- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They came. They saw. They held out their hands.
Hands? Yes, to hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks).
The Bohart Museum of Entomology greeted some 1400 visitors during the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, an event held Feb. 10 and showcasing 10 museums or collections across campus.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo ("the hissers" and "the sticks") and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, books, posters, stuffed animals, jewelry and insect-collecting equipment.
The entrance to the Bohart features a 5x6-foot photograph of a cuckoo or emerald wasp, commonly known as "the ruby-tailed wasp." It's the work of noted British photographer Levon Bliss. The microscupture encompasses more than 8,000 separate images.
Inside, Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection, and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas, answered questions about the butterfly and moth specimens.
New director of the Bohart Museum is professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Bond succeeds UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who served as director from 1999 until Jan. 31, retiring on Feb. 1. Kimsey continues her research and in serving as executive director of the Bohart Museum Society.
The next open house at the Bohart Museum will be from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 3. The theme: "Grasshoppers,Crickets and Katydids." A talk is planned from 1 to 2 p.m., with the museum open from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Bohart Museum also is planning its annual open house for the annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20.
Founded in 1946 by UC Davis professor Richard Bohart, the insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. More information is on its website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Who doesn't like "Pink Sugar?"
No, not the sweetener. The brilliantly colored Arctotis "Pink Sugar," also known as a pink African daisy.
"The genus name Arctotis is derived from Greek words 'arktos', which means "a bear" and 'otos' meaning "an ear" with the implication that the scales of the flower and fruit pappus look like the ears of a bear," according to the San Marcos Growers. "The reason for the specific epithet is not clear with the possibility that it come from the Greek word 'stoechas' that refers to a type of mint coupled with 'folia' meaning leaf."
"Pink Sugar" blooms from November through April, and if you're lucky, you'll see a butterfly, bee or a syrphid fly foraging on it.
This blossom below (image taken in Vacaville) drew a syrphid fly.
Syprhid flies, also known as "hover flies" or "flower flies" are good pollinators and predators: many of them prey on aphids and mealybugs. Scientists estimate that there are more than 6200 species of syrphid flies in the world, and more than 3000 in California alone.
They're often mistaken for honey bees.
Syrphid flies are easily distinguished from honey bees. Among the differences: (1) honey bees don't hover, (2) syrphids have only one pair of wings, while honey bees have two (3) syrphids have short, stubby antennae, while honey bees have long, bent antennae called genticulate antennae and (4) syrphids belong to the order Diptera, while honey bees are in the order Hymenoptera.
Maybe we should call a syrphid fly "an honorary bee."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That lady beetle, aka ladybug, that landed on the shoe of San Francisco 49”ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk just before the NFL championship game, apparently didn't show up at the Super Bowl.
The 49'ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, but what a great battle it was.
Do lady beetles bring good luck?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But we always appreciate them, especially on Valentine's Day. They're red, they gobble aphids, and sometimes they represent love.
This group of enthusiastic beetles (below) had just been devouring aphids on a brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), on the UC Davis campus back in 2014, and then it happened. Three formed a Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The end result: More beneficial insects soon!
Happy Valentine's Day!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Nematode Collection, showcased in the Katherine Esau Science Hall, drew hundreds of visitors wanting to know more about the organism commonly known as "roundworm."
Nematologist Shahid Siddique, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Alison Blundell, a doctoral candidate in Plant Pathology, coordinated the displays.
The collection highlighted both animal and plant parasitic nematodes. Visitors examined the preserved specimens and watched the movement of live free-living C. elegans (good nematodes) via a microscope.
Among the displays:
Animal Parasitic Nematodes: Anisakis nematodes from a Minke whale stomach, heart of a dog infected with heartworms; dog intestine infected with whipworms; a horse stomach parasite community including Parascaris, tapeworms and botfly larvae; adult raccoon roundworms; tree swallow infected with Diplotriaena nematode; and whipworms isolated from the human intestine.
Plant Parasitic Nematodes: Celery, sugar beet, and yam infected with root-knot nematodes; fresh tomato root infected with root-knot nematodes, and a mustard plant infected with cyst nematodes.
"Plant-parasitic nematodes are destructive pests causing losses of billions of dollars annually," Siddique writes on his website. "Economic, health, and environmental considerations make natural host plant resistance a preferred strategy for nematode control, but there are limitations to this approach. In many cases, the resistance conferred by resistance genes is partial, and some of the nematodes are able to survive. Similarly, nematode resistance genes are often effective against only one or a few species, whereas plants are exposed to several pathogens in the field. Another concern is the emergence of pathotypes that can overcome resistance. In view of all these limitations, it is important to identify additional mechanisms and tools that can be used to develop novel and sustainable approaches to the management of nematodes."
Research in the Siddique lab focuses on basic as well as applied aspects of interaction between parasitic nematodes and their host plants. "The long-term object of our research is not only to enhance our understanding of molecular aspects of plant–nematode interaction but also to use this knowledge to provide new resources for reducing the impact of nematodes on crop plants in California," he says.
The 13th annual Biodiversity Museum Day featured 10 museums or collections: Anthropology Museum, Arboretum and Public Garden, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Botanical Conservatory, California Raptor Center, Center for Plant Diversity, Nematode Collection, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Paleontology Collection, and Phaff Yeast Culture Collection.
Chairing the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Committee: Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Some 2000 visitors fan into the Academic Surge Building, home of the Bohart Museum and the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology.
The Bohart Museum is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It's seventh insect collection in North America.
On BioDivDay, 15 Bohart activity stations lined the hallway. Bug enthusiasts learned about spiders, ants, flies, bees, butterflies, moths and more. They held tenants from the live petting zoo--Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks)--and took cell phone images.
A neon poster next to the spider display read:
"Ask us questions.
SPIDERS.
And 8-legged friends.
Arachnology.
Bond lab."
"Museum Guidelines. Be curious! Avoid saying:
Ewww!
Ick!
Gross!
Yuck!"
Nobody said "ick, gross, yuck or ewww" (at least within our earshot). The crowd came curious. Some wore football attire in preparation for the Super Bowl the following day. All wore smiles or inquisitive expressions.
New director of the Bohart Museum is professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Bond succeeds UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who served as director from 1999 until Jan. 31, retiring on Feb. 1. Kimsey continues her research and as executive director of the Bohart Museum Society.
The Bohart Musuem participated in the Biodiversity Day with Anthropology Museum, Arboretum and Public Garden, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Botanical Conservatory, California Raptor Center, Center for Plant Diversity, Nematode Collection, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Paleontology Collection, and Phaff Yeast Culture Collection. Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum, chaired the Bioddiversity Museum Day Committee.
The next open house at the Bohart Museum will be from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 3. The theme: "Grasshoppers,Crickets and Katydids." A talk is planned from 1 to 2 p.m., with the museum open from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Bohart Museum also is planning its annual open house for the annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20.
Founded in 1946 by UC Davis professor Richard Bohart, the insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. More information is on its website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.