Project:

Are Beetles on Long Island Negatively Affecting the Environment

Students:

Ryan McClernon, Santiago Zea

School:

Seaford Senior School District, Nassau

Mentors:

Mary Simons

Abstract:

Certain types of beetles can eat and harm plants and environments where humans live and visit. We would like to see if the beetles in certain areas around humans such as parks can negatively affect the environment (looking for invasive species). An example of a beetle that poses a threat to the environment is the Asian Long-horned beetle. They are shiny black with about 20 white spots on each wing cover and long antennae conspicuously banded black and white. Asian Longhorned Beetles are an invasive wood-boring insect that feeds on a variety of hardwoods including Maple, Birch, Elm, Ash, Poplar, Horsechestnut, and Willow, among others. We may also find the Southern Pine Beetle which is a bark beetle that infests pine trees. This beetle is small, only 2-4 mm in length (about the size of a grain of rice) and is red-brown to black in color. We are going to sequence the DNA of the beetles because it is more accurate than classifying species just by looking at them. Some species can look sim

Poster:

Team samples: