan and gray wings, and Piper Sherburne admired its beauty.
August 2, 2019
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.
August 2, 2019
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.
August 1, 2019
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.
July 31, 2019
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.
July 29, 2019
Researchers dissected the jaws of ants infected with the Ophiocordyceps fungus to determine how the fungus hijacks the ants' behavior. Christopher Intagliata reports.
July 26, 2019
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.
July 25, 2019
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.
July 24, 2019
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.
July 24, 2019
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.
July 22, 2019
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.
