Two people looking at microscope images on a computer.

Entomology News & Updates

Cornell University Insect Collection samples of the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), which in 2017 was named an endangered species and is believed no longer present in New York.

News

Conservation survey finds native NYS pollinators at risk

A New York state survey, supported by Cornell bee experts, finds that more than half of important native pollinators may be at risk of disappearing from the state – potentially threatening crops, wildflowers and insect diversity.

  • Department of Entomology
  • Entomology
  • Pollinators
Cornell Cooperative Extension and New York State Integrated Pest Management are setting and monitoring traps at high traffic areas where the spotted lanternflies are most likely to appear.

News

Cornell partners with NYS to fight the spotted lanternfly

The devastating spotted lanternfly’s spread to upstate and western New York is not a matter of if, but when, experts say – and Cornell is a key player in helping slow the infestation.

  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • New York State Integrated Pest Management
  • Department of Entomology
Brian Nault treats potatoes for an experiment to identify alternative insecticides to neonics for potato pest management.

News

Entomologists seek safer pest management tech for NYS

Specialty crop entomologists from Cornell AgriTech and the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program will use a three-year, $450,000 grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to evaluate alternatives for...

  • Cornell AgriTech
  • New York State Integrated Pest Management
  • Department of Entomology
A ninespotted lady beetle

News

NYC exhibition features plight of the ninespotted lady beetle

The exhibition, “Extinct and Endangered,” opens June 22 in New York City and is based on the macrophotography of renowned artist Levon Biss.

  • Department of Entomology
  • Entomology
  • Nature
The Australian huntsman and her plastered egg sac.

News

Analysis of huntsman spiders reveals patterns of social behavior
A new study of huntsman spiders links evolutionary lineages with life history traits, providing patterns for predicting social behaviors in other less-studied species.
  • Department of Entomology
  • Entomology
  • Behavior

Department Updates

2022

  • Bugged out! Exhibit displays insect diversity and importance
    "I’d want this exhibit to reduce the number of people that pass by an insect and say, ‘that’s just a bug’. I’d want them to be able to associate a story to that, to see how important that insect is." –Jason Dombroskie, CUIC manager and coordinator of the Insect Diagnostic Lab

2021

  • This is the oldest fossil evidence of spider moms taking care of their young
    A 99-million-year-old spider trapped in amber sheds light on ancient arachnid parenting
  • Dr. Harrington's Vector Bio e-Cornell course
    Interested in learning about the biology & behavior of mosquitoes, ticks, and other arthropods that affect human health? Enroll in a new certificate course from @ecornell_online! Next offering starts Sept 1. Enroll by August 31 with code INTRO50 to save.
  • Ten Entomologists Honored as 2021 Fellows of the Entomological Society of America
    The Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) has elected 10 new Fellows of the Society for 2021. Election as a Fellow of ESA acknowledges outstanding contributions to entomology in research, teaching, extension and outreach, administration, or the military. See more details on criteria for Fellow selection, as well as a full list of ESA Fellows.
  • Australian huntsman spiders: your friendly neighbourhood insect control
    From their habitat and ecology to their unique social behaviour, this is everything you need to know about Australia’s huntsman spiders.
  • Gypsy moth caterpillars are ravaging upstate NY trees, raining down feces: 'It's biblical'
    The historic infestation of gypsy moth caterpillars has now spread across large swaths of the Finger Lakes and North Country regions of New York, munching leaves and leaving behind countless acres of unseasonably barren trees.
  • Two new beetles from summit forests in the Lesser Antilles
    Two newly discovered species of beetles from the mountaintops of St. Kitts and Nevis have been named for a famous Nevisian scientist and a recently departed Kittitian civil servant.

    DuPorte’s Ground Beetle (Platynus duportei Liebherr and Ivie) and Racquel’s Ground Beetle (Platynus racquelae Liebherr and Ivie) were named to honor the McGill University (Montreal, Canada) insect morphologist Professor Ernest Melville DuPorte (1891–1981), born in Nevis, and Racquel Williams-Ezquea (1983–2018), recently of The Government of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis’ Forestry Unit.

    Professors James Liebherr of Cornell University and Michael Ivie of Montana State University described the new species in the March, 2021, issue of the international journal Coleopterists Bulletin. The two species occupy the northernmost geographic limit of a species group of Carabidae that is distributed throughout the Lesser Antillean island chain, with their relatives in South America. They are both restricted to the uppermost remnant montane forests on their respective islands, and enhance our biological knowledge of this critically endangered habitat.
  • That Night 46 Million Grasshoppers Went to Vegas
    In a new study, ecologists document the impact that the world’s brightest city has on the insect population.
  • Ecology and Me: What Are Spider Webs Made Out Of‪?‬
    What are spider webs made out of? Why don’t spiders get stuck in their own webs? How similar are spiders to Spiderman, really?
  • Moths: What we don’t know and what you can do about it
    What we don’t know can hurt us, and in this talk we will look at some of the biggest gaps in our knowledge of moths and why it is important to fill these gaps.

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