Entomology Notes

Welcome to Entomology Notes! The Cornell Department of Entomology is a vibrant community of faculty, staff and students dedicated to the study of insect biology. We use our knowledge to solve important problems and improve human life. Follow us as we...

[cornellentomology]

Insecticide resistance in Drosophila melanogaster and sour rot - Jeffrey Scott.  Control of sour rot in grapes is commonly achieved using insecticide to control D. melanogaster.  2018 was one of the worst years for sour rot in grapes in New York in decades. Sun et al. report that the outbreak of sour rot at one NY vineyard was associated with an inability to control D. melanogaster due to the evolution of resistance.  

Read more by clicking on the link below:    https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/111/6/2992/5113442

[cornellentomology]

CYP-mediated permethrin resistance in Aedes aegypti and evidence for trans-regulationLetícia B. SmithRakshit TyagiShinji KasaiJeffrey G. Scott  

https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006933

[cornellentomology]

Juan Silva Presentation to the American Mosquito Control Association

 Juan Silva gave a presentation entitled “Codon constraints of knockdown resistance mutations in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel of Aedes aegypti” at the Annual Meeting of the American Mosquito Control Association in Orlando FL on February 26, 2019.

[cornellentomology]

National Geographic spoke with professors John Losey and Corrie Moreau on insect populations. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/why-insect-populations-are-plummeting-and-why-it-matters/

[cornellentomology]

Check out this article published by Anthony Sheldon and his colleagues in Europe and ARS. 

Comprehensive review of environmental safety of Bt plants published

Genetically engineered crops that are protected from major insect pests, by producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis, have been grown on more than 1 billion acres over the last 20+ years. A major concern related to this technology is that the proteins could harm non-target organisms, in particular those that provide important ecosystem services such as biological control. In a comprehensive review just published in the journal Biological Control, authors from Switzerland and the USA summarized the existing literature from laboratory and field-based studies. Overall, the vast majority of studies demonstrates that the insecticidal proteins deployed today cause no unintended adverse effects to natural enemies. Furthermore, when Bt crops replace synthetic chemical insecticides for target pest control, this creates an environment supportive of the conservation of natural enemies. As part of an overall integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, Bt crops can contribute to more effective biological control of both target and secondary pests and lead to a reduction in insecticide use.

The article can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2018.10.001

[cornellentomology]

Check out Patrick O’Gardy’s video on his studies here at Cornell. 

[cornellentomology]

Researchers from Colorado State University partnered with NEVBD Director Laura Harrington https://blogs.cornell.edu/harrington/ Cornell University in the analysis of salivary glands and saliva from Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) and yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) infected with different strains of the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Asian tiger mosquito strains from New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana, and La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean basin) were infected with two different CHIKV strains associated with outbreaks in the Caribbean and La Réunion Island. All four strains of the Asian tiger mosquito were highly susceptible to CHIKV infection, with a higher transmission rate associated with the virus from La Réunion Island. These findings suggest that if introduced to the Western hemisphere, the CHIKV strain from La Réunion Island poses an increased risk of transmission in these two species of Aedes mosquito. Read the full article in Insects: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/2/39/htm

[cornellentomology]

Ann Hajek became a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America at the 2018 ESA meeting. This is a competitive award; 9 were awarded this year.

[cornellentomology]

https://www.entsoc.org/fellows/hajek

[cornellentomology]

Check out this article on “ Natural habitats, bee diversity key to better apple production “ with Heather Grab and Bryan Danfoth : https://cals.cornell.edu/news/natural-habitats-bee-diversity-key-better-apple-production/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cals_field_notes

[cornellentomology]

Check out Scott McArt in this Article on the "Solar Farms Shine a Ray of Hope on Bees and Butterflies" posted in The Scientific American.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-farms-shine-a-ray-of-hope-on-bees-and-butterflies/

[cornellentomology]

[cornellentomology]

Elson Shields, Cornell Entomology Professor, collecting blow flies off cadavers (donors) at the Colorado body farm.

[cornellentomology]

Elson Shield, Cornell Entomology Professor, collecting blow flies off cadavers (donors) at the Colorado body farm.

[cornellentomology]

Had a great Holiday celebration with the Entomology dept.  

[cornellentomology]

Check out Tony Shelton in this article, "Bt eggplant improving lives in Bangladesh".

https://cals.cornell.edu/news/bt-eggplant-improving-lives-bangladesh/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cals_field_notes

[cornellentomology]

There’s a Spider That Makes Milk check out this article that Linda Rayor is quoted in. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/11/spider-makes-milk-and-cares-its-young/576829/

[cornellentomology]

Check out Carol Anelli's lecture on Anna Comstock

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[cornellentomology]

Elson Shields was awarded the NYS Excellence in IPM Award from the NYS IPM Program (a competitive award).