Tracking the Spread of Hitchhiking Exotic Species

Invasive species can cause major economic and ecological damage. To halt their impacts, it is critical to understand how they spread to new locations. Some of the most successful invasive species hitchhike on human transportation systems to spread to new locations. In this lecture, we will explore this hitchhiking phenomenon and learn about lizards that hitchhike to new locations in the Caribbean and the invasive spotted lanternfly that has hitchhiked its way from China to Pennsylvania and beyond.
 
We will discuss how the different hitchhiking modes lizards and lanternflies use affect efforts to stop their spread, and how these invasive species are impacting the native ecosystems where they are introduced. To conduct this research we integrate data from field studies, experiments using 3D printing technology, analyses of museum specimens, landscape genetics, social media mining, and more!
 
The Wagner’s museum will be open until the talk begins at 6 p.m