October 7, 2019
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.
October 3, 2019
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.
October 3, 2019
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.
October 3, 2019
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.
October 1, 2019
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.
October 1, 2019
As the fall season approaches, we at Beescape hope you’ve all had a productive spring/summer
October 1, 2019
The Barbercheck Lab is seeking one Master’s student to start in the Summer or Fall of 2020.
September 27, 2019
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.
September 27, 2019
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.
September 27, 2019
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.
September 26, 2019
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.
September 26, 2019
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.
September 26, 2019
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.
September 26, 2019
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.”
September 25, 2019
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.
September 25, 2019
The Department of Entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has released its first diversity statement, which articulates the department’s goal to “cultivate a community of people who have diverse ways of thinking, views, values and perspectives and who represent the composition of our society.”
September 23, 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.
September 19, 2019
Appreciating insects' role in agriculture and the environment will be the focus of Penn State's 2019 Great Insect Fair, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Snider Agricultural Arena on the University Park campus.
September 19, 2019
You may have heard it said that just about every third bite of food you take was made possible by a bee. Bees are required in the production of everything from apples to zucchini, and even important cattle feeds such as alfalfa require bees for pollination.
September 19, 2019
No bees, no berries. For Bruce Hall, that’s the bottom line. “In our industry, we have a flower, and we want it to become a berry,” explained Hall, an agronomist for Jasper Wyman & Son. Better known as “Wyman’s of Maine,” purveyors of wild blueberries and other frozen fruits.
September 19, 2019
The oft-memed slogan “save the bees” has been all the buzz for several years now, but who is actually making an effort to save one of the planet’s most important insects?
September 19, 2019
Dr. Rudolf Schilder, assistant professor of entomology at Penn State, took some time to explain why Somerset County residents are seeing so many dragonflies this month. He studies dragonfly flight and factors that impact their flight performance, usually in a laboratory.
September 19, 2019
Michael Skvarla, Ph.D., is an extension educator and the director of the Insect Identification Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. While a Pennsylvania native, he graduated with his B.S. from Purdue University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas, all in entomology. His graduate studies and experience at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland, give him a broad background that comes in handy when a particularly unique specimen is submitted for identification.
September 19, 2019
Walking around a park near Allentown, Pa., I didn't even notice the bugs at first. Then Heather Leach arrived. She's an insect expert from Penn State University.
September 19, 2019
Philadelphia police have issued a public service announcement: Please do not contact authorities if you see a Spotted Lanternfly. Instead, the department said on Twitter that the insects are not a police issue and Philly should welcome “our new insect overlords.”
September 11, 2019
When the new invasive species known as the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) was first identified in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014, only a few facts were known about the insect: it is a plant hopper native to China, India, Japan and Vietnam, and the one-inch-long insect prefers to feed on the sap of grapevines, apple and stone fruit trees, hardwood trees including maple, as well as more than 70 additional species. Because of its fondness for grapevines, the spotted lanternfly (SLF) immediately became a concern for the grape and wine industry in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
September 11, 2019
The tail-end of summer means the moth-like spotted lanternfly will begin laying its eggs in a few weeks. Many Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents aren’t taking the threat of the invasive species lightly, and are increasingly going out of their way to kill the critters and their larvae.
September 9, 2019
Solar farms will provide energy and pollinator habitat
September 6, 2019
Supported by a $4.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a multi-institutional project will draw on Penn State entomological expertise and collections to document and digitize the historical population dynamics of arthropod parasites, such as ticks, lice and mosquitoes.
September 5, 2019
When it comes to horror, there’s nothing more terrifying than the plausible. As much as we love cowering from supernatural scares, when we leave the cinema, we do so knowing that vampires aren’t really going to hurt us. That a vengeful spirit probably isn’t lurking behind the counter at our local Starbucks.
