Entomology Commons^™

Insects And Arthropods And Their Role In Human Society, Emily Marie Perez-Medina

Whittier Scholars Program

With brightly colored exoskeletons, an excess of both eyes and legs, and seemingly  unpredictable behaviors, insects and arthropods come across as unusual and strange to general audiences. For this reason, they are often classified as “gross,” “ugly,” or “scary,” antagonists  in popular culture. What is not recognized when being represented to the masses is how much human society depends on their presence, and how a world without insects would be a world without most things humans know and love. In order to help reduce the stigma of these tiny, yet mighty creatures, this project serves as a call to action …

Soil Pests Of Corn, Francis Reay-Jones, Tim Bryant, Igor Schardong

Agronomic Crops

Corn rootworms, seed corn maggot, wireworms, and white grubs are sporadic insect pests of corn in the southeastern U.S. The immature stages of these species are subterranean, allowing them to feed on the roots of corn. The purpose of this publication is to provide growers, Extension agents, consultants, and other agricultural professionals an overview of the most common soil insect pests and how to control them.

Do Cover Crops Influence Beneficial And Herbivorous Arthropod Communities Across Growing Seasons?, Adegboyega Fajemisin, Satinderpal Kaur, Alejandro Vasquez, Alexis Racelis, Rupesh R. Kariyat

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Cover crops provide multiple ecosystem services in agriculture, yet their influence on arthropod communities remains poorly understood, especially in commercial farming. Despite their potential benefits, it remains unexplored how cover crops affect arthropod community dynamics across multiple growing seasons. We conducted a two-year study across three commercial farms in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, to examine how cover crops influence arthropod community composition and abundance, whether beneficial arthropods (natural enemies and pollinators) persist into cash-crop phases, and how cover crops affect natural enemy–herbivore relationships. We compared arthropod communities between cover-crop treatments and control plots and tracked responses through subsequent …

Ecological And Nutritional Drivers Of Floral Fidelity In Wild Pollinators, Adelaide Elise Ergastolo

Master's Theses

Plants must receive pollen from the same species in order to successfully reproduce. For most flowering plants, the transfer of pollen occurs via animal pollinators while they forage on plants to obtain food. Therefore, the fidelity of pollinators to individual plant species during foraging trips is directly related to the amount of conspecific pollen plants receive. Low floral fidelity of pollinators can reduce plant reproductive success, which in turn has the potential to lower food resources for pollinators in the future. While many factors can potentially influence pollinator floral fidelity, several important ones may be the nutritional resources provided by …

From Flight To Hatching: Adult Sexual Dimorphism, Life History, And Egg-Stage Ecology Of Pseudocotalpa Giulianii, Mandylene Mountain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Nevada endemic dune beetle Pseudocotalpa giulianii is currently known only from two dune systems in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, yet much of its life cycle occurs below the sand surface and remains poorly documented. This thesis addresses key gaps in adult-stage biology and egg-stage development that are relevant to understanding reproduction, vulnerability, and habitat requirements in this dunerestricted species.

To characterize adult sexual dimorphism and life history, I quantified morphological differences between males and females and measured sex-specific adult survival under laboratory conditions relative to the aboveground flight season. Males and females overlapped broadly in external body size, but tarsal …

Remote Sensing To Detect Crop Damage By An Invasive Species, Cole Butler

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Pollinator Island Patch Size On Forb Establishment And Pollinator Networks In Palouse Prairie Restoration, Yaelle Esther Reeve

2026 Symposium

The Palouse Prairie Ecoregion is one of North America’s most endangered grassland ecosystems, with less than 1% retaining native vegetation. Restoration efforts have struggled to re-establish ecologically important native forbs and the plant–pollinator interactions necessary for long-term community stability. Spatial configuration of floral resources is known to influence pollinator foraging behavior and interaction network structure, yet few studies have evaluated how planting scale affects both plant establishment and pollinator community assembly in early-stage prairie restoration. My research aims to evaluate how variations in the size (0.1, 1, and 10 m²) of grouped wildflower plantings (pollinator islands) affect native forb establishment, …

Recognition Of The Spring Flight Of Celastrina (Tutt) (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae) In Southern New England As An Introgressed Hybrid Species, Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Populations of Celastrina (“Azure”) butterflies in southern New England have historically been referred to as either C. ladon (Cramer) or C. lucia (W. Kirby) by various authors. Following the discovery of elongated dorsal wing scales in males of C. ladon (D. Wright & Pavulaan, 1999; Ômura et al., 2015)—structures that replace the androconia that are typically present in most Celastrina species—it was believed that this trait was restricted to C. ladon, C. nigra (W. Forbes), and, more recently, C. iryna (Pavulaan, 2025). Microscopic examination of male “Spring Azure” specimens from across southern New …

Comparative Field Efficacy Of Synthetic Insecticides And Plant Extracts Against Tuta Absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) In Lubumbashi, Dr Congo, Sylvain Ntambo Mbuya, Onesime M. Kankonda, Nyumah Fallah, Komivi S. Akutse, Marcellin C. Cokola

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The invasive tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), is a very destructive pest that poses a major threat to tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), causing extensive yield losses through larval feeding on leaves, stems, and fruits. Chemical insecticides remain the primary control method, but resistance development, biodiversity loss and environmental concerns necessitate alternative strategies. This study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of synthetic and botanical insecticides against T. absoluta during two consecutive cropping seasons 2023-2024 in Lubumbashi, DRC, under both dry and rainy season conditions. Two tomato seedling varieties (Tanya F1 and Tovi Star …

Climate Impacts Apple Pollination, Yield And Economic Outcomes Of Farmers, Clémence Riva, Stella Gachoki, Noureddine Adjlane, Danilo Bevk, Yamina Haider, Fani Hatjina, Šimun Kolega, Marin Kovačić, Ioannis Manthos, Zlatko Puškadija, Thomas Sotiropoulos, Bojan Stipešević, Fabrice Requier

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Animal-mediated pollination is crucial to global food production but is increasingly threatened by environmental degradation, habitat loss and climate change. The extent to which temperature affects pollination services and crop yields is poorly understood. Using standardised monitoring in 33 apple orchards across Europe and Northern Africa over two years, this study assessed how ambient temperature affects flower visitors, fruit set, fruit quality and economic outcomes. Observation-time warm temperatures increased pollinator abundance, particularly of honey bees, while long-term mean annual temperatures enhanced pollination services for apple weight. Apple yield and the economic benefits to farmers increase with temperature, while the role …

Acquisition Behavior Response: Investigating The Ability Of Leptoglossus Phyllopus To Choose Between A “Good” Versus “Sub-Optimal” Strain Of Caballeronia, Irene L. Pham

2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects

Leptoglossus phyllopus is a polyphagous pest that primarily feasts on citrus, tomatoes, and legumes. They must form a mutualistic symbiosis with Caballeronia every generation by ingesting the bacterium from their environment. However, not all species of Caballeronia confer the same fitness on the L. phyllopus host, raising the question of whether L. phyllopus possesses a partner choice mechanism that would allow it to distinguish between a good (GAOX1) and a suboptimal (Lep1P3) symbiosis partner. This was examined by conducting a choice experiment in which the two symbionts (GAOX1 vs. Lep1P3) were placed in a plastic box, and the bug’s roaming …

Pest Risk Modelling For Climate-Smart Vegetable Production In East Africa, Marc Marin Agbodjan, Komi Mensah Agboka, John Odindi, Elfatih Abdel-Rahman, Onisimo Mutanga, Frank Chidawanyika, Chrysantus Tanga, Daniel Munyao Mutyambai, Sevgan Subramanian, Bonoukpoè Mawuko Sokame

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Agricultural productivity in East Africa is increasingly threatened by climate-sensitive insect pests. This study investigates the occurrence of key vegetable pests: Brevicoryne brassicae, Plutella xylostella, Maruca vitrata, and Liriomyza mik. A comparative species distribution modelling evaluated pest risk projections under climate change. Four variable selection strategies were tested: case 1 (correlation and variance inflation factor [VIF] filtering across all predictors), case 2 (correlation and VIF filtering of bioclimatic variables merged with other predictors), case 3 (filtering based on environmental values at species occurrence point to approximate realized niches), and case 4 (dimensionality reduction using principal component analysis). These strategies were …

Developing Best Recommendations For Aerial Application And Chemigation Of Insecticides For Western Bean Cutworm (Striacosta Albicosta Smith) Management In Corn, Andrea Rilakovic

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Western bean cutworm, Striacosta albicosta (Smith), is a univoltine moth in North America, recognized as an economic threat to both corn (Zea mays L.) and dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). In the Midwest of the United States, S. albicosta can cause severe damage by reducing the quantity and quality of corn ears through larval feeding. Currently, options for Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins that can effectively control S. albicosta are limited, relying on only one Vip3A effective protein, while other growers use insecticide application via airplanes or center pivot irrigation systems, known as chemigation. Given the importance …

A New Subspecies Of Papilio Indra (Papilionidae) From The West Desert Of Utah, Usa, Wayne H. Whaley, Alexander A. Jason, Todd L. Stout

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Papilio indra bonnevillensis is a new described subspecies partly based on taxonomic rearrangement of its larval host plant reproductive phenology relative to Wasatch Range nominate P. indra. It is geographically isolated in Utah’s West Desert from populations of ssp. nevadensis to the west and ssp. calcicola to the south. In addition to phenological differences compared to these two subspecies, it merits description based on host Lomatium depauperatum which recently speciated from L. grayi, neither of which is used as host by other subspecies of P. indra. The evolution of new host L. depauperatum is …

Bottles, Butterflies, And Biomass: Recycled Glass Sand, Microbial Additions, And Herbivory Effects On Milkweed Growth, Kealey Skinner

Honors Theses

Plant-soil-microbe interactions are integral components of ecological networks and drive ecosystem function from the bottom-up. Whereas herbivores regulate ecosystem function from the top-down, having opposing and potentially complementary effects on ecosystem function. My thesis sought to understand how below-ground microbial communities contribute to herbivore preference and plant biomass across varied soil substrates. My thesis asked: how do substrate and soil microbial communities influence herbivore preference and plant biomass accumulation on swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)? To address this question, seedlings of A. incarnata were sown in 2.5 cm wide × 10 cm deep pots filled with either natural beach sand or …

Herbivory Of Phragmites Australis Along A Salinity Gradient In Connecticut Wetlands, Sydney H. Kolz

Honors Scholar Theses

Invasive Phragmites australis (common reed) is widely distributed in New England wetlands, where it often outcompetes native plants and decreases biodiversity throughout the food web. Controlling its invasion is a priority, especially in salt marsh habitat, but current management techniques are inefficient. Leveraging natural processes may improve control strategies, but in order to do so, we must first better understand how abiotic and biotic stressors interact and affect Phragmites. This study focuses on herbivory and salinity, two factors limiting Phragmites’ fitness. I measured soil salinity and quantified the damage of three herbivore guilds (i.e. gall-formers and stem-borers, leaf-chewers, and …

Individual Recognition: Do Horned Passalus, Odontotaenius Disjunctus, Display Individual Discrimination Of Familiar And Unfamiliar Conspecifics Through Changes In Their Behavior?, Sabrina Galloza

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The horned passalus, Odontotaenius disjunctus, are subsocial beetles that inhabit and defend decaying wood where they create galleries to live, mate, breed and provide brood care. The species is well known for their stridulations, making up to 14 different sounds, having one of the greatest repertoire of sounds for any known arthropod. Typically living in family units, it has been found that several families can inhabit the same log, therefore, the horned passalus can come into contact with both kin and non-kin. It is currently unknown whether the horned passalus can distinguish between nestmates and non-nestmates. Additionally, it is unknown …

Contrasting Roles Of Downed Wood And Leaf Litter In Structuring Aphaenogaster Ants And Other Forest-Floor Arthropod Communities, Danielle E. Dolan

Great Lakes Center Masters Theses

Forest floors are dynamic and spatially heterogenous landscapes characterized by differing amounts of light, temperature, and moisture. Bounded substrates, like downed wood and leaf litter, add further complexity to this landscape. Specifically, downed wood is noted for its ability to retain a higher moisture level than the surrounding environment, and as such can serve as an ideal microhabitat for desiccation intolerant organisms (e.g., salamanders and eusocial insects). Here, I attempt to disentangle the relationship between forest floor arthropods and microhabitat selection (i.e., downed wood vs leaf litter) on a northeastern forest floor. The ant, Aphaenogaster picea, was chosen as my …

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Host: Fleas And The History Of Pikas In North America, Josh Pletcher

All NMU Master's Theses

Parasite phylogenetics can offer windows into the cryptic evolutionary history of hosts, often highlighting events that are not recorded by the phylogenetics of the host. Pikas (small lagomorphs) host a diverse parasite community comprising endoparasites (e.g., coccidians, nematodes, and cestodes) and ectoparasites (e.g., fleas and mites). Phylogenetic analysis of pika endoparasites has revealed pikas evolved in Asia and colonized North America in two waves, and that contact between these two pika lineages allowed parasites to be transferred from one lineage to another and to survive the extinction of their original host. To uncover these cryptic histories, understanding the biogeography of …

Honeybee Colony Response To Probiotic Supplementation And Grazing Practices, Katya M. Busenitz

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Honeybee health is a complicated issue. Studies were conducted to scale honeybee (Apis mellifera) health from the microbiome to the landscape. Colony health parameters were measured in response to probiotic administration. Colony capped brood production, colony summer weight gain, and Varroa mite incidence were measured. I found that applications of over-the-counter probiotics did not improve the measured parameters of honeybee health compared to a control group. Results suggest that probiotic application was not beneficial but positive benefits may depend on application method, brand, or strain of probiotics used. I also examined how colony health metrics responded to different …

Biology, Ecology And Control Of Eye Gnats In An Open Pine Ecosystem, Leela Hospach

All Theses

Eye gnats of the genus Liohippelates are bothersome flies of the family Chloropidae. They breed in moist, disturbed, sandy soils that contain organic matter, and have been implicated as vectors of conjunctivitis, bovine mastitis, and yaws. We conducted research into some basic biological and ecological characteristics. Using wild-caught gnats in a temperature-controlled incubator, we found that their activity peaks between 27°C and 41°C. Trapping at different heights above the forest floor in an open-pine savannah, we captured most gnats at 7.5 m off the ground. This may have to do with the attractiveness of the rotten egg lures we used, …

Comparative Biomechanics: Blattodea Antennal Morphology And Physiology, Lucas W. Marsh

All Theses

Equipped with muscle-free antennae, many insects can twist and bend their antennae on demand. We hypothesized that hemolymph circulating through the antennae provides pressure that facilitates twisting and bending and provides a feedback control channel for tactile sensing in insects. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a thorough morphological and physiological analysis of antennae in three Clades of Blattodea. We studied morphology by evaluating the distinguishable features of the body and antenna, as well as the internal structure of the antennal lumen. Then, in a series of experiments on live cockroaches, we measured blood pressure along the antenna. This was …

Refining Treatment Thresholds Of Insect Pests In South Carolina Soybeans Using Simulated Injury And Natural Populations, Adam Whitfield

All Dissertations

Insect pests are a major limiting factor to profitable soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., production in South Carolina, yet current economic thresholds are largely based on historical data and may not reflect modern cultivars, production practices, or input costs. Key insect pests in South Carolina can be categorized into three major feeding groups: defoliators, stem feeders, and pod feeders. Defoliating insects include, but are not limited to, soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker); velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hubner); green cloverworm, Hypena scabra (Fabricius); grasshoppers; and numerous species of beetles. Stem feeders include, but are not limited to, kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria …

A Survey Of The Collembola Of The Buffalo National River Park, Emma Renee Critchfield

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Collembola are a neglected and understudied class with few recent U.S surveys. The aim of this thesis was to survey the Buffalo National River for Collembola and create a catalogue of all known species in the state of Arkansas, USA. Leaf litter, mosses, rotting wood, fungi and malaise trap samples were taken from 13 locations within the Buffalo National River park. In total, 14 families, 34 genera and 59 species were identified from 22,028 collected specimens. Of those, 31 species represent new state records. This survey also validates malaise traps as useful tools for Collembola sampling. The malaise trap samples, …

Discerning Patterns Of Floral Sugar-Feeding: Dynamics Of The Mosquito Culex Antillummagnorum In Puerto Rico, Ella J. Branham

Master's Theses

Mosquitoes rely on sugar feeding for survival, primarily from flowering plants, yet mosquito–plant interactions remain understudied. I examined plant-feeding associations of the mosquito Culex antillummagnorum in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico, which may clarify patterns of habitat use, disease dynamics, and broader species interactions. First, plant DNA was extracted from field-collected Cx. antillummagnorum to identify potential nectar sources. DNA barcoding produced positive matches to the flowering plant genera Billia, Aesculus, Cladium, Fimbristylis, Xyris, Cakile, and Habenaria. Habenaria was the most compelling result because it belongs to the same subtribe of orchids …

Dietary Preferences And Food-Seeking Behavior Of Discoid Cockroaches, Blaberus Discoidaliscont., Robert Larsen, Sadie Ariola

2026 Student Academic Showcase

Blaberus discoidalis, also known as discoid cockroaches, inhabit the tropics of South America where their diet consists of leaf litter and decaying organic matter on the ground. This experiment expands on research from two previous years, originally based on the loitering time of the roach's different food types. Such as peanuts, leaf litter, and bananas. The experiment this year was to determine which food was preferred by determining how much it was eaten. Each food item, peanuts, banana, and leaf litter (peanuts alone are crushed) were dried in an oven for 24 hours and weighed before and after each trial. …

Horned Oak Galls And Their Dispersal On Lindenwood's Campus, Peyton Birkenmeier, Timothy Sesterhenn

2026 Student Academic Showcase

Horned oak galls are woody growths found on the branches of oak trees (Quercus sp.). These growths are caused by the parasitic wasp, Callirhytis cornigera. These wasps produce the galls by piercing the branch with their ovipositors and laying eggs into the branch. Based on the severity of infestation, these galls can cause severe damage or even death to oak trees. This research determined the dispersal and severity of horned oak galls infesting the different species of oak trees around the heritage side of Lindenwood. This was done by walking around the heritage side of campus and observing different species …

Environmental Stability Drives Development In Drosophila Melanogaste, Nestor Omar Rivera Guevera

2026 Student Academic Showcase

The development of Drosophila melanogaster is highly sensitive to environmental conditions, particularly temperature, which has been shown to influence both developmental rate and lifespan. Previous studies report that higher temperatures accelerate development but may reduce adult longevity, while field observations in related Drosophila species indicate that stable environmental conditions support greater population success compared to fluctuating ones. Building on this, the present study examined the combined effects of temperature and humidity on fruit fly development. Groups of 10 female flies were placed in culture tubes containing standard medium, with three replicates per treatment. After 48 hours of egg-laying, adults were …

Wild Bee Foraging And Movement Behavior In Urban Gardens, Claire Crowther, Maggie Ritchie

Biology Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Homemade Botanical Insecticides Against Diamondback Moth (Plutella Xylostella) And Cabbage Aphids (Brevicoryne Brassicae) On Brassica Crops, Nancy Munyoki, Edward N. Karanja, Komivi S. Akutse, Noah Adamtey, Martha Musyoka, Komi K. Fiaboe, David Bautze, Edwin Nderitu, Felix Matheri, Dubois Thomas, Milka Kiboi, Chrysantus M. Tanga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The growing need for accessible alternatives to synthetic insecticides has renewed interest in farmer-made botanical formulations for pest management. This study evaluated the efficacy of selected homemade botanical insecticides against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae) on cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and kale (B. oleracea var. acephala) under laboratory and semi-field conditions. Three homemade formulations were assessed: a one-day-old multi-plant extract with neem (Azadirachta indica; PE + N), a one-day-old extract without neem (PE), and a fourteen-day-old, fermented extract without neem (PE14). These were compared with three commercial botanical products. In replicated leaf- and plant-based bioassays, …