- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“It will be about bees, bees, bees!” said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. "Also, we are borrowing specimens of pollinating birds, bats and lemurs from the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology to cover non-insect pollinators, which should be fun."
Staff research associate Billy Synk of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, will provide a bee observation hive.
The event is free and open to the public. Specialists will be on hand to answer questions. Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen, who retired in June of 2014 after a 38-year career, is scheduled to participate. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be able to participate in part of the event. Entomologist Jeff Smith, a Bohart associate who curates the 400,000-specimen collection of moths and butterflies, will be there to show the specimens and answer questions.
Family activities are also planned.
Bees play a profound role in shaping the world we live in, but many species remain strangers to us, according to native pollinator specialist and Bohart Museum associate Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a co-author of California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday Books).
Of the 20,000 bee species identified worldwide, some 4000 are found in the United States, and 1600 in California.
The honey bee, which provides pollination services valued at $217 billion globally and $20 million in the United States alone, is the most recognizable of the bees, but many are unaware of its non-native status, Thorp said. European colonists brought the honey bee to America in 1622.
The bumble bee is also easily recognizable. But there are also carpenter, mining, leafcutting, sweat, digger, masked, longhorned, mason and polyester bees, among others.
Bees are “critical to the health of our natural, ornamental and agricultural landscapes and that populations of some, perhaps many are in rapid decline,” wrote the authors of California Bees and Bloom, published by the nonprofit Heyday Books in collaboration with the California Native Plant Society. It is the work of urban entomologist Gordon Frankie. a professor and research entomologist at UC Berkeley; native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis; insect photographer and entomologist Rollin Coville, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley; and botanist/curator Barbara Ertter of UC Berkeley.
California's bees differ in size, shape and color, as do the flowers they visit. “The tiniest bees are ant-sized; the largest rival small birds,” they wrote. “Some are iridescent green or blue, some are decked out with bright stripes, some are covered with fuzzy-looking hairs.”
“Nature has programmed bees to build nests and supply their young with nutritious pollen and nectar, and their unique methods for collecting these resources are fascinating to observe. Their lives are dictated by season, weather and access to preferred flower types and nesting habitat.”
Thorp is also the co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton Press). Both books are available in the Bohart Museum gift shop.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum.
The museum is open to the public four days a week, Monday through Thursday, but special weekend open houses are held throughout the academic year.
The remaining schedule:
- Saturday, March 14: “Pollination Nation,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, April 18: UC Davis Picnic Day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sunday, May 17: “Name That Bug! How About Bob?” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, July 18: “Moth Night,” 8 to 11 p.m.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
Special attractions include a “live” petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to hold the insects and photograph them.
The museum's gift shop includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
More information is available by accessing the website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/; or telephoning (530) 752-9493; or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--Entomologist James R. Carey, distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the recipient of a UC Davis Academic Senate Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award for his “outstanding research, outreach and advocacy program involving invasion biology, specifically his significant contributions on two California insect pest invaders, the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (medfly) and the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).”
Carey will be honored at a combined Academic Senate/Academic Federation awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 5 in the Student Community Center. The event will take place from 5:15 to 7:45 p.m. Other 2014-15 recipients of the Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award are Harry Cheng, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and Robert Powell, professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
“His public service led to much-needed in-depth discussions and greater understanding of these two agricultural pests; saved California millions in cancelled ineffective programs; and focused national and worldwide attention on how to deal with invasive pests,” wrote nominator Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
An internationally recognized leader and distinguished scholar in invasion biology, spanning three decades, Carey launched an informed, concerted and widespread effort to reveal the science about the invaders that threaten California's $43.5 billion agricultural industry. Carey's well-documented research in basic and applied aspects of invasion biology shows that these pests are established and cannot be eradicated. They continue to spread, despite more than 30 years of intervention and nearly 300 state-sponsored eradication programs.
In his letter of nomination, Parrella wrote that Carey exemplifies what public service, based on sound science, is all about: integrity, dedication, commitment, enthusiasm, and an eagerness to investigate, serve and share. Carey, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980.
Carey has published his research in major journals, served on the governor-appointed California Medfly Science Advisory Panel, testified before the U.S. Congress and California state legislators and to other government entities; held workshops with citizenry; developed and disseminated information; and granted more than 200 interviews with major print and electronic news media, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Science. Carey drew state, national and international attention with his groundbreaking paper documenting medfly establishment in California in a 1991 edition of Science, and more recently, with the LBAM invasion.
Carey's public service includes:
Carey testified about the biology and establishment of LBAM to the California Legislature, California Assembly Agriculture Committee, California Senate Environmental Quality Committee, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, California Roundtable for Agriculture and the Environment, Senator Migden hearings, Nancy Pelosi staff meetings, and California Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture. His expertise continues to be highly sought. He collaborated with colleagues Bruce Hammock and Frank Zalom, both distinguished professors in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, to write to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to point out (1) a lack of evidence that this method would work and (2) that LBAM is not an important pest.
In landmark research (“From Trickle to Flood: The Large-Scale, Cryptic Invasion of California by Tropical Fruit Flies”) published in August 2013 in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Carey and his colleagues (Nikos Papadopoulos, University of Thessaly, Richard Plant, UC Davis) found that at least five fruit flies and as many as nine species of the 17 they studied are permanently established in California and cannot be eradicated.
In July, Carey and Papadopoulos presented the results of this study to an international group of fruit fly entomologists (Tephritid Workers of Europe, Africa and the Middle East) in Crete. One of his papers, “Clear, Present, Significant and Imminent Danger: Questions for the California Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana) Technical Working Group,” published in October 2013 in the journal American Entomologist, continues to draw worldwide attention. The journal Science sent a reporter to UC Davis to write a major, three-page news story on Dr. Carey's involvement in medfly and LBAM science policy.
Carey is also considered the preeminent global authority on arthropod demography. He has authored more than 250 scientific articles.
Carey is a fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Gerontological Society of America, the California Academy of Sciences. Carey is the first entomologist to have a mathematical discovery named after him by demographers—The Carey Equality—which set the theoretical and analytical foundation for a new approach to understanding wild populations.
His past public service includes chair of the University of California Systemwide Committee on Research Policy; member of the systemwide UC Academic Council; and vice chair of his department. He presently serves as the associate editor of three journals: Genus, Aging Cell, and Demographic Research.
Carey is also known for his digital technical expertise on the UC Davis campus, providing advice and recommendations to key UC Davis administration on educational and information technology in support of instruction, research, administration and public service. He is the adviser of the nine-university CARTA (Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa).
Highly honored by his peers, Carey received the 2014 C. W. Woodworth Award, the highest award given by the Pacific Branch of ESA, and a 2014 Academic Senate Undergraduate Teaching Award. He was selected a plenary speaker for ICE 2016, the XXV International Congress of Entomology, to meet Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla.
Related Links:
James R. Carey Faculty Website
Description of the Award (Download PDF)
Past Recipients of Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award (Download PDF)
See Video About James R. Carey's Work and the Work of the Other 2015 Recipients
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A team of scientists, including Christian Nansen, agricultural entomologist at the University of California, Davis, answered those questions in their research, “How Do ‘Mute' Cicadas Produce their Calling Songs?” in the Feb. 25th edition of PLOS ONE, an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science.
Cicadas in the genus Karenia lack the specialized sound-producing structures that characterize most cicadas, according to Nansen and colleagues Changquing Luo and Cong Wei, both of Northwest A&F University, China.
Although they don't possess the tymbal mechanism, the word “mute,” is misleading, says Nansen, assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. “They do indeed produce sounds.”
The researchers discovered a new sound-production mechanism in Karenia caelatata, which produces impact sounds by banging the forewing costa against the operculum. It's somewhat like beating a drum while other cicada species with tymbal mechanisms play an orchestra of diverse and loud sounds.
In their publication, the researchers described the temporal, frequency and amplitude of the sound produced.
“Morphological studies and reflectance-based analyses reveal that the structures involved in sound production of K. caelatata(i.e., forewing, operculum, cruciform elevation, and wing-holding groove on scutellum) are all morphologically modified,” they wrote. “Acoustic playback experiments and behavioral observations suggest that the impact sounds of K. caelatataare used in intraspecific communication and function as calling songs.”
“The new sound-production mechanism expands our knowledge on the diversity of acoustic signaling behavior in cicadas and further underscores the need for more bioacoustic studies on cicadas which lack tymbal mechanism,” they concluded in their abstract.
Cicadas, also known as “tree crickets” (from Latin cicada), are among the most widely recognized of insects due to their large size, usually 2 to 5 centimeters or more, and loud sounds, sometime as high as 120 decibels. Theirs is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds. Cicadas live in warm climates, from temperate to tropical. Immature cicadas spend most of their lives sucking juice from tree roots. The adults suck plant juices from stems.
The best-known North American genus, Magicicada, has a long life cycle of 13 or 17 years and emerges in great numbers.
Cicadas damage cultivated crops, shrubs, and trees, mainly from females scarring tree branches where they lay their eggs. In many cultures, cicadas are a delicacy on the menu.
Links:
PLOS Research:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118554
PLOS Research YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVC8ZSaOydY
Christian Nansen Website:
http://chrnansen.wix.com/nansen2
Science News:
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/some-cicadas-drum-beat-help-their-wings
All About Cicadas
http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Cicadidae/
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“The agricultural sector in California is so exciting, because of its diversity and economic importance,” said Nansen, whose agricultural entomology expertise encompasses seven countries including his native Denmark. “Secondly, there is a strong spirit of innovation in this region, and I hope to contribute to the development of highly advanced crop monitoring systems and decision support tools, so that farming practices can become less reliant on pesticides.”
“I also believe that the strong academic programs at UC Davis with ecology and evolution are of incredible value, and that we can integrate the basic theory from these disciplines into the fundamental of crop management to obtain more sustainable farming systems,” Nansen said. “As an example of a line of research I am interested in – application of fertilizers obviously affect crop growth, but they also affect the attractiveness of crops to many insect pests, and they influence the ability of plants to resist attacks by several important insect pests.”
“So, how can we optimize use of crop fertilizers to stimulate yields but also minimize risks of pest infestations? The answer to such a question is underpinned by in-depth understanding about host selection ecology and about fitness and evolutionary processes involved in host adaptation. In other words, it is critically important to demonstrate how we can use studies of agricultural systems to learn about the ecology of species and their food webs and evolutionary processes.”
At UC Davis, Nansen is focusing on four major themes: host plant stress detection, host selection by arthropods, pesticide performance, and use of reflectance-based imaging in a wide range of research applications.
As part of his undergraduate studies, Nansen took time off to travel to Brazil to write a book about sustainable agriculture in rainforest areas. “In this process, I learned about the potential of honey bees as both pollinators of crops but also as ‘promoters' more broadly of sustainable agricultural development,” Nansen said.
Nansen wrote his master's thesis on honey bees: “The Apis mellifera Forging Response to the Pollen Availability in Cistus salvifolius.” The plant isalso known as a sage-leaved rock rose or Gallipoli rose. He conducted field work in Portugal involving pollen identification, observations on daily flight and foraging activity, and modeling of pollen availability.
For his doctorate, his interest turned to the larger grain borer, a serious pest of stored maize and dried cassava roots. He wrote his dissertation on “The Spatial Distribution and Potential Hosts of the Larger Grain Borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), in a forest in Benin, West Africa.” His research involved stored product insect ecology, field trapping with pheromone traps, experimental work on pheromone production, vegetation analysis, satellite image interpretation, laboratory infestation of potential breeding substrates, and histological studies.
“Agricultural entomology has given me so many opportunities to travel and work internationally, and that has been extremely rewarding,” he said. “I am passionate about food production and how to produce food ‘smartly' – so that it is profitable and also environmentally sustainable. And insects are critically important in manipulated food webs, such as, a crop field, forest, orchard, or horticultural greenhouse. I enjoy studying their ecological roles in these systems and how we can use that information to develop smarter ways to produce food.”
Nansen recalled that his childhood exposures to international scientists played a major role in his choice of a career. His father, a professor in veterinary parasitology, entertained many colleagues in the family home. “And my mother cooked the food! This is probably the main reasons why I enjoy both cooking and why my career has been so international.”
“Even though Denmark is a very small country (5 million people),” Nansen said, “it has been at the forefront of agricultural research and production for many decades. And growing up, my father took me on field trips and exposed me to farming systems.” In fact, young Christian earned his weekly allowance in the chicken business: he sold eggs to neighbors.
Nansen said he is delighted to see a “steadily growing appreciation for the origin and quality of the food we eat. Today, in the 21st century, the technologies deployed in modern agriculture are so advanced and similar to the cutting-edge technologies in other fields, he said. “Those technologies require skill sets beyond what most people may be aware of. Use of drones, remote sensing, GIS models, mathematical models of weather, crop physiology and soil dynamics, models to optimize input requirements and minimize economic risks, phone apps to optimize applications of agro-chemicals – these are all skill sets and approaches we are using as part of studying food production systems and developing innovative and reliable tools to be used within the agricultural sector.”
Nansen previously held faculty positions at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and most recently at the University of Western Australia. As a university employee, the most common way to “create impact” is by influencing the minds and interests of students, but also of particular stakeholders,” he said.
“While working in Texas, we developed a very effective sampling method for an important insect pest in potato fields, and a 4th generation potato grower (Bruce Barrett) actually changed his management strategy because of our sampling method: he purchased the equipment needed and hired people specifically to conduct insect sampling, as he saw how use of this method could save him thousands of dollars on insecticide sprays--because he would now have a much better idea about when and where to spray. Recently, in Australia we demonstrated to farmers that sub-optimal maintenance of their stored seed grain led to loss of crop vigor and therefore a loss in crop yields. That is, if the seed grain is poorly managed, then stored grain infestations will likely occur, and these beetles will damage the kernels so they don't germinate. We provided simple guidelines for how the grain storage practices could be improved, so quite a few farmers are now following our guidelines to optimize the vigor of their seed grain.”
“Sometimes, we can go further and actually develop tools or gadgets which end-users may find useful. As an example, we have developed a freely available phone app to optimize pesticide spray applications based on weather and spray settings (http://agspsrap31.agric.wa.gov.au/snapcard/). The main goal with this phone app is to guide farmers so that they obtain the best possible spray coverage--to reduce risk of pests developing resistance--and to encourage them NOT to spray pesticides under unfavorable conditions.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Burton, who served the UC Davis Department of Entomology for 28 years as an Extension entomologist, died Jan. 22, 2015 at age 90 in Davis.
Burton was born June 3, 1924 in Omaha, Neb., the only child of John and Vesta Burton. In July 1943, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and sent to Camp Adair, Ore., to a new wartime infantry division – the 70th Infantry “Trailblazer” Division. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was discharged in April, 1946 with the rank of technical sergeant.
He wed Charlotte McKnight and they were married for more than 66 years. He earned a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Berkeley and a master's from Louisiana State University. He spent his 38-year career with the Agricultural Extension branch of the University of California. He served 10 years as an entomology farm adviser in Bakersfield, followed by 28 years at UC Davis as an entomologist specialist.
Burton was a lifetime member of Kiwanis International and an active member of the Davis Kiwanis Club. An avid golfer, he allso loved playing bridge, family board games and reading, but mostly cherished spending time with his family.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Vesta and John Burton, and his wife Charlotte Burton. He is survived by his daughters Maryn Mason (Bill) and Anice Isaacs (Bob); and granddaughters Kimberly Mason, Audra Anderson (Kory), Rebecca Mason, Ashley Nolan (Bowie).
Burton was known for his sense of humor and ever-present smile. At the celebration of life, plans call for a “Putt One for Vern” contest. In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to either The Bohart Museum of Entomology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616; The Kiwanis Family House, 2875 50th St., Sacramento, Calif. 95817; or The URC Foundation, 1515 Shasta Drive, Davis, CA 95616. Those who wish to sign a guestbook online may do so at www.wiscombefuneral.com.
In 2008, when he was 85, he was interviewed for a Department of Entomology feature story, published on Dec. 18, 2009. Vern Burton said he didn't set out to become an entomologist. Home from the World War II battlefields, he enrolled in Compton Community College and then the University of California, Berkeley.
A family friend promised him a job in his termite control business once he finished his studies. His college associates, however, couldn't envision “Vern and termites” in the same sentence. Neither could he.
“There were better things to do in life than crawling under a house looking for termites,” quipped Burton, known for his wry sense of humor.
During his career, Burton worked with crops such as alfalfa, beans, cotton, potatoes, small grains and sugar beets and helped resolve pest problems through integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and close associations with university researchers.
Burton enjoyed working with researchers like noted alfalfa seed expert Oscar Bacon, now a retired professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. “I'd help identity problems in the field and take them back to the researchers.”
“I always enjoyed helping people in ag and urban settings with their insect problems,” Burton said, “or their perceived problems.”
When Burton retired in December 1988, then Cong. Vic Fazio lauded him for his outstanding contributions to California agriculture, particularly in the field of IPM. In remarks entered into the congressional record on Jan 4, 1989, Fazio said that Burton “contributed greatly to California agriculture and to the University of California's mission for excellence in agricultural research, education and public service.”
“Mr. Burton's outstanding contributions include the development of innovative methods and strategies for nematode control in cotton, which have improved production while reducing pesticide use. He also aided in the development and establishment of treatment thresholds for green peach aphid on sugar beets and established and supervised the cotton pest management program in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1970s. That work resulted in the appropriation of permanent federal funds for an integrated pest management program.”
Other successes included “more effective and efficient control of lygus bugs and spider mites on dry beans, development of a successful pest management program on Burbank potatoes, and investigations on an aphid believed to be a serious insect pest on small grains. Mr. Burton helped prove that the aphid actually had no significant impact on grain yields and thereby insecticide use was markedly reduced.”
Fazio noted that over the years, Burton “has provided support and guidance to county programs conducted by Farm Advisors through field test pilot activities, recommendations, and suggestions for problem solutions, and printed information and participation in educational programs. He has also helped disseminate education and informative entomological information to a diverse clientele in agricultural and urban areas throughout the state.”
In the news story, IPM specialist and professor Frank Zalom was quoted: "“Vern was dedicated to California growers, and worked tirelessly to provide new and useful information to them. He understood the research-extension continuum better than most people ever could, having served the university as an extension entomologist in the county and also here on campus.”
Also active in entomological organizations, Burton served as president and secretary-treasurer of the Northern California Entomology Club and as secretary-treasurer of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.
Although born in Nebraska, Vern spent his childhood in several states: Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois before his father, in the tire business, moved his family to Los Angeles in 1939.
Young Vern joined the Army fresh out of high school and completed basic training in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, where he would meet his future wife, Charlotte.
He said his three years in the Army proved to be “a great educational experience and quite an adventure for someone just out of high school.” He landed in Marseille, France on Dec. 15, “the day the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge. “I went overseas as a squad leader and came back as a platoon sergeant,” he recalled.
Burton attended Compton in 1946-1948, completing lower division requirements before enrolling at UC Berkeley. He interrupted his UC Berkeley studies in April 1951 to accept a Kern County Farm Advisor position, which he held until September 1960. He completed his 1960-1988 career an Extension entomologist based at UC Davis.
Burton and his wife, a retired 20-year accountant with the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department, moved to the University Retirement Community, Davis, in 2004.
In his early retirement years, he served as a lieutenant governor in 1992-93 of Division 7, Kiwanis International; worked four years in the UC Davis Medical Center gift shop and helped with the Kiwanis Family House at the Med Center. He traveled with his family, played golf and fished.
A favorite activity since childhood was “to get up early and go fishing in the morning and fry it for breakfast the same day.”
Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976 and now emeritus, recalled Vern as a “dedicated scientist with a terrific sense of humor.” They shared office space with two other scientists on the third floor of Briggs Hall.
Vern claimed that bees would always single him out for special attention, Mussen said.
Said Burton: “Whenever I'd watch a honey bee demonstration in alfalfa and clover fields (which bees pollinate), honey bees would find me and deposit their stinger. I'd stay out of the fields if they just moved in the honey bees.”
“There's a place for honey bees in this world and I acknowledge that,” he said, tongue-in-cheek.
(Editor's Note: the Davis Enterprise contributed to this report. See obituary.)
