Michael Skvarla
Extension Educator; Director, Insect Identification Lab
Huck Affiliations
News Articles Featuring Michael Skvarla
Mar 13, 2023
What does Pittsburgh's mild winter mean for spring bugs?
On the calendar, it might technically be winter. In real life, Penn State assistant research professor Michael Skvarla just pulled a black-legged tick off his daughter about a week ago. That’s typically a spring and summer problem.
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Mar 06, 2023
Penn State University researcher discovers bug dating back to Jurassic Period
Michael Skvarla is an assistant research professor who operates the Insect Identification Laboratory at Penn State University. Skvarla recently made national news for his discovery of a bug that hasn't been seen in Eastern North America for more than 50 years. He discovered a Giant Lacewing outside a Walmart in Arkansas in 2012.
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Mar 02, 2023
Giant Jurassic-era insect missing from eastern North America for at least 50 YEARS is rediscovered outside a WALMART in Arkansas
It's not every day you discover a missing species when popping to the supermarket to get some milk. But that's exactly what happened to Professor Michael Skvarla, a zoologist at the Insect Identification Lab at Penn State University.
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Mar 02, 2023
Giant bug flying outside Walmart found to be ‘super rare’ insect not seen in decades
For nearly 10 years, an insect discovered outside a Walmart was only thought to be an “interesting” finding. But when the doctoral student turned professor showed his class the bug during a 2020 lesson, they learned together just how rare the discovery was.
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Mar 02, 2023
Giant bug flying outside Walmart found to be ‘super rare’ insect not seen in decades
For nearly 10 years, an insect discovered outside a Walmart was only thought to be an “interesting” finding. But when the doctoral student turned professor showed his class the bug during a 2020 lesson, they learned together just how rare the discovery was.
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Mar 01, 2023
Giant bug found at an Arkansas Walmart identified as a Jurassic-era insect
The giant lacewing was commonly found in eastern North America but mysteriously disappeared in the 1950s. Scientists previously thought that the increase in light pollution and a decrease in raging forest fires in eastern North America potentially played of role in its disappearance.
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Mar 01, 2023
Rare, Jurassic-Era Giant Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart
Back in 2012, entomologist Michael Skvarla stopped at a Walmart in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to pick up some milk. On the way in, he spotted a large, unusual insect on the side of the building. So he snagged it, took it shopping, brought it home and mounted it, thinking it was an antlion, a type of flying insect. Years later, he discovered it was something much rarer: an insect with an ancient history.
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Mar 01, 2023
Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart
Back in 2012, Michael Skvarla was running to a Walmart in Arkansas for milk when he spotted a huge insect on the side of the building. Its wingspan was nearly two inches across. Mr Skvarla studies insects, so he took it home - and forgot about it. But in 2020, he showed it to his students in class. They realised it was something far more rare than expected: A giant lacewing.
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Mar 01, 2023
Giant flying bug found at Arkansas Walmart turns out to be "super-rare" Jurassic-era insect
A 2012 trip to a Fayetteville, Arkansas, Walmart to pick up some milk turned out to be one for the history books. A giant bug that stopped a scientist in his tracks as he walked into the store and he ended up taking home turned out to be a rare Jurassic-era flying insect.
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Mar 01, 2023
Rare Jurassic-era insect found at Arkansas Walmart
A gigantic insect from a species that once flourished in the age of the dinosaurs was found for the first time in decades on the façade of an Arkansas Walmart, renewing hope that there may be relic populations of the bug undiscovered in the Ozark Mountains.
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