10/13/2012-

Elaine B. Jamison's Walk in Support of Cancer Survivors

9/28/2012-

Lady beetle discovery offers new hope for Florida's stately Sago Palms, and endangered Cycad Forests from around the World

The Kashaya Lady Beetle (Phaenochilus kashaya Giorgi & Vandenberg) shown in top, front, and side views

Can a handful of orange lady beetles save the King and Queen sago palms of Florida? Entomologists Ron Cave (IRREC-UF) and Ru Nguyen (FDACS), the foreign explorers who discovered the beetle in the forests of Thailand, were optimistic about its prospects, but uncertain about its identity. Specimens were forwarded to the Systematic Entomology Laboratory where resident lady beetle specialist Natalia Vandenberg recognized them as a species new to science. "The lady beetle belongs to a beneficial scale-feeding genus, Phaenochilus, but it doesn't correspond to any of the known species," said Vandenberg. To address this problem, she enlisted the help of a colleague, Jos? Adriano Giorgi(UFPA), and produced a co-authored publication on Phaenochilus, describing the new species, and naming it Phaenochilus kashaya Giorgi & Vandenberg-or simply the kashaya lady beetle. This paper (Giorgi & Vandenberg 2012) will eliminate confusion over the identity of the new species, and help Florida entomologists obtain the necessary federal approvals to make a release of the kashaya lady beetles against an invasive scale insect pest of sago palms. Learn more about: cycads (sago palms & their relatives)

Deep in the forests of Thailand, Ron Cave combs through the crown of a young cycad to collect the kashaya lady beetles that keep the plant healthy by consuming scale insects According to a study by Manrique et al. (2012), the kashaya lady beetle is a voracious and dedicated predator of the tiny sap-sucking scale insect (cycad aulacspis scale, or CAS) that has been killing ornamental cycads in the southeastern United States, and destroying cycad forests on the island of Guam and elsewhere. A single kashaya lady beetle will typically consume more than 5,000 scales during its short lifespan of two to several months, and each adult female can lay hundreds of eggs. This gives the kashaya lady beetle a high intrinsic rate of increase, and bodes well for its potential as a biological control candidate against CAS.   Download the publication "Review of the lady beetle genus Phaenochilus..." by J.A.Adriano & N.J.Vandenberg (2012)

9/19/2012-

The Systematic Entomology Laboratory and University of Maryland partner in the Ag Discovery Day Program at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.

9/21/2012-

Paul Johnson travels to Washington, D.C. to overhaul the National Collection of Click beetles (Elateridae)

Johnson works with SEL staff to sort, identify, and label 450 drawers of click beetles A fondness for "skipjacks" and "snappers" brought Prof. Paul J. Johnson all the way from South Dakota State University to the heart of the nation's capital. These terms may sound like menu items from one of D.C.'s elite seafood restaurants, but they're actually common names for members of the beetle family Elateridae, more widely known as "click beetles."

Click beetles constitute a diverse group of insects with nearly 10,000 species world wide, and include a number of notorious plant pests whose larvae damage roots of important agricultural crops (potato, corn, wheat). As a world authority on the group, Paul's recent visit to the National Click Beetle Collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (8/12-17/2012) was hosted by the Systematic Entomology Lab and paid for by the museum's Casey Fund. Click here to learn more about click beetles: [1][2]

9/11/2012-

SEL Hymenopterists present at Smithsonian Digifair 2012

9/10/2012-

The illustrations of Taina Litwak unveil a microcosm of extraordinary beauty and complexity

We are surrounded by natural beauty. Most people appreciate an ethereal sunset (unless driven indoors by biting insects), and everyone admires the form of a newly opened rosebud (unless its symmetry has been marred by insect pests). Litwak captures the beauty of the natural world, but her subjects are the insects themselves, often so small they appear to the unaided eye like motes of dust. Litwak's illustrations reveal the intricacy and perfection of her tiny subjects, and allow the scientists of the Systematic Entomology Laboratory to accurately document the diversity of the many fascinating species that share our planet.

Microscope slides of the National Aphidoides Collection. Insert shows detail of one of the 90,000 microscope slides and it's collection barcode label (click to enlarge). 

Ms. Aneshia McIntyre, funded by the DC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), worked for six weeks this summer at BARC to digitize and attach USNM barcode labels to over 3,000 microscope slides and captured digital images of the U. S. National Aphidoidea Collection. She then databased 5,000 slide images that make the future curation of the collection more efficient, and data retrieval almost instantaneous. Aneshia is currently a liberal arts student attending UDC and plans to continue her biological studies as a member of one the branches of military service.

Downtown Daegu from the Novotel Hotel

Four SEL scientists attended the International Congress of Entomology held every four years. This year it was held in Daegu, Korea, August 19-25,2012. Dr. Matt Buffington co-organized a symposium entitled "Globalized insect taxonomy in the 21st century: current accomplishments, future prospects" and presented a co-authored presentation with Dr. Mike Gates entitled "From field to screen and beyond: new methods for the collection, curation and illustration of parasitic Hymenoptera (Insecta)."

Drs. Emilie Bess and Susan Romero, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), from Seattle and Nogales had a successful two-week training session on the identification of Hemiptera, or true bugs, at the National Museum of Natural History with Dr. Tom Henry. Their training focused primarily on the superfamilies Lygaeoidea (seed bugs) and Pentatomoidea (stink bugs), and included an overview of pertinent research papers, catalogs and other resources that will facilitate their work at their respective ports.

Class for HYM Course 2012, Tovetorp Zoological Research Station, Sweden

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

SEL hymenopterists Matthew Buffington, Michael Gates, and Robert Kula co-taught a one-week course (August 5-12, 2012) on hymenopteran systematics at a field station in Sweden. The course consisted of nine instructors from three countries teaching 27 students from seven countries. Students learned about Hymenoptera classification and natural history, as well as how to collect, identify, and curate wasps, bees, and ants. Lectures were given during the day, and specimen identification sessions were held at night. The course included a symposium in which scientists from Denmark, Sweden, and the United States presented on various aspects of hymenopteran systematics.

Shown above, PSI Award Winner Ms. Elaine B. Jamison and Dr. Gary Miller accepting on behalf of Dr. Alma Solis.

Two SEL employees received Plant Sciences Institute Employee of the Year awards in a ceremony in August. Dr. Alma Solis for Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity and Ms. Elaine B. Jamison for Office Support Professional of the Year. In addition, Dr. Robert Kula, received the Early Scientist of the Year award for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to be awarded in September, 2012.


Congratulations to SEL!

Mike Pogue taking a GPS reading on the foothills of Mt. Shivana, Colorado

 
 

Commanche National Grassland Colorado

Dr. Mike Pogue and Dr. Alma Solis attended the Lepidopterists' Society Meeting in Denver, Colorado, July 23-29. They presented on noctuid and pyraloid moths. Pogue & Harp: "A revision of the Schinia volupia (Fitch) species complex (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothelinae)." Solis et al: "A molecular phylogeny of the Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera)" and Solis: "Recent discoveries about pyraloids with aquatic immatures (Acentropinae: Crambidae)."

Due to the paucity of moth specimens in the National Collection from Colorado, Pogue & Solis collected moths in southwestern Colorado at some of the highest peaks in the Rockies and at the Comanche National Grassland.

 
Low temperature SEM photo of the honey bee tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi, male

Dr. Ron Ochoa was invited to give a presentation to the Denver Bee Keeper Association, a group with about 300 members. The title of his presentation was "Bee mites from the mite perspective" where he addressed the challenges of the study of mites associated with the honey and native bees in North America. He described the low temperature SEM technique and its impact on the study of these little arthropods.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Dr. Solis and students collecting aquatic moth caterpillars

Dr. Solis was invited to conduct a week-long workshop (Feb. 19-25, 2012) on the diversity and identification of economically and biologically important Pyraloidea or snout moths at the University of San Salvador, El Salvador. Specific workshops were held on the dissection of moth genitalia and their identification, collection of aquatic larvae and their preparation for study, collection of adults in the field and their preparation for study. Dr. Solis also conducted collaborative research on borers of economically important grasses, such as sugarcane and corn, with Dr. Andrea Joyce, University of California Merced.

Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) employees, Lucrecia Rodriguez and Elisabeth Roberts, joined a team of USDA employees from ARS, NASS, NIFA, and OSEC, to participate in the January 12, 2012 USDA National Service Day, honoring Martin Luther King's birthday. Led by members of the Anacostia Watershed Society, the team cleaned up trash and debris from Riverside Neighborhood Park, and removed invasive plants. This was a REE Team Building and Volunteer Event. 

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