- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis Linnaean Games Team has successfully defended its national championship.
The team, comprised of three UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology graduate students, defeated the University of Georgia in the championship round.
The annual Linnaean Games, sponsored by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), took place at ESA's recent meeting in Orlando, Fla., held in conjunction with the International Congress of Entomology meeting.
UC Davis team members are captain Ralph Washington, a third-year graduate student; Brendon Boudinot, a third-year graduate student; and Emily Bick, a second-year graduate student. They defeated the University of Georgia, the 2012 winner, in the championship match (score, UC Davis 145; Georgia, 55). The UC Davis entomologists earlier outscored Ohio State University, North Carolina State University (champions in 2014), and Texas A&M in advancing to the finals.
Washington is studying for his doctorate with major professors Steve Nadler and Brian Johnson, who respectively specialize in systematics and evolutionary biology of nematodes and the evolution, behavior, genetics, and health of honey bees; Boudinot with major professor Phil Ward, systematics and evolutionary biology of ants; and Bick, with major professor Christian Nansen. Bick is working on ecosystem models to optimize pest management in two systems: invasive aquatic weed species water hyacinth and its biological control agent, Neochetina bruchi; and working to control Lygus bugs using alfalfa as a trap crop in strawberries. UC Davis Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey serves as the advisor.
- Question: “You have just moved into an apartment that has been vacant for weeks but whose prior owners had several cats and dogs. A very few days after you move in you are bitten by a huge number of cat fleas that seem to have appeared out of nowhere. What characteristic behavior of cat fleas biology is probably responsible for this?”
Answer: “Cat flea pupae eclose in response to the presence of a host.” -
Question: Insects inhabiting a very thin water film such as splash zones marginal to streams are called what?
Answer: Madicoles - Question: The insect order Notoptera unites what two former insect orders?
Answer: Notoptera unites Mantophasmatodea and Grylloblattodea - Question: What are the two obvious clinical symptoms that someone is suffering from onchocerciasis?
Answer: Blindness and hanging tissue around lymph nodes, often times the scrotum. - Question: What is the common name for the zygentoman pest that thrives in high humidity and high temperatures and is often found in boiler rooms?
Answer: The firebrat, Thermobia domestica. - Question: Projection neurons travel across what two major regions of the insect brain?
Answer: The protocerebrum and the deutocerebrum.
(Editor's Note: The video of the 2016 Linnaean Games' championship match will soon be posted on the ESA YouTube channel. Meanwhile, here's a link to the 2015 championship game, won by UC Davis. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL21ACF32985978D25
Related Links:
![Emily Bick, Brendon Boudinot (center) and Ralph Washington Jr. collaborate on an answer. (Chuck Fazio Photography) Emily Bick, Brendon Boudinot (center) and Ralph Washington Jr. collaborate on an answer. (Chuck Fazio Photography)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/39903.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
This was the inaugural meeting of the Grand Challenges in Entomology Initiative. ESA is committed to thinking and acting more globally, enhancing its influence by establishing a science policy program, identifying attainable challenges for entomology that could lead to sustainable solutions for some of the world's important insect-based problems, and more effectively communicating what entomologists do to improve the human condition. At the invitation-only Summit, the participants explored “three broad issues of major global importance to which entomology can make a unique and powerful contribution”:
- Sustainable agriculture – global hunger, food security, and natural resources preservation
- Public health related to vector-borne diseases
- Invasive insect species – global trade, biodiversity, and climate change
ESA president May Berenbaum, professor and department head, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Zalom welcomed the crowd.
Zalom co-chaired the Summit with
- Silvia Dorn, professor of applied entomology, ETH Zurich; past president of the Swiss Society of Phytomedicine; and fellow of the ESA, Royal Entomological Society, and International Society of Horticultural Sciences.
- Le Kang, director of the Institute of Zoology and president of Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; current president of the Entomological Society of China; and fellow of ESA and TWAS (formerly Third World Academy of Sciences)
- Antônio R. Panizzi, senior scientist, Embrapa and professor, Federal University at Curitiba; and former president of the Entomological Society of Brazil
- John Pickett, Michael Elliott Distinguished Research Fellow at Rothamsted Research; immediate past president of the Royal Entomological Society; and fellow of ESA and Royal Entomological Society
Introductory comments on behalf of the co-chairs emphasized that “leadership meetings such as this one provide an opportunity for connectivity among the world's entomology societies."
This was the very first International Entomology Leadership Summit at an ICE meeting. It was aimed at connecting leaders from the entomological community worldwide and discussing how entomologists "can make unique and powerful contributions toward solving some of the world's insect-based problems, a goal that can be achieved only through collaborative, international efforts," officials said. The last ICE meeting held in the United States (Washngton, D.C.) took place 40 years ago.
Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, co-chaired ICE 2016 with Alvin Simmons, research entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS), U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina.
Leal said that 6,682 delegates from 102 countries attended the historical ICE 2016 meeting in Orlando. “Alvin and I were very glad to hear about the level of satisfaction: 87 percent,” Leal said, adding that "we worked very hard to prepare for the Congress and promised it would be a historic event: mission accomplished!”
![Summit co-chair Frank Zalom of UC Davis and past president of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), addresses the International Entomology Leadership Summit. (Photo Courtesy of ICE/ESA) Summit co-chair Frank Zalom of UC Davis and past president of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), addresses the International Entomology Leadership Summit. (Photo Courtesy of ICE/ESA)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/39677.jpg)
![Co-chair Frank Zalom discusses the grand challenges. Seated on stage are the other co-chairs of the International Entomology Leadership Summit. Co-chair Frank Zalom discusses the grand challenges. Seated on stage are the other co-chairs of the International Entomology Leadership Summit.](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/39678.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That's what UC San Francisco medical student Joshua Lang wrote in his piece, With Summer Coming, Can the Zika Virus Be Contained?, published April 14 in The New Yorker.
Meanwhile, at UC Davis, plans are underway for a public "Zika Public Awareness Symposium," set Thursday, May 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Room 1001 of Giedt Hall.
"It is very important that students and the public-at-large learn how to prevent a possible Zika epidemic as this is the first virus known to be transmitted both sexually and by mosquitoes," said coordinator Walter Leal, a chemical ecologist and professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Leal, who collaborates with fellow mosquito researchers in his native Brazil, is the co-chair of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) meeting, to take place Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla.
"This symposium is important to host because Zika is a rapidly spreading across the globe so people need to be informed," said Amarita Singh, one of the 18 students organizing the symposium. "Recent studies have shown that this particular virus not only affects pregnant women, but is a threat to all. Since there is no vaccine or medication, it is better to educate now to help prevention."
"I became more aware of the disease when Professor Leal began to discuss it in our biochemistry class, which is what originally sparked my interest," Singh said. "After learning about how dangerous the disease was and the discovery of the first case in Yolo County, I decided to take the opportunity in organizing the symposium."
Singh added: "It is incredible how much research has been done on Zika virus in the short amount of time. I am hopeful that in the near future that a vaccine will be developed, but until then we should do everything in our power to prevent this horrible virus from spreading. My concerns are that people may not be well informed which allows the virus to spread even more rapidly."
Said James Warwick, also one of the student organizers: "I think one of the scariest things about Zika in the United States is the lack of public knowledge about it. The scientific community needs to research the virus and develop a vaccine, but can't without funding. And without public pressure, securing funding is going to be slow. Also, the sheer suddenness in which Zika has burst onto the global scene has left both scientific research and public knowledge behind. That is why we are hosting the symposium, to bring the public up to speed, update them on the current research, and to give them the knowledge they need to protect themselves against transmission. As a byproduct, public awareness will increase public pressure to get the world on the right track to stop the spread of Zika."
"The virus itself is extremely alarming," Warwick said. "It can cause extreme neurological and immunological defects, as we see in babies born to infected mothers. But the direct hosts' symptoms usually consist only of temporary pain, rashes, fever, and the like; and only one in four or so people infected with Zika become symptomatic. So there is a very real possibility that a person could be infected, not be aware of it, and potentially pass on the undetected infection to sexual partners or their children. This is made all the more plausible by the fact that many people have never heard of Zika."
A flier (below) distributed at the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day noted that the "Zika virus is a risk to all of us, not just to pregnant women." At the May 26th symposium, folks will "learn the symptoms and learn the facts and science about Zika and how you can protect yourself from this disease."
The scientific-based symposium will include "expert panels and speakers throughout the United States and the world, including those working on the front lines of the Zika epidemic." Speakers will be announced soon.
Attendance to the symposium is free, but due to limited space, those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to ucdstudentsagainstzikav@gmail.com
![Zika Flyer Zika Flyer](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/35765.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're nurturing a passionflower vine (Passiflora), you've probably seen "The Butterfly Ballet."'
The Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), orangish-reddish butterflies with silver-spangled wings, stay close to Passiflora, their host plant. It's the circle of life. The males patrol for females, find them, and mate. The females lay eggs, eggs become caterpillars, caterpillars become chrysalids. The adults emerge, and the Butterfly Ballet begins anew.
The Gulf Frits have no borders or boundaries, nor should they, as they shoot and soar over fences and gates. Theirs is not a gated community.
The "no-borders, no-boundaries" scenario reminds us of the upcoming conference of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE), to take place Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla. The theme: "Entomology Without Borders."
The conference, expected to be the world's largest gathering of entomologists--some 7,000 are expected to attend--is chaired by chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and vegetable research entomologist Alvin Simmons of USDA/ARS. They have lined up prestigious speakers, including two Nobel Prize winners: Peter Agre (Nobel Laureate, 2003 and Jules Hoffmann (Nobel Laureate, 2011). Among the other speakers is one of Cuba's leading entomologists, Juan Andrés Bisset, head of the Vector Control Department at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine and an advisor to the Cuban Public Health Ministry.
Other UC Davis connections? Two of the plenary speakers are James R. Carey, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, and Arizona State University Provost Robert E. Page Jr., former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
ICE is held once every four years in different countries around the world. Next year it will be held simultaneously with the annual meetings of the Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, and other organizations. For more information, access the ICE website at http://ice2016orlando.org.
Meanwhile, think of "Gulf Frits Without Gulfs" or "Bugs Without Borders" closely linked to "Entomology Without Borders."
![Gulf Fritillaries in a Gulf Fritillaries in a](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/32918.jpg)
![A trio of Gulf Fritillaries. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A trio of Gulf Fritillaries. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/32919.jpg)
![Gulf Fritillary casts a shadow over a tendril. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Gulf Fritillary casts a shadow over a tendril. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/32920.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Professor Walter Leal of the University of California, Davis, is co-chairing the 2016 International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference, themed "Entomology Without Borders," to be held Sept. 25-30 in Orlando, Fla. Some 7000 entomologists from all over the world are expected to attend.
But he himself could be considered an "entomologist without borders."
Leal has achieved international, national and state recognition and stature for his work in insect communication and his leadership achievements.
Leal, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. was just named an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Entomology at a conference held in Dublin, Ireland. He was recognized for his lifetime contributions to entomological science at the global level. He earlier was named a fellow of the society.
And, on Oct. 13, Leal will be inducted as a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, "a governing group of more than 400 distinguished scientists who have made notable contributions to one or more of the natural sciences." Leal joins Lynne A. Isbell, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Anthropology, as the two UC Davis inductees this year.
Leal, born in Brazil and educated in Brazil and Japan, joined the UC Davis faculty in 2000. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Entomological Society of America and is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
A chemical ecologist, Leal is a past president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology and received the silver, medal, the society's highest honor, in 2012. He was the first non-Japanese scientist to earn tenure in the Japan Ministry of Agriculture.
Leal investigates the molecular basis of olfaction in insects and insect chemical communication. (See the Leal lab's work on DEET in Entomology Today.) He researches environmentally friendly alternatives to control insects of medical importance, and also targets agricultural pests. (See research projects.)
Leal is truly an entomologist without borders. In addition to his many global accomplishments and achievements, he is a citizen of the world, speaking his native Portuguese, as well as Japanese, and English.
![Walter Leal: an entomologist without borders. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Walter Leal: an entomologist without borders. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/32598.jpg)