- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Kaya, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1976 and retired in 2010, has known Lynn and her husband, Robert "Bob," for more than four decades. Both the Kimseys received their bachelor and doctoral degrees in entomology from UC Davis.
"I never had Lynn in a classroom situation, but she was always helpful in helping others ID insects," Kaya said. He and Lynn worked on a McKnight Foundation potato grant project in Peru for four years. He remembers Bob as a "super student in my insect pathology class."
Lynn, then Lynn Siri, received her bachelor's degree in 1975 and her doctorate in 1979, while Bob received his bachelor's degree in 1977 and his doctorate in 1984. Lynn joined the UC Davis faculty in 1989 and has directed the Bohart Museum since 1990. Bob, a forensic entomologist, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1984 as a lecturer. Both plan to retire this year.
Harry Kaya is internationally recognized for his contributions to insect pathology and insect nematology, which include more than 250 peer-reviewed publications. He co-authored an insect pathology book in 1993; co-edited another insect pathology book in 2012; and co-edited five books in several disciplines including forest entomology, entomopathogenic nematology, and invertebrate pathology.
He was named a fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in 2007.
At the seminar, co-organizer Lynn Lebeck, then executive director of the Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers, praised him as a top-notch researcher and as "a warm human being." She recalled the "many years of fun times and great research experiences with him." (See news story)
Kaya co-founded the journal Biological Control, and served as the co-editor of the first and second editions of Field Manual of Techniques in Invertebrate Pathology, Application and Evaluation of Pathogens for Control of Insects and other Invertebrate Pests.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Harry received his bachelor's degree in entomology in 1962 from the College of Tropical Agriculture, University of Hawaii (UH). He served in the U.S. Army, and after being discharged as a first lieutenant, earned his master's degree in entomology from UH in 1964, specializing in insect ecology. In 1970, UC Berkeley awarded him his doctoral degree in entomology. with research in insect pathology.
From 1971 to 1976, Kaya worked as an entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven and conducted research on biological control of forest insects. In 1976, he joined the UC Davis faculty as an assistant professor, attaining the rank of full professor in 1984. He became a distinguished professor of entomology in 2008.
Kaya chaired the Department of Nematology from 1994 to 2001. He also served as an officer in the Society of Invertebrate Pathology (treasurer, 1990–1994, vice-president, 2000–2002, and president-elect 2002–2004), and was one of the founding editors of the journal Biological Control.
Highly honored by his peers, Kaya received the 1998 C. W. Woodworth Award, the highest honor presented by the Pacific Branch, ESA. In 2000, he received the 2000 Recognition Award in Entomology from ESA and Fellow of the Society of Nematologists. The Society for Invertebrate Pathology and UH also presented him with several awards.
In honoring him as a Fellow, ESA posted this on its website: "Kaya has mentored many graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who have proceeded to establish their own careers and excel in research and teaching. His laboratory hosted and trained many visiting scientists from other countries who have become leaders in research with entomopathogenic nematodes upon their return to their own countries. These include scientists from Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Ukraine, and Peru. Kaya maintains a strong relationship with many of them and he had research projects with scientists from Korea and Turkey."
Kaya's first four PhD students--Raquel Alatorre, Arnold Hara, Phyllis Hotchkin {Weintraub) and Robin Goblin-Davis--are all retired from their faculty and research positions. Arnold Hara died Nov. 18, 2022.
Kaya resides in Davis with his wife, Joanna. He enjoys spending time with his grandchildren and gardening, and used to fish with colleague Les Ehler (1946-2016). "No fishing since Les passed away," he related.
One of his granddaughters, Madelyn Lee, a freshman at UC Riverside, may follow in his footsteps. "She has always been interested in the biological sciences and has become an active member of the Entomology Club at Riverside. She is thinking about being an entomology major."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You'll see insects you've never seen before--and learn a little about them.
The cover image of the larva of the elm zigzag sawfly, Aproceros leucopoda (order Hymenoptera, family Argidae), native to Asia, is especially spectacular. It's the work of Christian Brockes of Germany.
"The elm zigzag sawfly is an east-Asian pest of elms (Ulmus spp), invasive in Europe since about 10 years ago and now also established in some North American regions," the ESA text relates. "The common name was inspired by the very distinctive patterns that their larvae leave on elm trees, while feeding. In large numbers, this species can critically damage elm populations. Often dozens of the tiny larvae--each only a few millimeters long--can be found on a single leaf, which they can skeletonize in a short period of time."
Scientists first detected this pest in the United States (Virginia) in 2021. Since 2022, it's been confirmed in four other states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and New York, according to research published in July 2023 in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management. The elm zigzag sawfly feeds exclusively on elms (Ulmus spp). It draws its name from the zizag-shaped pattern on the leaves as the larvae feed.
ESA prides itself on publishing world-class photography. Among the eight judges this year: Alex Wild, curator of entomology at the University of Texas and a doctoral alumnus from UC Davis. Wild studied with ant specialist Phil Ward, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
ESA issues a call for photos every January, and publishes the calendar every November. Of added interest, unselected images may appear on social media in the ESA's weekly "Arthropod Photo of the Week." Follow "Arthropod Photo of the Week" via the #arthropodPOTW hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon.
We remember that an image of a hoverfly by UC Davis alumnus Alexander Nguyen appeared in the 2018 World of Insects Calendar. (See UC Davis of Entomology and Nematology website.) Judges chose his photo as one of the 12 winning images from a field of 560 entries submitted by 133 photographers from multiple continents. Nguyen captured the image at the UC Davis Stebbens Cold Canyon Reserve in April 2017, using his Canon 7D camera and a MPE 65-mm lens. Senior insect biosystematist Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture identified the hover fly as a male Platycheirus trichopus (Thomson, 1869).
What images are in the 2024 calendar? You'll see an ant tending treehopper nymphs, a chalcid wasp on Hemipteran eggs, stingless bees, a sunburst diving beetle, a Baltimore checkerspot butterfly, a Corsican owlfly, an ant-mimicking crab spider, a giant silk moth, an ambush bug preying on a bumble bee, a chestnut weevil, a poplar sphinx moth and an East Asian red damselfly. In addition, images that won honorable mentions share space on the calendar.
You can order the calendar here.
The 7000-member ESA, founded in 1889 and located in Annapolis, Md., is the world's largest entomological organization. It is affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Congratulations to UC Davis doctoral students Shawn Christensen, Lexie Martin and Iris Quayle!
They each won the President's Prize (first-place) for their graduate student research presentations this week at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting in National Harbor, Md.
That's quite a feat and well-deserved! From bees to beetles...
Shawn and Lexie are members of the lab of associate professor and community ecologist Rachel Vannette, who serves as vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology andNematology. Iris studies with professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics for the department, and associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Shawn competed in the Plant-Insect Ecosystems (P-IE) Section, Apiculture; Lexie in the P-IE Section, Pollinator Biology; and Iris in Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity (SysEB) Section, Biogeography.
Shawn, who has advanced from doctoral student to doctoral candidate, presented his research, titled "Bee Specific! Solitary Bee (Anthophora bomboides) Hosts a Specialized Core Microbiome through Development." Lexie delivered her presentation on "Establishment and Health Impacts of Floral and Intraspecific Microbes in Bees." And Iris? “Colorless but Never Dull: Unraveling Population Genetics and Color Evolution in ‘White' Darkling Beetles (Onymacris).” (See news story)
Iris earlier won first-place for her graduate student presentation at the annual meeting of the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA), held in April in Seattle. This was her first-ever presentation at a scientific meeting. “Iris has hit the ground running in all respects," Professor Bond commented at the time. "Winning the student paper award, the first time ever presenting her research, reflects her exceptional capabilities as a scientist and as a future professor and teacher. Iris comes from a non-traditional STEM background and it is exactly those experiences that will continue to contribute to her success as she evolves as a scientist. I predict that this is only a prelude of things to come.”
Iris is focusing her dissertation on the evolutionary relationships and color/trait evolution in Onymacris. Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) comprise “more than 80 percent of all known beetle species in the Namib desert (Southern Africa) where the genus Onymacris contains a rarity unexpected from aptly named darkling beetles--the presence of several species with striking ‘white' elytra (wing sheaths).” (See news story)
The complete list of student winners--first, second and third places--is posted on the ESA site.
Founded in 1889, ESA is the largest entomological organization in the world. Its more than 7,000 members are affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The top honors went to:
- Doctoral candidate Shawn Christensen and doctoral student Alexia "Lexie" Martin, both of the lab of associate professor and community ecologist Rachel Vannette, vice chair of the department; and
- Doctoral student Iris Quayle of the lab of professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair and associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Christensen competed in the Plant-Insect Ecosystems (P-IE) Section, Apiculture; Martin in the P-IE Section, Pollinator Biology; and Quayle in the Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity (SysEB) Section, Biogeography.
Shawn Christensen. Christensen presented "Bee Specific! Solitary Bee (Anthophora bomboides) Hosts a Specialized Core Microbiome through Development."
His abstract: "Host-microbe interactions are important for the development and fitness of many macroorganisms. While social bees are dependent on a vertically transmitted gut microbiome, solitary bees, which comprise the vast majority of species diversity within bees, lack a specialized gut community. We explored the microbiome associated with the complete life cycle of the ground-nesting polylectic solitary bee Anthophora bomboides standfordiana, including bacterial and fungal composition and abundance. In contrast to expectations, we found that immature stages of this solitary bee maintain a distinct core microbiome consisting of Actinobacteria and one yeast species. Stage-specific shifts in microbial abundance and community composition occur most notably during bee diapause, during which the abundance of bacteria and fungi increased dramatically. We tested two adaptive hypotheses regarding the role of the microbiome in bee ecology. First, isolated brood cell Streptomyces strains were found to inhibit growth of multiple often pathogenic filamentous fungi, suggesting a role in pathogen protection during the long period of diapause. Second, sugar alcohol composition changed in tandem with major changes in microbial abundance suggesting links with bee metabolism or overwintering biology. Our results suggest that this Anthophora species hosts a conserved core microbiome that may provide key fitness advantages through larval development and overwintering. Much work remains to examine the nature of bee-microbiome ecology, but our study reframes the conditions thought to promote the evolution and maintenance of symbiosis."
Co-authors: Rachel Vannette and Sriram Srinivas, UC Davis; Quinn McFrederick, UC Riverside; Bryan Danworth, Cornell University; and Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona
Her abstract: "Bees interact with and in some cases benefit from a diverse community of microbes, which can be obtained through intraspecific interactions or the environment. Due to differences in sociality, bee species vary in their main route of microbial acquisition and their dependence on microbes. Despite the observation that intraspecific transmission of microbes is imperfect and environmental microbes are nearly ubiquitous in flowers, the potential impacts of intraspecific versus floral microbes on overall pollinator health have not been evaluated. This study uses two model bee species - one social (Bombus impatiens) and one solitary (Osmia lignaria)--to assess the establishment and health impacts of floral and intraspecific microbes. 2x2 factorial experiments were performed on B. impatiens microcolonies and O. lignaria females to selectively introduce intraspecific microbes and/or floral microbes. Survivorship and reproduction were measured to assess bee health and fitness, and DNA extractions and amplicon sequencing were performed on bee guts to evaluate microbial establishment. The results of this study will inform how microbes from different acquisition routes establish in the host, shape the gut microbiome, and affect host health. Since many macroorganisms encounter both intraspecific and environmental microbes, this study provides a framework for similar work in other organisms."
Co-author: Rachel Vannette, UC Davis
Her abstract: "In the Namib Desert, one of the largest and oldest deserts, the genus Onymacris contains a rarity for darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) – the presence of eight species with striking ‘white' elytra (ranging from stark white to tan/striped). This study seeks to examine the phylogenetic relationships among white Onymacris species to test whether multiple derivations of white elytra is due to convergence or introgression. Population genomic data (3RAD) was generated from all white species of Onymacris with intraspecific sampling for four widespread species (O. marginipennis, O. bicolor, O. candidipennis, O. langi cornelii). Phylogenetic trees were inferred from 995 loci using concatenated and coalescent-based methods. The analyses supported two clades: langi and bicolor each of which contain species with pure white elytra. Variational autoencoder (VAE) clustering analysis shows a pattern of genetically isolated populations (bicolor) and gene flow indicating introgression (langi). These analyses also infer a potential new Angolan species sister to O. marginipennis in need of evaluation. Ancestral character state and biogeographic reconstruction resolve the timing of white species' color expression against the backdrop of sand sea emergence and increased aridity in the Namib, a landscape renown for ‘pocket speciation' and an impressive amount of darkling beetle diversity accounting for nearly 80% of the known endemic beetle fauna. Dynamic coloration provides a fascinating system through which to examine the role of ecological pressures and evolutionary mechanisms but requires a phylogenetic framework to understand organisms' potential adaptations to extreme environments, which is increasingly vital in the face of global trends aridity trends."
Co-authors: Lisa Chamberland, James Starrett and Jason Bond, UC Davis
The full list of student winners--first, second and third places--is here.
Founded in 1889, ESA is the largest entomological organization in the world. Its more than 7,000 members are affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The annual meeting, hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), is taking place Nov. 5-8 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
The theme: "Insects and Influence: Advancing Entomology's Impact on People and Policy."
At the helm of ESA this year--and influencing scientists, insects and the general public--are four women scientists:
- President: Marianne Alleyne, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Vice President: Jennifer Henke, Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District
- Vice President-Elect: Lina Bernaola, Texas A&M University
- Past President: Jessica Ware, American Museum of Natural History
Among the top honorees at Entomology 2023 is UC Davis doctoral alumnus Douglas Walsh, professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology, Washington State University (WSU). He is one of six newly elected Fellows
"Walsh is known internationally for his research on the modes of action and resistance mechanisms of acaricides on spider mites and regionally in the Pacific Northwest for his extension and outreach efforts on specialty crops," ESA announced in a news release, citing that:
"Walsh has maintained a well-funded (more than $30 million) and productive program as the research director of the Environmental and Agricultural Entomology Laboratory located at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in the Yakima Valley near Prosser, Washington. Walsh is the Extension integrated pest management (IPM) coordinator for Washington State and the Washington State liaison representative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture IR-4 Project."
"Walsh has an extensive and varied integrated pest and pollinator management research and Extension program assisting regionally important commodities including hops, alfalfa, grapes, and mint. Walsh also directs environmental impact studies on alfalfa leafcutting and alkali bees, the key pollinators of alfalfa produced for seed. Walsh's efforts in IPM have resulted in the documented reduction of over 100,000 pounds of insecticide use in the Pacific Northwest annually."
Born in New York in 1963 and a resident of California since 1969, Walsh holds a bachelor's degree in biology from UC Santa Cruz (1985). He received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1998, studying with major professor Frank Zalom, who went on to become a UC Davis distinguished professor and president and Honorary Member of ESA. "He is very deserving," Zalom said. "I couldn't be more proud of all that he has accomplished." Zalom is now emeritus, but continues to do research.
"I was Frank's first PhD student," Walsh said. "Frank had one before me, Rachid Hanna. Frank picked up Rachid when Rachid was orphaned when his original professor left UC Davis. Rachid and I quibble about who was Frank's first student. I'm the first that went from start to finish with Frank."
"(Professors) Sean Duffy and Harry Kaya were also on my PhD committee," Walsh said.
Outstanding Graduate Student. Kaya remembers Walsh well. "He was studying integrated pest management at UC Davis and was an outstanding graduate student in Frank Zalom's lab," Kaya said. "Even as a graduate student, he published some significant papers on IPM research, and I had no doubt that he would excel in research in his post graduate years. He has not only done superb IPM research but has been a leader in the Entomological Society of America as well as other national and international organizations. He richly deserves being elected as an ESA Fellow."
Walsh joined the WSU Department of Entomology as assistant professor in 1998 and advanced to associate professor in 2003 and to professor in 2007. The author of more than 200 publications, he annually delivers more than 35 Extension presentations. He has mentored 12 doctoral students and 11 master's degree students.
Walsh served as president of the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA) in 2010 and represented PBESA on the ESA governing board from 2013 through 2019. Among his ESA awards: Excellence in IPM Award and he led two teams that received the IPM Team Award.
A WSU news story (Sept. 7, 2023) related that Walsh has "worked primarily on pest control issues, mostly on hops, grape vines, mint, and alfalfa. One of his first successes at WSU in 2005 involved developing a novel method for controlling cutworms, which climb up from the soil in spring to nibble on grapevine buds."
Walsh initially set out to become a botanist. “I was working in a local Extension office in California after I got my bachelor's degree," he told the WSU writer Scott Weybright. "That work involved battling spider mites on strawberries. I kind of fell into entomology, but I love the work and the creative solutions we find to help growers."
His wife, Catherine (Kikie) is a senior software engineer with Altera Digital, a hospital software firm. The couple, married 35 years, raised three children, Claire, Russ, and Jeff, all WSU grads. Claire is the lifecycle marketing manager with Niantic Labs; Russ is working toward his master's degree in teaching at WSU Tri-Cities: and Jeff is a site reliability engineer at TikTok.
Other newly inducted ESA Fellows are:
- Cassandra Extavour, Harvard University
- James Hagler, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Alvin M. Simmons, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Lukasz Stelinski, University of Florida
- Edward L. Vargo, Texas A&M University
Founded in 1889, ESA is a worldwide organization of more than 7000 members, who are affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.