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The Beat Sheet
Newsletter of the Frost Entomological Museum Fall 2020
Note: Our public museum is still closed due to COVID-19 safety precautions and Penn State regulations. We will let you know when we receive more information. Thank you for your patience!
New Species Discovery?
Oak gall wasps (Cynipoidea) have been the dominant research interest of Frost personnel over the past few months. Through regular monitoring of local oak populations, we've found some truly striking galls and made surprising observations along the way. Most exciting, perhaps, is that there seem to be 3 gall inquilines that have been reared from Philonix nigra and Callirhytis favosa galls that do not key to any known species nor do they match any known species descriptions. Perhaps they are new to science! We still need to verify this result with a comprehensive look at their morphology and by sequencing their DNA, but the project already is yielding exciting discoveries.
Above: Gall created by Philonix nigra (left) and Callirhytis favosa (right) that unknown inquilines were reared from.
Guide to the Gall Wasps of the Eastern US — Coming soon!
Museum Director Andy Deans has taken sabbatical this fall to devote time and energy into developing a resource that will serve as a guide to oak galls wasps of the Eastern US. The current sources, mainly books by Ephraim Felt (1940) and Weld (1959), need a lot of updating and a better, more field guide-like layout. He’s compiling species’s natural history data, including seasonal phenology, host use, gall characteristics, and differences in biology and behavior of the alternating generations where they occur. Andy is also working on new figures of each type of gall, using photos and the tried and true technique of pen and ink.
Above: Gall created by Dryocosmus rileyi.
Engagement
Spotted Lanternfly Exhibit
In anticipation of the public space reopening, we are working towards improving the visitor experience by constructing new exhibits in the museum — our latest exhibit features the Spotted Lanternfly. This display was put together with input from Penn State researchers and extension associates, highlighting the bug's biology and invasion into the region. The Entomology Department’s multimedia specialist Nick Sloff designed the display. We can't wait for you to see it!
Halloween Creature Feature Bracket
To celebrate the spooky season, the museum is hosting an online tournament where you can cast your vote to decide which arthropod best embodies the spirit of Halloween. This will run October 24th - 30th. We hope you will participate, it should be a frightfully fun affair!
Wasp Wednesdays
Graduate student Louis Nastasi is revving up wasp awareness and education by spearheading a new series on the museum blog called Wasp Wednesdays! Be sure to check it out. Each week the taxonomy and natural history of a new wasp will be featured.
Above: Specimen of wasp species Ampulex compressa.
Adapting to Remote Learning
We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have navigated social distancing regulations at the Museum, which allowed us to return to work. Teaching, however, has posed more of a challenge due to limited space. Instead of educational visits to the museum, we’ve been loaning specimens to educators and scheduling talks via Zoom. By far the largest challenge to remote learning was realized by the department’s Insect Biodiversity & Evolution course (ENT 432), which is usually taught in the Museum with the specimens from the teaching collection. Dr. Michael Skvarla, who is leading the course this year, has introduced several changes to adapt to present circumstances. Specifically, he and teaching assistant Stephania Sandoval Arango assembled take-home learning supplies for each and every student that included multiple(!) drawers of teaching specimens and USB microscopes on top of equipment for preparing their own collection. Amassing these materials was no small task, but it means that each student can learn safely from their homes while still receiving the same intimate learning experience of examining specimens in hand!
Top: Remote learning supplies ready to be picked up by students: nets, jars, forceps, ethanol, glue, specimen boxes, USB digital microscopes, etc. Bottom Left: Specimen drawers for covering the first third of the semester. Bottom Right: Up close view of the specimen drawers, with specimen representatives from dozens of families.
Keep an eye out for the next The Beat Sheet this winter
If you are interested in hearing about specific topics or activities, please let us know!
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