- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The event, free and family friendly, takes place in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building. 455Crocker Lane, and will feature noted dragonfly expert Rosser Garrison of Sacramento, widely recognized as one of the current leading experts of the taxonomy of New World Odonata.
Garrison, who retired in 2017 as a senior insect biosystematist in the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Plant Pest Diagnostics Branch, Sacramento, continues his research on dragonflies. He has collected more than 50,000 dragonflies specimens throughout the world. His collection now contains more than half of all the known species of the world.
“Dragonfly relatives existed before the onset of the dinosaurs---Triassic Period, 250 to 200 million years ago,” Garrison says. Some of these gigantic dragonfly-like insects had wingspans of about three feet.
Garrison offers other interesting facts about dragonflies:
- They have a primitive flight mechanism compared to other insects, bees, butterflies, beetles and flies.”
- They, at least many dragonflies, mostly mate on the wing.
- They are not poisonous and they do not sew up people's ears (“devil's darning needles”). However, one group of large dragonflies are called—appropriately—"Darners."
- Larvae have a neat prehensile foldable lower lip unique in insects; it is used for capturing prey like mosquito larvae or even small fish.
Garrison received his bachelor of science degree at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz., in 1971, and both his master's degree (1974) and doctorate (1979) from UC Berkeley. From February 1981 to June 1982, he worked as a terrestrial invertebrate ecologist for the Center of Energy and Environment Research where he conducted ecological research in a tropical rain forest at the El Verde Field Station in Luquillo Forest, Puerto Rico.
He developed an interest in insects at age 3. Soon dragonflies and (later) damselflies captivated his interest "due to their overall beauty and fascinating biology."
"I continued to collect and maintain a collection of insects from an early age and later enjoyed identifying them using the third edition of the classic entomology text An Introduction to the Study of Insects by D.J. Borror and D. Delong," he said. His main interest is the systematics of Odonata with a strong emphasis on the Neotropical fauna.
He and his wife, Natalia von Ellenrieder, a senior insect biosystematist with CDFA, have worked intensively with the Odonata fauna of the Neotropical region. He has written more than 100 publications pertaining to Odonata, including three books: Dragonfly Genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Anisoptera (2006), Damselfly Genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Zygoptera (2010) and, as co-author, Dragonflies of the Yuangas: A Field Guide to the Species from Argentina (2007).
Garrison has written or co-written taxonomic revisions of more than 20 genera of New World Odonata, such as Enallagma (1984), Hetaerina (1990), Erpetogomphus (1994), Mnesarete (2006) and Telebasis (2009). His present taxonomic work, jointly with von Ellenrieder, focuses on the speciose genus Argia on which he has published several revisions (1994, 1996, 2019, 2019, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 (in press).
Garrison's publications include descriptions of more than 75 new species and six new genera of Odonata. In the Americas, he has done entomological field work in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Guyana, French Guiana, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. He has also collected dragonflies in Australia, Papua New Guinea, China, Thailand, Namibia and Iran. One genus and 10 species of Odonates are named after him.
Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas said that other local dragonfly specialists and students "will be there to answer all manner of questions concerning dragonflies and damselflies. Bring photos you have taken to have identifications made." An arts and crafts activity for all ages is also planned.
Throughout the afternoon, the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), curated by entomologist Jeff Smith, will be open, as will the live insect display showcasing Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to touch or "pet" the cockroaches and stick insects and take selfies.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. It is the global home of eight million insect specimens, as well as the live "petting zoo" and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry, collecting equipment and more. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
![A red flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stake in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A red flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stake in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95760.jpg)
![Widow skimmer, Libellula luctuosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Widow skimmer, Libellula luctuosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95761.jpg)
![Variegated meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Variegated meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95762.jpg)
![Red-veined meadowhawk, Sympetirum madidum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Red-veined meadowhawk, Sympetirum madidum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/95763.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“Severyn asked if he could create the fly display case in the Ukrainian colors of blue and gold,” said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. "Of course!" she told him.
Korneyev, a researcher with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Department of General and Applied Entomology, Kyiv, Ukraine, accepted a joint postdoctoral position with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in September 2020. He joined the Kimsey lab and the Stephen Gaimari (CDFA) lab.
His fly diversity display was one of three newly created traveling display cases that the Bohart Museum showcased at its open house on April 23 during the 108th annual UC Davis Picnic Day. (Emma Jochim, a graduate student in the Jason Bond lab, and Megan Ma, an undergraduate student in the Bond lab, crafted a display on California spiders. Marissa Sandoval and Regina Fairbanks, both graduate students in Population Biology, focused on "Ants as Farmers.")
"Flies is one of the major insect orders with considerable ecological and human importance," he wrote. "Flies are important pollinators. Fruit flies are used as model organisms in research and have significant impact on agriculture. Flies and mosquitoes are vectors for diseases: malaria, dengue, yellow fever, human sleeping sickness and animal trypanosomiasis."
A member of the Ukrainian Entomological Society and the Entomological Society of America, Korneyev specializes in the systematics and taxonomy of the true fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). His expertise includes morphological and molecular diagnostics, collection management, and the field collecting of insects.
Korneyev is the lead author of "Phylogeny of the Genus Tephritis Latreille, 1804 (Diptera: Tephritidae)," published in May 2020 in Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny. Gaimari is one of the co-authors.
Korneyev holds a doctorate in entomology (2016) from the I.I.Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He received both his bachelor's degree and his master's degree in zoology, with honors, from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Korneyev served as a 2017-2018 Fulbright scholar with the Research and Development Program. Michigan State University, East Lansing. He speaks his native tongue, Ukrainian, as well as English and Russian.
Korneyev said today that "my family members in Ukraine are Ok, and my parents are in Germany. His parents had been trapped in Kyiv. "They were hiding in the metro. Later I convinced them to move out of the city."
The war is horrendous, he said. "Mariupol is almost like Sacramento and it was turned to dust."
"There is an official website to help the Ukrainian military," he said, adding that it is at:
https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/
![Postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev, a Ukranian dipterist, created this fly diversity display as a traveling exhibit for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev, a Ukranian dipterist, created this fly diversity display as a traveling exhibit for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/90443.jpg)
![This is Severyn Korneyev's fly diversity display showcased at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) This is Severyn Korneyev's fly diversity display showcased at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/90444.jpg)
![A visitor at the Bohart Museum open house reads Severyn Korneyev's fly diversity display. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A visitor at the Bohart Museum open house reads Severyn Korneyev's fly diversity display. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/90445.jpg)
![UC Davis and CDFA postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev, a Ukranian dipterian, fields questions at the Bohart Museum open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) UC Davis and CDFA postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev, a Ukranian dipterian, fields questions at the Bohart Museum open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/90446.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Friday Fly Day--and time to post images of a syrphid fly.
Syrphid flies, often mistaken for honey bees, are pollinators, too.
Also known as flower flies and hover flies, syrphids hover over a flower before touching down. "Most species are predaceous, most commonly on aphids or mealybugs," according to the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. "Some syrphids prey on ants, caterpillars, froghoppers, psyllids, scales, other insects, or mites. About 100 to 400 aphids can be fed upon by each aphid-feeding larva before it pupates, but this varies by the mature size of the syrphid relative to the aphids' size."
They are easily distinguished from honey bees because (1) bees don't hover, and (2) syrphids have only one pair of wings, while bees have two. "Their large eyes and short antenna also give them away, notes Kelly Rourke in a U.S. Forest Service article on "Syrphid Fly (Sphaerophoria philanthus). The absence of pollinium, or pollen sacs, is more difficult to see, but is another difference from a bee. Of the nearly 900 species of flower flies (family Syrphidae) in North America, most have yellow and black stripes."
Several years ago we captured images of a syrphid fly and an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) on a rose bush in our Vacaville pollinator garden.
The scenario: Aphids were sucking plant juice on one end and secreting honey dew on the other end. The lady beetle was feasting on the aphids and getting sticky from all that honey dew.
Then along came a syrphid, a female Scaeva pyrastri, as identified by senior insect biosystematist Martin Hauser of the Plant Pest Diagnostic Branch, California Department of Food and Agriculture. It hovered over the lady beetle and then dropped down to lick the honey dew from the beetle's head.
'Twas a happy day for the lady beetle and the syrphid fly, but not so much for the aphids.
![A syrphid fly, a female Scaeva pyrastri, hovers over an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A syrphid fly, a female Scaeva pyrastri, hovers over an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/88496.jpg)
![The syrphid fly licks honey dew from the head of the lady beetle, which had just feasted on the honeydew-producing aphids on a rose bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The syrphid fly licks honey dew from the head of the lady beetle, which had just feasted on the honeydew-producing aphids on a rose bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/88497.jpg)
California Invasive Species Action Week began Saturday, June 5 and runs through Sunday, June 13, 2021. Increasing public awareness of invasive species and their impacts helps protect our natural resources, waterways, native species, agriculture, and health.
UC IPM has several resources on exotic and invasive species as well as information on specific pests both present in California as well as pests that have a high likelihood of being detected in California in the near future.
You can participate in this year's activities in the following ways:
- Check out our previous blog posts on invasive species in California including what makes a weed an invasive plant, an invasive pest spotlight on shot hole borers, and what you can do to stop the spread of invasive pests.
- Attend Invasive Species Week Lunchtime Talks. Register in advance for these free webinars presented by UC ANR.
- Learn about invasive species in California's wildlands and waterways from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
- Find out if there's a pest quarantine in your area and what you can do to minimize spread from the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
For more information and the full list of activities for California Invasive Species Action Week, visit their website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a syrphid, aka hover fly or flower fly, that resembles a bumble bee?
Volucella bombylans is a fascinating fly that engages in identify theft. Of a bumble bee. It's a "wanna bee."
At first glance, it looks very much like a bumble bee, the Bombus melanopygus edwardsii, according to the late Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California. Unlike a bumble bee, however, the fly has short stubby antennae and two wings instead of four. And, of course, it cannot sting.
Most of the species in the genus are inquilines, that is, they lay their eggs in bumble bee and wasp nests, and the larvae consume the host larvae.
We were fortunate to see a Volucella species recently in Vacaville. There's only one valid species of Volucella in North America, Volucella bombylans, according to Andrew Young, a postdoctoral fellow at the California Department of Food and Agriculture who addressed the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology at a Feb. 5 seminar (pre coronavirus pandemic). "However, DNA evidence points to this being a species complex. So, I think it would be most accurate to call it Volucella bombylans complex right now."
If you have a chance, listen to Young's fascinating seminar, "The Natural History of Syrphidae: From Pollinators To Parasitoids." You watch it free here. Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology introduced him.
His abstract: "Syrphidae (Dlptera) is a species-rich family of true fly, with over 6200 described species worldwide," he says in his abstract. "Often known as flower flies or hover flies, syrphlds are likely the most significant group of pollinators outside of the bees--especially in Arctic climates. While research into their pollination-related behavior is still nascent, other aspects of flower fly biology have been relatively well-studied."
"Adults of many species are well-known for their impressive mimicry of stinging Hymenoptera, and known larvae display a degree of habitat diversity that is unusually broad for a single family of Diptera. Many larvae are predators on soft-bodied insects such as aphids, and therefore, show potential for crop-pest management, while others are aquatic filter-feeders that may have value in waste-management applications."
Young studied Syrphidae in the lab of Stephen Marshall, professor of entomology at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Marshall and Young are among the six co-authors of Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America" (Princeton University Press, 2019), a book described as "a groundbreaking guide to flower flies in North America."
![A hover fly that's a bumble bee mimic: this is Volucella bombylans complex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A hover fly that's a bumble bee mimic: this is Volucella bombylans complex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/68973.jpg)
![The hover fly, a Volucella bombylans complex, departs its perch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The hover fly, a Volucella bombylans complex, departs its perch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/68974.jpg)
![It's a fly; not a bee! Side view of the syrphid fly bumble bee mimic, Volucella bombylans complex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) It's a fly; not a bee! Side view of the syrphid fly bumble bee mimic, Volucella bombylans complex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/68976.jpg)
![A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, investigates a pansy. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, investigates a pansy. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/68978.jpg)