- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
She's the little Concord, Calif., kindergarten student who declared--on the very first day of class-- "When I grow up, I want to be an entomologist!"
And she did.
RJ received her bachelor's degree in entomology in 2021 from the University of California, Davis, and then accepted a four-year, full-ride fellowship offer to complete a doctoral program at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). She's a doctoral candidate of comparative biology in the Richard Gilder Graduate School at AMNH and studies in the lab of Professor Jessica Ware.
RJ studies the twisted-wing parasites, order Strepsiptera. As larvae, they enter their hosts, including wasps, bees and cockroaches, through joints or sutures.
Fast forward to today. Her newly published research, “Collection Methods and Distribution Modeling for Strepsiptera in the United States,” is the cover story in the August issue of the journal, Environmental Entomology.
It's not often that an entomologist's first published doctoral research scores the cover of an academic journal.
The cover image shows a parasitized northern paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus, with three male Xenos peckii pupae visible in its abdomen. The image is the work of John and Kendra Abbott of Abbott Nature Photography, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“The twisted-wing insect parasite order (Strepsiptera) is an excellent example of how beautifully complex evolution and life's interconnectedness can be,” RJ says. “These obligately endoparasitic insects infect several other major orders of Insecta, including true bugs, mantises, cockroaches, flies, wasps, crickets, and even silverfish. Because of this, they can be very difficult to find and study.”
“Our publication aims to help out with that by featuring the first species distribution models for Strepsiptera to predict where we might be able to find them, and detailing collection methods to successfully catch them where they are found."
Guided by UC Davis Distinguished Professor Jay Rosenheim (now an emeritus), RJ launched her independent research project on those bizarre Strepsiptera endoparasites that attack their hosts, the Ammophila (thread-waisted) wasps. Over a two-year period, she studied thousands of specimens at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
The Bohart Museum houses a worldwide collection of eight million specimens, including “about 30,000 specimens of Ammophila from multiple continents,” according to UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the museum for 34 years before retiring Feb. 1, 2024, Global wasp authority and UC Davis doctoral alumnus Arnold Menke, author of the book, The Ammophila of North and Central America (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae), identified most of the Ammophila specimens in the Bohart Museum. His book is considered "the bible" of Ammophila research.
RJ went on to enter a poster, “Parental Care and the Risk of Maternally Vectored Pathogens: Ammophila Transmit Strepsipteran Parasites to Their Young,” in the March 2021 Koret UC LEADS Symposium poster competition and won top honors.
And now, her paper in the Environmental Entomology journal is online at
https://academic.oup.com/ee/issue/53/4.
In their introduction, RJ and her team wrote that Strepsiptera “have a cosmopolitan distribution, but they can be difficult to collect for many reasons. As the larval stages are obligate endoparasites of other insects, strepsipterans are necessarily restricted to the ranges of their hosts and may have patchy distributions among host populations. The neotenic females dwell permanently within the abdomens of their insect hosts, with the exception of some members in the family Mengenillidae. Male strepsipterans can be collected independently of their hosts once they eclose and enter the free-flying adult stage.”
“However, they are likely to still be found within their host ranges since they live for only a few hours and must mate within that time. Females and males range from 0.5 to 5 mm and can be easily overlooked in host abdomens (females) or malaise traps There are no standard procedures for the collection of Strepsiptera, since they parasitize such a wide variety of insect hosts—they are documented to parasitize 7 orders comprising approximately 36 insect families, and these hosts inhabit many different environments.”
Co-authors are Anna Eichert, a doctoral candidate of comparative biology in the Ware lab, and Ware, an AMNH evolutionary biologist and curator. Millena credited Kathy LaPoint of Black Rock Forest, Cornwall, N.Y., for images “taken during our collecting trips,” and Abbott Nature Photography for images of a male Xenos peckii in flight and an Isodontia mexicana parasitized by Eupathocera auripedis.
“My work on the evolution and biology of these tiny insects,” Millena said, “is motivated by how much I want everyone to appreciate the unfathomably intricate lives of the organisms we take for granted every day.”
Well said, and well done!
- Author: Devii R Rao
Join UC Cooperative Extension and Cal Poly for the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition Fall Workshop
Date/Time: Thursday, October 17, 2024, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Location: Cal Poly Beef Center Pennington Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
Cost: $40.00 – lunch included
Rangeland Restoration and Improvement: what it is and how it can meet your land management needs
Restoration and improvement plays an important role in the management of rangeland systems and consists of many different complex ecological and social processes. Exploring the restoration and improvement process with its associated social aspects like funding and collaboration opportunities is imperative for assuring the future health of rangelands on the central coast of California.
Goal: Increase practitioner's understanding about the process of restoring/improving rangeland systems, including the benefits and steps involved, project feasibility, and collaboration and funding opportunities.
Registration Link: https://ucanr.edu/ccrc%20fall%202024
- Author: Peggy Smith
We are gardeners but we can also wear other hats! Conservationist! Restoration specialist! Education! Preservation supporter!
While researching family histories I was curious as to the ecosystems, both in pre-European and post European times, encountered as ancestors moved from east to west, through the soon to be territories, states, and counties. As Master Gardeners we know that there are gardening basics, but within each state and each county there will be very differing climates in which native plants adapt and thrive.
A description from a ‘History of Hamilton County, Indiana' brought me up short and encapsulated the drastic and overwhelming changes that have occurred in what truly is the blink of an eye in historical time.
LEVELING THE FORESTS
After the first settlement was well-established the industrious farmers began to cut their way back into the dense forest and by slow but steady degrees to transform this vast, dreary wilderness into the beautiful country it is today. They struck out boldly in all directions … here and there over the township* sprang into life the busy villages … a network of gravel roads replaced the Indian trail… Where once the Indian hunted and his campfires gleamed, the waving fields of corn, oats, rye, and wheat now flourish abundantly, while orchards of apples, plums and peaches lend their charm to the picture.
*township was an area of land that was divided into acreages around villages.
This perfectly described the European settlement hubris and the presumption of ‘Manifest Destiny' of the western movement.
Thinking locally my thoughts then turned to how much have we lost? How much can we conserve? How much can we restore? What have we protected? Can we as gardeners contribute?
How much have we lost? Much of the California landscape has been affected but there are many projects that contribute to the preservation of our original ecosystems. One local example is the Yolo Bypass.
California has lost millions of acres of wetlands that used to be across the valley floor. As we have built and farmed, we have diverted streams, dried out marshlands and built dams that have reduced the support system of wetland plants and water for the Pacific Flyway, which is the west coast migration route for birds from the Artic to the tip of South America. I love to hear the call of the geese and ducks as they pass overhead, for me that is the sign that fall is here. This is a great source for information on how wetlands work and why they are important. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/dcfa9c9fa6464e89a45924a4ebec5a15#
What have we restored? “The Yolo Basin was once nearly 80,000-acre wetland teeming with wildlife from herds of tule elk roaming its marshes to dense clouds of migratory waterfowl seeking winter food and shelter. Over time, the basin has been profoundly altered by human activity.” We drive over the causeway back and forth in our busy lives while just below us is the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, https://yolobasin.org/yolobypasswildlifearea/ a wonderful conservation project that supports the Pacific Flyway. “The Bypass is a key component of the habitat restoration planned as part of the Cal/Fed Bay Delta Accord process now underway and is a vital element of the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture's habitat restoration goals. The Foundation is an important local player in implementing these many plans.”
This is a wonderful place to visit and there is nothing more magical than the large flocks of redwing blackbirds with their burbling calls as they flit in the reeds.
A gardener can't build a Pacific Flyway but we can build a pond to provide habitat for dragonflies and damselflies and provide a water source for native bees and birds.
Yolo Gardener Summer 2019 “My First Wildlife Pond
https://vms-mg.ucanr.edu/files/mg/documents/6215The%5FYolo%5FGardener80452.pdf
What have we protected?
The Central Valley used to be home to many vernal pool ecosystems (seasonal lakes that exist only in the winter and spring) locally we have Jepson Prairie just a short drive to Dixon. These Vernal Pools of the Jepson Prairie Reserve provide wetland habitat for migratory waterfowl and wading birds and is home to 5 rare and endangered animals. Altogether over 400 species and 64 families of plants, including 15 rare and endangered plants. I have been on several docent led tours and I always marvel at the lifecycles of both the flora, fauna and insect life.
https://naturalreserves.ucdavis.edu/jepson-prairie
Reflection on a Vernal Pool by Willa Pettygrove
https://vms-mg.ucanr.edu/files/mg/documents/6215The%5FYolo%5FGardener69778.pdf
Can we as gardeners contribute?
As gardeners are we accepting our local climate? There are many plants that are exquisitely beautiful, such as azaleas and rhododendrons, but they don't belong here. Our soil is alkaline – they love acidic soil; we have a dry hot summer climate – they love moisture and cool temperatures. We are even pushing it to grow redwoods, they thrive in the forest environment, and they can uptake 160 gallons of water per day in the dry summer months and actually receive 40% of their moisture requirements from the fog as it condenses on the canopy and drips to the forest floor.
Here are some places where information and plants are available so that when you add to or redesign an old garden it is a more complimentary selection of plants that will be happy in our climate. By planting natives, we provide sustenance and habitat for the great variety of native insects, birds and pollinators of our region.
1) The Putah Creek Watershed Native Reserve is a great example of a fairly new project with careful consideration of the local CA Native plants of the area. The site is divided into three areas that are examples of native plants found in the surrounding watershed area of Putah Creek. “The goal is to educate community members on attractive species they can use to replace their lawn, to provide a seed collection source for the nursery and a place to experiment with propagation and weed control.”https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/efcc7294662b4cfb92c72283ceff8715
2) UC Davis Arboretum – a wonderful place to walk and see plants in all seasons making it easy to decide if a plant is too big, too small or the ideal Goldilocks plant for a certain place in your garden. The website has both general plant information https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu and detailed information on Climate Ready Gardening https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/climate-ready-toolkit.
3) The California Native Plant Society has a chapter in Sacramento. The SacValley Chapter's Homegrown Habitat initiative promotes increased individual, community, and civic engagement in the effort to significantly increase the number of native plants in landscapes to support wildlife habitat and ecosystem. They also have a newsletter that is full of information, you do not need to be a member to receive the newsletter. https://www.sacvalleycnps.org
We, as gardeners, and our gardens, are examples to others walking or driving by, we can educate and teach by example the wonderful CA Natives and plants from other similar regions that will thrive here.
- Author: Mike Gunther
Students back to school
Farmers Markets in full bloom
Garden harvest thoughts
- Author: Jeannette Warnert
As a start, spread organic mulch on the top of soil to boost its quality over time. As the mulch breaks down, soilborne organisms slowly churn it back into the soil and eventually move it through the soil profile. Spread leaves, pine needles, small trimmings, grass clippings, wood chips or straw two- to four-inches deep on the surface and let the soil microorganisms to the work. The addition of water in the summer will help the mulch break down.
Step up your soil building game by adding plenty of compost. This is the technique UC Master Gardener Randy Thomson recommends in his Madera and Fresno county classes. Thomson joined the MG program in 2011 when he lived in Los Angeles County. Three years later became a Master Composter in Orange County. In 2018 he moved to Madera County and localized his teaching on traditional and worm composting.
“In urban areas, developers scrape off the topsoil and compact the dirt before building a home's foundation,” Thomson said. “How do you grow in that? We need to rebuild what was optimized for construction, garden in raised beds or grow plants in pots. In soil with organics, you can actually grow food.”
Thomson's interest in soil building began when, during his teen years, his foster mother took him to the family farm in Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley.
“I loved it. There's a logic to living with agriculture. Ag is a lot about listening and observing how to use an environment without destroying it,” he said. He has applied this concept to gardening, and prefers to “keep things simple.”
“Good soil is 50 percent air and water. Forty-five percent is sand, silt and clay. The last 5 percent is organic matter, more specifically, compost,” Thomson said.
This formula leads to a soil capable of supporting worms, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and micro arthropods that eat each other, embody the nutrients and make them available for plants.
“Compost is all you need,” Thomson said. “If you take care of the soil, the plants will take care of themselves.”
Another benefit: with a little labor, compost is free. The inputs – plant trimmings, grass clippings, leaves and food scraps – are generated in and around the home. Follow Master Gardener composting instructions to transform them into a rich soil amendment.
The cold composting method doesn't require gardeners to regularly turn the pile, which can be labor intensive. |
Another Master Gardener, Tony Carrasco of Fresno County, uses compost, and has gardened successfully with the use of other organic fertilizers, such as steer manure, bone meal, blood meal, fish emulsion and worm castings.
“I use soil amendments because I saw it was working for farmers in the field,” he said. “I was always planting and experimenting. I noticed that this stuff works.”
When Carrasco was a child, he and his siblings worked in orchards, packing houses and fields when school was out of session. At age 17, he got a job installing air conditioning. “That's when I said, ‘No more field work for me.'” But he never lost his fascination with growing things.
After retirement, Carrasco became a Master Gardener. He is one of three managers at the program's demonstration garden, Garden of the Sun. He adopted several garden plots at the MG garden and at the community garden in Kingsburg, plus he gardens at home.
“Twice a year I till in compost, horse and cow manures and organics I buy in bulk at a nursery near Sacramento,” he said. “I don't have a formula. I've gotten to where my vegetables come out pretty good.”
Carrasco experiments with worm composting and introducing fungi to breakdown organic materials in the soil. He said he has also tried bokashi composting, a Japanese composting method that ferments food waste in an anaerobic environment with effective microorganisms and bokashi bran. (Learn more from Bokashi Fermentation by Dr. Michael Vincent Rodriguez, UC Merced on YouTube.)
Carrasco's gardens produce a bounty of beautiful produce, much more than his family can use. He donates the excess to friends, neighbors and the Kingsburg Senior Center.
“Of course, there is a cost. But for me, the return is the joy of gardening. It's a joy to share,” he said.
For more information about composting, download a two-page in a printable pdf format here.
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