Entomology Commons^™

Analyzing Behavior In Flies Modeling Frontotemporal Dementia, Colin Mcnulty, Julia Bonavolonta, Connor Barber

Biology Student Scholarship

Colin McNulty ’24, Major: Biology

Julia Bonavolonta ’24, Majors: Biology and Spanish

Connor Barber ’24, Major: Biology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marla Tipping, Biology

In this project, the goal is to be able to study the behavioral differences in Drosophila melanogaster who model the neurological disease frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Flies modeling FTD are placed into multiple different tubes and loaded into an activity monitor; the same is done with control flies who do not model FTD. Over time, this machine tracks sleep cycles, movement, eating habits, and other behaviors. These results are filed into a computer where they then are then …

The Bellarmine Bee Bed: Organizing A Native Plant Garden Using Feedback From The Local Community, Kate Moran

Undergraduate Theses

Animal pollinators are the cornerstone of healthy ecosystems. Their survival is essential for the persistence of entire food chains: from the flowers they cross-pollinate directly, to the animals who depend on those plants for nutrition. The establishment of pollinator gardens—particularly ones that consist of native plants—is an effective way to enhance their biodiversity, abundance, and well-being.

The main goal of this thesis is to construct a pollinator garden that maximizes the benefits for animal pollinators using feedback from local gardeners. A survey was used to gather information about the popularity and preferences of 40 flowering plants, and after analyzing the …

Characterizing Movement Patterns Of Nomadic Pastoralists And Their Exposure To Rift Valley Fever In Kenya, G. Mosomtai, J. L. Kasiiti, R. M. Murithi, P. Sandström, T. Landmann, O. W. Lwande, O. A. Hassan, C. Ahlm, R. Sang, M. Evander, Z. Szantoi, G. Ottavianelli

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The role of animal movement in spreading infectious diseases is highly recognized by various legislations and institutions such as the World Organisation for Animal Health and the International Animal Health Code. The increased interactions at the nexus of human-animal-ecosystem interface have seen an unprecedented introduction and reintroduction of new zoonotic diseases with high socio-economic impacts such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a zoonotic disease that affects both humans and animals and is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes or through contact with the body fluids of infected animals. This study seeks to characterize movement patterns of pastoralist and …

Influence Of Ambient Water Coloration On Habitat And Conspecific Choice In The Female Lake Malawi Cichlid, Metriaclima Zebra, Noori Choi, Nicolas Mathevon, Eileen A. Hebets, Marilyn Beauchaud

Eileen Hebets Publications

Female cichlid fish living in African great lakes are known to have sensory systems that are adapted to ambient light environments. These sensory system adaptations are hypothesized to have influenced the evolution of the diverse male nuptial coloration. In rock-dwelling Lake Malawi mbuna cichlids, however, the extent to which ambient light environments influence female sensory systems and potentially associated male nuptial coloration remains unknown. Yet, the ubiquitous blue flank coloration and UV reflection of male mbuna cichlids suggest the potential impacts of the blue-shifted ambient light environment on these cichlid’s visual perception and male nuptial coloration in the shallow water …

Floral Visitors Of A Colorado Endemic Chasmophyte, Telesonix Jamesii (Saxifragaceae), Andrew G. Gaier, Erin Manzitto-Tripp, Julian Resasco

Western North American Naturalist

Telesonix jamesii, a rare and imperiled species of perennial saxifrage, is restricted to rocky habitats at high elevations across 21 isolated, known populations in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. Despite its imperiled conservation status, very little is known about the natural history of T. jamesii. We studied pollination of this species during the summers of 2019–2021 at multiple locations on Pikes Peak, Colorado. We conducted a total of 899 min of pollinator surveys, identifying all floral visitors during this time period. We then examined floral visitors for the presence of T. jamesii pollen to …

Evaluating The Pesticide-Induced Outbreak Of Soybean Looper, Chrysodeixis Includens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), In Louisiana Soybean, Scott Lee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), has established itself as the primary lepidopteran defoliator in Midsouth soybean agroecosystems. Pesticide-induced outbreak events associated with this pest have been observed by soybean producers. The insecticides believed to prompt these incidents are routinely used for the control of other co-occuring pests, such as stink bugs. Outbreak conditions present soybean producers with conflicting management decisions for pests. Laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments were conducted to provide a better understanding of insecticide usage impact on populations of C. includens and the arthropod community. To discern the potential mechanisms behind C. includens outbreak, a baseline for the …

Protecting Wa Crops Issue 29 - April 2023, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Protecting WA Crops

Protecting WA Crops Issue 29 - April 2023 contents:

• GRDC Perth Research Updates 2023 – Pathology and virology
• How long do sclerotinia sclerotia survive in WA?
• Insecticidal control of green peach aphid and turnip yellows virus: resistance threats, limitations, and future alternatives
• Meet Crop Protection team member – Jean Galloway

Development Of Host-Selective, Pcr-Inhibiting Oligos As A Tool To Investigate The Eukaryotic Symbionts Of Insect Hosts, Christian L. Weinrich

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Insects are hosts to diverse communities of other organisms. These communities can include microbes such as bacteria, yeast, and protists, as well as multicellular organisms such as nematodes and mites. The prokaryotic associates of many insects have been well-studied and are often investigated by amplifying and sequencing the gene for the 16S ribosomal subunit using universal primers.

However, the eukaryotic associates of many insects remain poorly characterized, and this is in part due to the difficulty in utilizing 18S (the eukaryotic analog for 16S) for eukaryote detection. Because the insect host is also a eukaryote and makes up the bulk …

Everything But The Lab Sink: Using 1,000 Phylogenomically Informative Markers To Resolve Historically Messy Species Groups In Anastrepha Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae), Kristie J. Schmidt

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

The genus Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) is long overdue for a major taxonomic revision. Of the 22 recognized species groups within Anastrepha, only ~5 are well supported clades. Molecular methods, such as traditionally used mitochondrial DNA markers, have been unsuccessful at elucidating relationships amongst Anastrepha species; therefore, a more robust phylogenomic tool is likely necessary. To accomplish this, we used Highly Multiplexed Amplicon-based Phylogenomics (HiMAP) to identify 1,000 phylogenomically informative nuclear markers. Post sequencing, we obtained data for 500+ amplicons for 90 Anastrepha spp. belonging to 18 Anastrepha species groups. Our findings agree with some aspects of the most recently …

Effect Of Trap Type And Lure Presence On Diversity Of Jewel Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Captured, Maddie Bidinger

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Woodboring beetles in the family Buprestidae pose a major threat to forest ecosystems. The larvae directly damage host trees by feeding, and may also weaken hosts, making them susceptible to pathogens or physical damage. Moreover, individuals of this taxa are readily transported through international commerce, creating a high risk of establishment outside of their native geographical ranges. For this reason, survey programs use traps to monitor for these and other woodboring beetles. Several different trap designs are typically deployed during surveys because a single trap design hasn’t been demonstrated as equally effective for all taxa. Thus, there is strong interest …

Biting The Hand That Feeds: Food Density, Wing-Length And Fecundity In Aedes Atropalpus, Ellie Armstrong

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Wing length has been shown to correlate to fecundity in mosquitoes. By measuring wing length and counting eggs, one can create a linear equation that can be used to calculate fecundity using wing length. A 2008 equation by Armistead that looked at wing length fecundity relationship in Ae. atropalpus only had samples over 2.4 mm. Because of this, any wing length under 2.4 that is put in the equation will have a fecundity less than zero. This study was created to replicate the Armistead study with smaller mosquitoes to create an equation that calculates the fecundity of smaller mosquitoes. To …

Does The Genome Of A Putatively Specialist Moth (Schinia Gracilenta) Contain A Signal Of The Indigenous Cultivation Of Its Host Plant (Iva Annua), Wren Renquist

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

When one species depends on one another for survival, they may have shared demographic histories. Further, when symbionts have shorter life spans, their rate of evolution may be quicker than that of their hosts. For this reason, detecting a recent demographic signal in a symbiont’s genome may often be easier than directly studying the host.

Here I study the slender flower moth (Schinia gracilenta) and its host plant, sumpweed (Iva annua). Sumpweed is thought to have been cultivated in North American ca. 5000 BC - AD 1700 and its range may have been expanded during this time. I collected S. …

Pollinators And Flowering Resources In Louisville Urban Green Spaces, Sarah Hobbs

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Urban Greenspaces can appear in many different forms such as parks, urban orchards, and community gardens. These spaces provide important ecosystem services such as enhanced biodiversity, improved soil health, and increased carbon sequestration. Greenspaces such as parks and community gardens have been relatively well studied in the last few decades compared to urban orchards, despite the multitude of ecosystem services that can be provided or enhanced by these orchards. We hypothesize that urban orchards will provide the optimal conditions for pollinator communities because urban orchards normally have the greatest variety of vegetation and flowering resources, which is positively correlated with …

Leaf Litter Arthropod Communities Not Responsive To Nutrient Pulse Subsidies, Andrew R. Seiler, Stephen P. Yanoviak

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Spatial subsidies are the asymmetric movement of resources from a donor habitat to a distinct recipient habitat. Arthropod rain, i.e., the fall of arthropods from tree crowns to the forest understory, is a potentially important subsidy link between canopy food webs and detritus-based litter food webs. We added homogenized fragments of Blaptica dubia cockroaches in high (12g m-2) and low (2g m-2) concentrations to replicated quadrats of leaf litter as a pulse subsidy in a temperate forest. Controls were: 1) zero subsidy and 2) addition of foam pellets in place of cockroach fragments. Litter in each quadrat was subsampled 2, …

Qtl Analysis Of Body Size And Development Time In Dendroctonus Ponderosae, Camille M. Pushman

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

The mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a pest species found in western Norh America that attacks and kills Pinus host trees. Previous studies have identified genetic divergence between populations and variation in life-history traits (body size and development time) that are likely important in local adaptation. To understand the underlying genetic architecture of MPB adaptation and divergence, we performed an F₁ intercross between two distinct populations (Utah & Arizona) and performed a QTL analysis. We analyzed double digest RAD sequencing data from 181 F2 individuals. Our final dataset consists of 986 SNPs and we were able to …

Rubbish Habit Or Novel Habitat? Colonization Of Anthropogenic Litter By Stream Invertebrates, Lanie Masset, Jonathan O'Brien

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

We conducted a field experiment to examine the colonization and use of human derived materials by aquatic invertebrates in three western New York streams. The study streams included two soft-bottomed urban streams, Ransom Creek and California Creek, and a hard-bottomed forested stream, Hayes Hollow Creek. In each stream, four different substrate types of similar surface areas: rocks, glass bottles, plastic bottles, and bricks were placed and left in the streams for 6 weeks to promote invertebrate colonization. Baskets filled with both rock and leaf substrates were also placed in the streams for 6 weeks to measure background community composition. The …

Effect Of Functional Trait Variation On Bee Body Temperature, Gabriella A. Muller

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Bees are both ecologically and economically important pollinators for maintaining agricultural production and the health of many diverse ecosystems. As our world continues to change, bee diversity and population numbers are declining due to increasing temperatures. Functional traits such as body size and coloration can mediate the effects of such harsh thermal conditions on insect performance. Specifically, bee body size can significantly impact thermal parameters, with larger bees gaining and losing heat more slowly than smaller bees due to higher surface area to volume ratios. To obtain a better understanding of these relationships, we studied the variation in body temperature …

Variation In Synthetic Floral Microbiome Composition Is Largely Ignored By Foraging Bumblebees, Nevin P. Cullen

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Most flowers are occupied by diverse communities of microbes, which can alter floral attractiveness to key pollinators and floral fitness by interacting with floral traits. Different species of flower often acquire unique communities of microbes. Consequently, pollinators are frequently forced to choose between two flowers with distinct floral microbiomes while foraging. However, it is currently unknown whether pollinators have an inherent preference for flowers containing one floral microbiome over another, and whether microbial preference is modified by variation in floral traits. We investigated this knowledge gap using distinct bacteria and yeasts cultured from a nickel-hyperaccumulating plant and its non-accumulating relative. …

Effect Of Variable Canopy Cover On Floral Visitation, Toby Shaya

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Pollinators provide essential services for ecosystem function. Studies aimed at understanding how availability of floral resources impacts pollinators find that canopy cover impacts bees indirectly by affecting the amount of floral resources in the forest understory and directly by changing the thermal environment in which they can thermoregulate. As ectotherms the maintenance of bee body temperature depends on the distribution of patches of sun and shade throughout a landscape, which can be dependent on canopy cover. The goals of this study were to understand how variable canopy cover drives floral visitation patterns in oak savanna found in the Oak Openings …

The Influence Of Urban Landscape Characteristics And Regional Climate On Bee Diversity, Bridget T. Harter

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

When compared to the lack of resources within homogeneous agricultural lands, cities can serve as a refuge for insect pollinators by providing a variety of floral and nesting resources. Areas of intense urbanization, with a high percentage of impervious surface, reduce the size and quality of pollinator habitat and negatively impact pollinators. The spatial complexity within and between urban landscapes may explain this contradictory view of cities as detrimental and beneficial for insect pollinators. This study examines the influence of (1) the spatial configuration of nearby, herbaceous vegetation and (2) regional climate on bee diversity across cities. Bee abundance and …

Urban Or Rural? Does It Matter To Bumble Bees An Analysis In Kalamazoo, Mi, Elizabeth M. Silber

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Bumble bee species are declining in vast geographical areas due to many factors, including reductions in suitable nest site locations and floral resources, as land uses shift toward urbanization and agricultural intensification. The potential for urban areas to support bumble bees is understudied. The purpose of this study was to see how environment type impacts bumble bee species richness, abundance, and diversity in both urban and rural environments. Data from private and public spaces was gathered through the usage of citizen science. Observations were solicited under a previously established iNaturalist citizen science project, Southwest Michigan Bee Watch, and past data …

Pre-Dredging Assessment Of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates From Sharon Lake And Creek, Cincinnati, Ohio, Paige M. Loboschefski, Addyson M. Thomas, Emma J. Weiss

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Dams can serve a multitude of purposes for humans including water storage and flood control. However, dams can also have negative cascading impacts on the surrounding ecosystem. One impact is sedimentation, where reduced water flow can increase the accumulation of benthic sediment. Nutrients can also accumulate leading to eutrophication, affecting organismal and ecosystem health. In order to improve water and ecosystem quality, dredging can occur to remove benthic sediments. The main objective of this study was to characterize the macroinvertebrate community above and below a dam prior to substrate dredging. This study was conducted in Sharon Lake and Creek near …

Defining Best Management Practices For Bee Conservation In Agroforestry Systems, Elijah C. Cardona

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Wild bees are an indispensable part of neotropical ecosystems because of their role in agriculture and native flora pollination. Despite their importance, wild bees are threatened throughout their distribution by pesticides, habitat loss, land use change and climate change. The objective of this study was to understand how to better manage agroforestry systems for wild bees by asking if wild bee abundance is influenced by the level of shade cover, agroforest type, the number or diversity of floral resources, tree diversity, and the density of trees in an agroforest. A total of 10 agroforests were selected in San Luis de …

Novel Model For Tau Protein Expression And Function: The Honeybee Brain, Abdallah F. Sher

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Scientists have long attempted to understand the mechanisms by which senescence occurs. Leading theories suggest that aging is an emergent property of natural selection’s prioritization of reproductive ability. Social insects, such as the honeybee (Apis mellifera) challenge this idea, separating colonies into reproductive and non-reproductive castes. Worker honeybees do not reproduce, suggesting that selection prioritizes tasks other than reproduction. Forager honeybees, for example, display improved cognitive and immune function compared to other behavioral phenotypes of bees, likely to support their ability to perform tasks such as navigating complex environments or making context-dependent decisions while foraging. Foragers are normally older honeybees, …

Foraging Ants Dislodged Via Simulated Instantaneous Leaf Movement, Olivia M. Gamsky, Andrew R. Seiler, Alyssa Y. Stark, Stephen P. Yanoviak

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Cursorial arboreal organisms like ants face numerous challenges to their adhesive systems. Wind, rain, and the activities of vertebrates frequently dislodge foraging ants from tree surfaces. Falling is a significant hazard resulting in substantial displacement, thus ants are predicted to fully engage their tarsal adhesive systems when the likelihood of disturbance is high. Here we used a small catapult to experimentally test the effect of instantaneous red oak (Quercus rubra) leaf movement on the adhesive capabilities of Camponotus pennsylvanicus worker ants. Catapult velocity and displacement mimicked the effects of Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) branch landings. …

Potential Loss Of Pheromone Receptors In The Red Milkweed Beetle, Tetraopes Tetrophthalmus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Mathew A. Price

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

The family of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are characterized by their elongate antennae, which are well adapted for detecting volatile compounds. This makes them an ideal family to study odorant receptor genes (ORs), which are the rapidly evolving family of proteins that are used by insects to detect odors at the molecular level. Here, we present data on 48 ORs we have sequenced and annotated from an antennal transcriptome of a male red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus. In contrast to most cerambycids, T. tetrophthalmus is not known to produce long-range sex pheromones to attract or select mates; correspondingly, …

Polyploidy’S Impact On Plant-Herbivore Dynamics: Evidence From Experiments With Water-Lily Aphids And Greater Duckweed, Hannah R. Assour

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Polyploidy, or whole-genome duplication, is a widespread mutational process in plants with a myriad of phenotypic and genotypic consequences. In addition to consequences incurred by the plant, polyploidy can potentially cascade to alter species interactions. Yet, knowledge of whether ploidy-induced variation has effects on plant-herbivore dynamics is scarce. Here, we test whether aphid herbivores exhibit preference for a diploid or polyploid host cytotype and whether ploidy impacts plant resistance and tolerance to aphids, measured as aphid and plant performance respectively. To answer these questions, we evaluated aphid choice and compared the effects of the water-lily aphid (Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae) …

Identifying Olfactory Receptors In The Pole Borer, Neandra Brunnea (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Kayla M. Hefner

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

The behavior of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is strongly shaped by volatile compounds, which can dictate the selection of hosts and mates, segregate heterospecifics, and initiate oviposition. These compounds are primarily detected at the molecular level by the protein family of odorant receptors (ORs), which rapidly evolve in response to evolutionary changes such as diet or sociality. Thus, the OR gene family could provide great insight into the ecology and evolution of animals, especially when their chemical ecology is otherwise poorly understood. We are examining the ORs of the pole borer Neandra brunnea (Cerambycidae: Parandrinae), for which the specific role …

Influence Of Seed Mixes On Pollinator Communities Within An Electric Right-Of-Way, Kylee Nissen

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

Pollinator communities are amongst species facing dramatic population declines due to anthropogenic changes. These declines are driven by land use changes with agricultural expansion and urbanization. Utility lands must be managed in ways that prevent tall vegetation from encroaching, making them an ideal place to recreate native grasslands. This research aims to assess how different seed mixes used by utility companies impact pollinator community composition. The study site is a 15-acre electric ROW located outside of St. Louis IL. The site was prepared in 2021 and incorporates a randomized mix of turfgrass-seeded plots, native seeded plots, and unseeded plots acting …

An Assessment Of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Structure And Function Within The Mill Creek Watershed; Cincinnati, Ohio, Erin Linko

2023 Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference

The Mill Creek Watershed is an urbanized network of streams that drains through the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. This watershed has had a long history of habitat destruction and pollution due to a variety of anthropogenic factors, namely Cincinnati’s combined sewage overflow (CSO) sanitation system. Through an ongoing biomonitoring project at Xavier University, nine sites along the mainstem Mill Creek and three of its tributaries have been studied since 2014. Through habitat assessments, fecal coliform testing, and aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling, the ecological health of this watershed can be tracked over time. The main objective of this research project was to …