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Entomology

Kennesaw State University

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Ant-Lanta: Ant Diversity As A Proxy For Ecosystem Health, Sofia Cuenca Rojas, John Paul Hellenbrand, Clint Penick Apr 2022

Ant-Lanta: Ant Diversity As A Proxy For Ecosystem Health, Sofia Cuenca Rojas, John Paul Hellenbrand, Clint Penick

Symposium of Student Scholars

Ants are found across a wide range of habitat types and play a crucial role in supporting ecosystem health. Because of this ubiquity, ants are considered an indicator species – one whose diversity in an ecosystem can be used as a proxy for ecosystem health. Our study examines the presence of ants across an urban gradient in Atlanta to understand how urbanization may be affecting our local community inhabitants. A total of 48 Sites were organized into three groups: Urban Managed Land, Urban Park, and Urban Forest. Sites were grouped based on ground cover percentages. We used bait samples to …


New Ant In The Big City: Known Natural History Of Lasius Cf. Emarginatus In Its Native Range And Potential Impacts Of Recent Us Introduction, Samantha M. Kennett, Clint A. Penick Apr 2022

New Ant In The Big City: Known Natural History Of Lasius Cf. Emarginatus In Its Native Range And Potential Impacts Of Recent Us Introduction, Samantha M. Kennett, Clint A. Penick

Symposium of Student Scholars

New York City has been the site of introduction for some of North America’s most damaging invasive pests, from chestnut blight to the Asian long-horned beetle. Despite these cautionary examples, there has been no formal tracking of a newly introduced ant species, Lasius cf. emarginatus, which has quickly become among the most common species in the city. Sometime between the first ant diversity survey of New York City in 2006 and the second in 2011,L. cf. emarginatus was introduced and quickly became established in the most urban habitats with the highest human contact. In contrast to other urban …


Urban Surveying Of Bees And Wasps And Conscious Management, Sofia Castro, Grace Cope, Francis Mullan, Jaden Keys Apr 2022

Urban Surveying Of Bees And Wasps And Conscious Management, Sofia Castro, Grace Cope, Francis Mullan, Jaden Keys

Symposium of Student Scholars

Pollinators are integral to the functioning of urban ecosystems and agriculture yet face decline from habitat loss and fragmentation associated with urbanization. Recently, a growing number of urban universities have taken steps to ensure their campuses support pollinators. Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a semi-urban school located in the unique ecological area between the biodiversity hotspot of the Southeastern Appalachians and the urban space of Atlanta, Georgia. Before the present study, no survey had been conducted to determine what pollinators and associated floral resources exist on the school’s grounds. Thus, we present the first inventory of pollinators and the floral …


Differential Analysis Of Individual Centruroides Vittatus Venom Dec 2019

Differential Analysis Of Individual Centruroides Vittatus Venom

Symposium of Student Scholars

Scorpions are well known, venomous arthropods (Class: Arachnida, Order: Scorpiones). Their venom is composed of neurotoxins, proteases and cytotoxic peptides which plays a major role in toxic components such as inflammatory, antimicrobial and hemolytic activity. Venom is key for the survival of scorpions as it is involved in defense against prey and in feeding on predators. Centruroides vittatus (bark scorpion) is commonly found in North America, with habitat ranges from Nebraska to southern Texas. For this study, scorpions were harvested from Laredo, Texas (27˚57’ N, 99˚43’ W), held in captivity for 4 months and fed a consistent diet of Acheta …