Uncategorized

With the continued high level of interest in the Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant in 2024, The Coleopterists Society is pleased to announce that two awards will be given again this year!  The awardees are:

Dr. Héctor Jaime Gasca Álvarez and Dr. Paul Skelley for their project titled “A survey of the pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae) of Colombia”.  This project involves the principal investigators travelling to major entomology collections in Colombia to curate specimens, work on taxonomy and diversity, and document this poorly known but highly endemic group.

 

Dr. Marianna Simões for her project titled “Towards a stable classification of Cassidini Chapuis (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) using low-coverage whole genome sequencing”. This project involves sequencing the DNA from museum specimens in order to study the phylogenetics and evolution of this leaf-beetle tribe, which will make advances towards a stable classification of the subfamily Cassidinae.

We would like to thank Joyce Bell for making this grant possible with her generous donation to The Coleopterists Society in memory of her husband, Ross Bell. This grant is awarded on April 23rd, which would have been Ross’s 95^th birthday.

The Honorary Member of The Coleopterists Society for 2023 is

Victoria Bayless

The Coleopterists Society Honorary Member is awarded recognizing the devotion to the Society and dedication to the discipline.

Victoria is the Curator of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum. She served as Society Councilor (2007–2008) and President (sequence, 2011–2016). She was also the creator of The Coleopterists Society Booth at the Entomological Society of America in 2013.

Congratulations, Victoria!

The paper selected as the Outstanding paper of the year 2022 published in The Coleopterists Bulletin is:

The Enigmatic Dead-Leaf Miner Geochus Broun (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): Phylogenetic Placement, a New Species, and Lectotype Designations

By

Richard A. B. Leschen, Steven Davis, Samuel D. J. Brown, Talia Brav-Cubitt and Thomas R. Buckley

https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-76.1.1

In 2023 we ran elections for one student councilor and two regular councilor positions.

Welcome new councilors!

This also means that three councilors just finished their terms. Thank you for serving!

With the tremendous amount of interest in the Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant in 2023, The Coleopterists Society is pleased to announce that two awards will be given this year! There were 17 applications submitted this year from around the world including North America, Japan, Nepal, South Africa, Europe, Australia, and four from Latin America. The awardees are:

Dr. Lawrence Kirkendall and Dr. Thomas Atkinson for their project titled “Synopsis of the Platypodinae of Brazil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)”. This project involves the principal investigators travelling to Ilha Solteira, Brazil to work on the taxonomy of a large collection of platypodines assembled by Dr. Carlos Flechtmann and housed in the Faculdade de Engenharia – Câmpus de Ilha Solteira (São Paulo State University).

Dr. Cristian Beza-Beza for his project titled “Curation and study of the personal collection of Pedro Reyes-Castillo at the Colección Entomológica del Instituto de Ecología (IEXA): continuing the legacy of biodiversity research in Passalidae”. This project involves bringing together several taxonomic experts and students to the Instituto de Ecología in Xalapa, Mexico to work on the taxonomy and catalog the recently donated collection of passalid beetles from the late Pedro Reyes-Castillo.

We would like to thank Joyce Bell for making this grant possible with her generous donation to The Coleopterists Society in memory of her husband, Ross Bell. This grant is awarded on April 23rd, 2023, which would have been Ross’s 94 th birthday.