Bark Beetles

While most people may flinch or run in fear of insects, the Trogossitidae (bark-gnawing beetles) of South Carolina Creative Inquiry team, mentored by Drs. Michael Ferro and Michael Caterino from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, is fascinated by them. This team studies the physical characteristics, morphology and taxonomy (classification system) of a variety of South Carolinian insects.

Ferro guides students to select species, but students are responsible for completing the project. For example, Niko Artley, a junior environmental and natural resources major, and Courtney Stuart, a plant and environmental sciences ‘23 graduate, studied the external morphology of Tenebroides, a genus of bark-gnawing beetle. The internal morphology of this insect is well studied, but Artley and Stuart wanted to be able to look at the insect and classify it without dissection. They examined the coloration, shape of antenna segments, relative angles of different body parts and size of Tenebroides. Their end goal is the creation of a user-friendly identification key complete with detailed images. This identification key will feature different questions about each insect’s physical characteristics with a path to follow after each decision. At each decision point Stuart and Artley provide images to make it easier to form a conclusion.

Not all projects involve an illustrated key. Aaron D’Silva, a junior biological sciences major, and JB Rehrig, a junior environmental and natural resources major, are focusing on writing a paper that maps the polypore fungus beetles in South Carolina. “Nobody really knows about them and the information is kind of scattered everywhere about them,” Rehrig said. It can be difficult to track the information on this insect because as technology has improved the classification of the insect has changed to accommodate nuanced differences. These students are doing the foundational research and accumulating all the information on polypore fungus beetles into one central paper, as a reference for future researchers. Maps such as the one D’Silva and Rehrig are creating provide insight into historical changes, specifically in relation to climate change. Researchers can see how the geographic distribution of the insects have changed in relation to time.

Much of the team’s work is located at the Clemson University Arthropod Collection in Long Hall. In addition to their research, students in this Creative Inquiry project help catalog specimens in the museum. They photograph and tag each specimen to provide quality resources for researchers working in-person and online.

In today’s world, many people may not understand the value of the field of entomology, but these students recognize it as an important field. Although most of the insects they study do not have any known importance, that does not mean they are not worth looking into. “The worst time to find out that something was some form of keystone is right after it disappears or right before it disappears because then there’s nothing you can do about it,” Artley said.