Insect specimens

Insect Biodiversity Center

The Insect Biodiversity Center addresses complex issues in insect management and conservation through transdisciplinary partnerships across Penn State and beyond.

Who We Are

The Insect Biodiversity Center creates a unique, transdisciplinary ecosystem that integrates disparate centers of excellence at Penn State in insect biology, management, ecology, technology development, Earth and environment monitoring systems, data science and modeling, decision support systems, human dimensions, communication science, and education.

By fostering transdisciplinary research across a rich and diverse collective of individuals, the Center strives to leverage expertise outside of the domain of the biological sciences to tackle complex biological, environmental, social, economic, and political drivers underlying changes in insect species abundance and distribution.

As such, we strive to explore, understand, and promote insect conservation efforts that maintain and restore balance to natural ecosystems, while also mitigating the adverse effects of economically and environmentally harmful insect species.

The IBC is supported by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, the Department of Entomology, the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, and the Institutes of Energy and the Environment.

News

New Beescape updates include county-level plant recommendations for pollinators

Penn State’s Beescape tool is gaining a new feature that allows users to download county-specific lists of pollinator-attractive plants, offering a more localized approach to improving pollinator habitats across Pennsylvania. The feature, developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research in the College of Agricultural Sciences, allows users to generate lists of plants tailored to ecological conditions at the county level.

Worker bumble bees help determine which baby bee will become queen

Every bumble bee colony has a queen, but a new study led by researchers at Penn State suggests the process of determining which baby bee reigns supreme may be less monarchal than the royal title suggests. The study explored why some bumble bee larvae become workers and others become queens, despite coming from the same eggs.

Domestication has changed the chemicals squash flowers use to attract bees

In a new study published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology, a team led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that domesticated flowers have different scent chemical profiles than wild plants in several species of squash. Additionally, the specialized pollinators of these plants—squash bees—detect different compounds, called floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in wild plants that they co-evolved with than in domesticated plants.

News

New Beescape updates include county-level plant recommendations for pollinators

Penn State’s Beescape tool is gaining a new feature that allows users to download county-specific lists of pollinator-attractive plants, offering a more localized approach to improving pollinator habitats across Pennsylvania. The feature, developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research in the College of Agricultural Sciences, allows users to generate lists of plants tailored to ecological conditions at the county level.

Worker bumble bees help determine which baby bee will become queen

Every bumble bee colony has a queen, but a new study led by researchers at Penn State suggests the process of determining which baby bee reigns supreme may be less monarchal than the royal title suggests. The study explored why some bumble bee larvae become workers and others become queens, despite coming from the same eggs.

Domestication has changed the chemicals squash flowers use to attract bees

In a new study published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology, a team led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that domesticated flowers have different scent chemical profiles than wild plants in several species of squash. Additionally, the specialized pollinators of these plants—squash bees—detect different compounds, called floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in wild plants that they co-evolved with than in domesticated plants.

College of Ag Sciences awards bridge funding for global research collaborations

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has awarded bridge funding to four faculty members to support research collaborations addressing soil fertility, public health, climate resilience and agricultural trade include two from the Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology.