Researchers seek insects everywhere in South Carolina, even the zoo

Published: March 7, 2013

CLEMSON — When Clemson University field biologist Peter Adler wants to discover new species or study the interaction of insects and exotic animals, he doesn’t have to travel far.

Instead of heading to the vast grasslands of Africa, the teeming river deltas of Asia or the torrid rainforests of South America, Adler and his students hop in his truck and drive to the swamps and rivers in South Carolina or the zoos in Greenville or Columbia.

They have discovered numerous species of blood-feeding insects new to science and many species never before recorded in South Carolina. They have worked out the ecological requirements of these species, studied their genetics, determined the animals from which they take blood and discovered disease-causing organisms they carry.

They also have studied their natural enemies, which could be used as biological control agents.

Zoos are surveillance sites to study how captive animals, free-roaming wildlife, insects, disease-causing microbes and people mix and what comes of it. Adler’s research targets insects that have medical and veterinary importance in South Carolina. The Clemson University Experiment Station helps fund his work.

“It is the only project in South Carolina that does this kind of work,” Adler said. “This Experiment Station project has been vital to protecting the health of the citizens and animals statewide and nationwide.”

A mosquito in a zoo could transmit a disease agent to the exotic animals. West Nile virus, for example, has killed animals in 100 or more zoos in the United States. Microbes that might be in zoo animals could be transmitted to livestock, wildlife or people by blood-feeding insects.

Biological surveillance at zoos provides a front-line opportunity to detect new threats from these blood feeders and the microbes they might carry. Zoos also provide ideal environments to study ecological interactions of blood-feeding insects and can help educate the public about them.

Using the Experiment Station funding as seed money, Adler has been awarded nearly $1 million in external research grants to further the project. Most of the money is used to support graduate students. The project has nurtured 12 young scientists and generated 40 peer-reviewed publications.

Two of Adler’s doctoral students conducted their research in South Carolina zoos and provided them with educational information about the insects.

“The support and the students help ensure the continuity, impact and legacy of the project,” he said.

Mosquitoes get special attention. Adler, his students and zoo professionals have collaborated to improve mosquito control.

Research recommendations have helped the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control track and screen diseases like West Nile virus at zoos. The work of one of his previous doctoral students, Holly Tuten, contributed to the Greenville Zoo, earning accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Adler’s specialty is one of life’s most annoying groups of insects: bloodsucking or biting flies. Livestock and wildlife can lose weight and fitness from repeated bites. Female flies — the ones that do the biting — need the blood meals for nourishment to reproduce.

Anyone who spends their careers around insects will come to balance positives and negatives. Adler points out that since about two-thirds of all the earth’s known animal species are insects, there are plenty of beneficial insects among the pests.

Bees, both domestic and wild, provide obvious benefits. But lesser known ones, from dung beetles burying cattle manure to fruit flies expressing genetic principles, provide environmental and scientific contributions. In terms of their economic value — pollination, biological control of pests, soil conditioning, waste decomposition, water purification — scientists estimate insects provide a $57 billion benefit to the United States alone.

Our relationship with insects is complicated, both harmful and helpful, but entirely indispensible, Adler said.

For those who would prefer to wipe them out, Adler quotes entomologist E. O. Wilson: “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed 10,000 years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” 

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