Two people looking at microscope images on a computer.

Entomology News & Updates

Students in white jumpsuits collect ticks from a forest.

News

$8.7M to vector-borne disease center funds training, evaluation

The Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, led by Cornell, has received a five-year, $8.7 million award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to train and educate vector-borne disease professionals.

  • Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases
  • Department of Entomology
  • Entomology
Researcher Heather Grab holds an excluder next to a commercial bumblebee nest box

News

Bumblebee research sparks rapid industry change

A Cornell study that revealed commercial eastern common bumblebee hives pose a threat to their wild counterparts has led one major pollination company to quickly adapt the bumblebee hive boxes they ship to growers.

  • Department of Entomology
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Pollinators
A hummingbird at a feeder.

News

Hummingbirds may help control invasive berry pests
Ten years ago, Juliet Carroll was intrigued when a New York state berry grower asked if hummingbirds could be used to prey on spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), a pest species new to the region but quickly wreaking havoc on the state’s $20 million...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • New York State Integrated Pest Management
  • Department of Entomology
Chris Smart giving an extension talk at a hemp field day event

News

Christine Smart appointed director of Cornell AgriTech
Christine Smart , a crop pathologist known for her leadership in protecting the health of specialty crops across New York state, has been appointed the Goichman Family Director of Cornell AgriTech , effective Oct. 1. Olga Padilla-Zakour will...
  • Cornell AgriTech
  • Department of Entomology
  • Food Science

Department Updates

2022

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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