Debbie Delaney

Associate Professor, Entomology University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Prof. Delaney researches evolutionary biology and population genetics of honey bees.

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University of Delaware

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Biography

Debbie Delaney researches Evolutionary biology and population genetics of honey bees. She also researches the benefits of polyandry on honey bee colony health and the ecological value of forage for flower visitors.

Industry Expertise

Research
Education/Learning

Areas of Expertise

Population Genetics
Honey Bees
Evolutionary Biology

Media Appearances

It's Pollinator Week, and these insects are vital to Delaware's agriculture

Delaware Public Media  online

2021-06-25

This week was Pollinator Week—and pollinators play an important role in Delaware’s agricultural sector. Debbie Delaney, an associate professor of entomology in the University of Delaware’s college of Agriculture and Natural Resources, says pollinators—like honey bees and squash bees—are needed for many commodity crops in Delaware to bear fruit.

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Study: As Mid-Atlantic's Native Bee Populations Decline, an Exotic Species Proliferates

UVA Today  online

2020-11-05

Mason bees serve as pollinators for a range of wild and cultivated plants and crops, and can be particularly important to apple, peach and pear farmers.

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Eye for the environment

University of Delaware UDaily  online

2020-10-06

Charlye Stewart wants to save the environment. The University of Delaware senior found her way to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as a transfer student. Originally a biology major at her previous university, she yearned for a career carrying out her passion of protecting animals, insects and nature. She found kindred spirits in the form of UD professors in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, who teach whole-organism biology, conservation biology and the interactions between humans and other species.

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Articles

Novel microsatellite loci reveal high genetic diversity yet low population structure for alfalfa leafcutting bees in North America

Conservation Genetics

2017

The alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata (ALCB) is an economically important pollinator necessary for seed production of the critical forage crop alfalfa, Medicago sativa. The pollinator was accidentally introduced to North America from Europe approximately 70 years ago, and it is primarily produced in Canada and shipped to the United States annually en masse for seed field pollination.

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A survivor population of wild colonies of European honeybees in the northeastern United States: investigating its genetic structure

Apidologie

2015

There is a widespread belief that wild colonies of European honeybees have been eradicated in Europe and North America, killed by viruses spread by the introduced ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor. In reality, however, several populations of wild colonies of honeybees in Europe and North America are persisting despite exposure to Varroa. To help understand how this is happening, we tested whether the bees in one of these populations of wild colonies—those living in and around the Arnot Forest (NY, USA)—are genetically distinct from the bees in the nearest managed colonies.

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Assessing the Mating ‘Health’ of Commercial Honey Bee Queens

Journal of Economic Entomology

2012

Honey bee queens mate with multiple males, which increases the total genetic diversity within colonies and has been shown to confer numerous benefits for colony health and productivity. Recent surveys of beekeepers have suggested that ‘poor queens’ are a top management concern, thus investigating the reproductive quality and mating success of commercially produced honey bee queens is warranted.

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Education

Washington State University

PhD

Entomology

2008

Oregon State University

MS

Environmental Science

2003

Oregon State University

BS

Natural Resources

1998

Affiliations

  • Entomological Society of America
  • International Union for the Study of Social Insects
  • Eastern Apiculture Society
  • North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
  • Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium
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