According to Prof. Bryan Danforth, entomology, the population of bees in North America – specifically the domesticated honey bee – has been declining since at least 1950 because of Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon where large numbers of worker bees in a hive disappear suddenly. 

Prof. Greg Loeb studies interactions among different levels in the food chain to develop environmentally friendly methods of controlling pests.

Prof. Tom Seeley, neurobiology and behavior, says he believes beehives operate similarly to brains.

Not even a fire alarm could stop hundreds of live insects and arthropods, along with several thousand people, from filling Comstock Hall on Saturday for Cornell’s eighth annual Insectapalooza Insect Fair.

Prof. Laura Harrington, entomology, studies yellow fever and mosquito reproduction.

It is illegal to transport some firewood across the state of New York. These regulations represent the response to invasive insect species, particularly the emerald ash borer, the hemlock woolly adelgid and the eastern longhorned beetle. One anonymous source characterized these species as “the holy trinity of invasive species” — a powerful trifecta of Asian insects capable of drastically altering the natural American landscape.

John Henry Comstock, 1874, and Anna Botsford Comstock, 1885, were not only pioneers; they were Cornellians. John Comstock is greatly responsible for establishing the entomology department; Anna was one of the most respected women of her generation.  For their home, which is still on North Campus, they began Comstock Publishing Associates. When they left their estate to the university, Comstock Publishing gave rise to Cornell University Press.  

Since opening it doors in 1868, Cornell University has produced cutting-edge science, not to mention, numerous nobel laureates. Its faculty innovated existing science, changed age-old technologies, and through their students, revolutionized the fields of entomology and ornithology. Today, we present a special edition of our weekly feature, The Scientist. We’d like to note that, although the consequences of these scientists can be seen everywhere on campus - from the extensive gardens of The Plant Science Building to the collections of Comstock Hall - the importance of these scientists can be felt throughout the scientific community.

Surely honey, a sweet, golden, and delightfully sticky treat, is harmless?  After all, Winnie the Pooh salivated over it, ancient Egyptians embalmed their dead with it and Romans paid their taxes with it. In actuality, venom from honey producers, Apis mellifera, is toxic. Bee venom, known as apitoxin, can be deadly to  predators and to the one to two percent of the human population.

Cannibalistic, predatory and voracious: three words about spiders are enough to make anyone suffer from arachnophobia.  Cornell’s resident “spider lady”, Prof. Linda Rayor, entomology, actually finds them quite lovable.  She considers herself an “arachnophile” - or spider lover.