- (Focus Area) Natural Resources
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
247 years!
The seven faculty members honored at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's recent retirement luncheon amassed an amazing 247 years of service:
- UC Davis distinguished professor James Carey, 44 years, faculty member since 1980. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor Richard Karban, 42 years, faculty member since 1982. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, 35 years, faculty member since 1989. She retired Feb. 1, 2024.
- Robert Kimsey, adjunct professor, 35 years, faculty member since 1989. He retired in June
- UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim, 34 years, faculty member since 1990. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor Diane Ullman, 29 years, faculty member since 1995. She retired in June.
- Sharon Lawler, professor emerita, 28 years, faculty member since 1995. She retired in January 2023.
Read about them on our UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website, with links to individual stories. You may have interacted with one or more of them through their research, teaching or public service.
As molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the department, said prior to the retirement luncheon: “Our retiring faculty will leave behind some very big shoes to fill. “They have set the bar very high for all of us with their passion to lifelong scientific exploration, perseverance to achieve intellectual and mentoring excellence, and dedication to the department, UC Davis, and external stakeholders. We are so proud to call them colleagues and mentors and they will no doubt continue to inspire us to carry on their legacy. It is with our most sincere appreciation that we wish all of them the best in their new endeavors and adventures in this next chapter of their lives."
247 years of service!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If Cinderella were a butterfly, she'd probably be a white cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae.
The butterfly--in its larval stage it's a pest of cucurbits--is stunning as an adult. Just think of a flowing white gown, exquisite pirouettes, and a flutter like no other.
If you've ever tried to photograph a white cabbage butterfly, it's not all that easy. They are fast and fleeting. One minute they're on the lavender and the next minute they're not. One minute they're on the catmint and then...
Where did they go?
With a fast shutter speed, though, you can sometimes catch them in flight.
When Cinderella left the ballroom at the stroke of midnight (she should listened to her Fairy Godmother and kept better track of her time!) her carriage turned back into a pumpkin, the footmen into lizards, the coachman into a rat, and her dress turned back into rags.
Just as her Fairy Godmother warned.
But the finely, timely P. rapae just flutters away--white flowing gown intact...unless snagged by a predator.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever seen the male longhorned bees, Melissodes agilis, zipping around your garden, trying to bump all critters, large and small, off of "their" blossoms? They own them, ya' know.
These male bees are SO territorial. We've seen them target honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, syrphid flies, spiders and praying mantises. And one another. Everything is fair game.
"They're saving the flowers for the females of their species, so they can mate with them," according to the late Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology.
But as dusk settles, there they are, the boys sleeping together in what Thorp called "The Boys' Night Out." The females return to their nests and the males "snuggle" together on lavender, sunflowers or whatever blossom suits them.
If you try to photograph them during the day when they're being territorial, you'll need to set your shutter speed at around 1/8000 of a second to freeze the action.
But if you try to photograph them at dawn or dusk when they're sleeping, it's so much easier. They begin to stir around dawn, as honey bees and bumble bees buzz by their sleeping quarters.
What's up, sleepy head?
What you do with firewood this upcoming 4th of July (and year-round!) can impact more than just the s'mores on your campfire. If you move firewood around the state, you could spread deadly plant diseases and invasive insects. Don't take firewood with you if you travel or camp this holiday weekend.
Bringing firewood from home, even dry, aged, and seasoned wood, can spread pests. Once you arrive at your destination, pests can emerge from the firewood and spread to the surrounding area. Invasive pests like the emerald ash borer, shothole borers, and goldspotted oak borer, kill millions of healthy trees every year and can be spread to new areas on firewood.
Buy firewood within 50 miles of where you plan to stay or buy firewood that is certified, heat treated. Be a good steward and protect the areas you love; buy it where you plan to burn it!
To learn more, visit https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
There's a good reason why.
Shapiro has monitored the butterfly populations of central California since 1972 and maintains a research site at https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu. "I began doing the 4th of July butterfly count in 1978 and have done it every year since--always on the actual Fourth," he emailed his "posse" today.
"As I read the models, the first week of July this year will be at or near record heat every day," Shapiro wrote. "The maximum should be 108 or 109 on Wednesday, and Thursday the 4th about 106 here (Davis, Calif.)"
"As most of you know, under such heat butterflies go into heat-avoidance mode," he pointed out. "Any data generated after the T (temperature) reaches 100F are suspect. Does anyone record butterfly diversity when things are known to not be flying?"
Shapiro quipped that he knows his limits "and I am not going to push them, even with a supply of intravenous Gatorade. If I do the Willow Slough count it will be after the T retreats to a civilized level, which may not be until about the 9th or 10th."
"At any rate, don't expect a report on Thursday."
Note: You may know Shapiro not only for his incredible butterfly population data, but also for the "Beer for a Butterfly" contest he hosts every year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. The first person to net the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, and win the contest receives a pitcher of beer or its equivalent. It's all part of his scientific research. P. rapae is emerging earlier and earlier as the regional climate has warmed, Shapiro says. (See Bug Squad post)