- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will not only celebrate insect and nematode diversity at Briggs Hall during the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20, but also "The Diversity of Arachnids."
Doctoral student Emma "Em" Jochim of the Jason Bond lab is coordinating an exhibit she created last year to display the diversity of arachnids, such as vinegaroons, whip spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions.
"We'll have live animals and fact sheets that will give a general overview of their diversity, behavior, and habitat," Jochim points out. "I'll also bring some curated specimens to show what goes into creating a scientific collection and talk about why collections are important for understanding biodiversity."
Emma holds a bachelor's degree in biology, with a minor in geology and chemistry, from Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss., where she graduated summa cum laude. Her honors thesis: "Species Delimitation of Vaejovis Scorpions from the Santa Catalina Mountains Using Genetic, Morphological, and Geographical Data." While a student at Millsaps College, her outreach activities including sharing her knowledge of tarantulas, scorpions and vinegaroons at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.
At UC Davis, her advisor is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology; the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology; and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He's also the president-elect of the American Arachnological Society.
What can you see at Briggs Hall during UC Davis Picnic Day? Cockroach races, maggot art, walking sticks, flies, ants, bees, nematodes, beetles, butterflies, mosquitoes and more. The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association will be selling insect-themed T-shirts. (See news story)
Most Briggs Hall events are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., announced the co-chairs, doctoral student Grace Horne and forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey. This year the Bohart Museum of Entomology, part of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, will staff a pop-up tent in front of Briggs from noon to 4 p.m. The theme: "Bonding with the Bohart." Visitors can hold walking sticks and Madagascar hissing cockroaches from the Bohart's live petting zoo, and see insect specimens, including butterflies, bees, beetles and dragonflies. (The Academic Surge Building, home of the Bohart Museum, will be closed on Picnic Day).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Members of the Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology design insect and arachnid-themed T-shirts that are all the fashion.
The critters climb, crawl, jump, roll, flutter, buzz, fly or otherwise position themselves on EGSA T-shirts.
If you've ever seen the EGSA booth at Briggs Hall during the campuswide annual UC Davis Picnic Day, you know how popular the T-shirts are.
They are hot-ticket items during the holiday season, too. They can be viewed and ordered online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/.
EGSA president Mia Lippey, a doctoral student in the laboratories of UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim and assistant professor Emily Meineke, says that currently, the designs offered are:
- The Beetles (in black or red)
- Entomo Gothic (a play on the American Gothic, in grey)
- Whip Scorpion (in lavender and black)
- Bee-Haw (in black)
- They See Me Rollin' (dung beetles rolling a poop, in heather blue)
- Et in Terra (dark green)
- Entomophagy (in blue and green)
All T-shirts come in sizes from XS to XXL.
"The Beetles" T-shirt is EGSA's all-time best seller. Instead of the English rock band John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star crossing Abbey Road in single file (that's the iconic image on the cover of their album, Abbey Road), think of The Beetles (four insects) crossing Abbey Road in single file. Beneath the images of the beetles are their family names: Phengogidae, Curculionidae, Cerambycidae and Scarabaeidae. Think glowworm, snout, long-horned, and scarab beetles.
One of the newer designs is "Bee Haw," of a honey bee disguised as a cowgirl, complete with hat and rope. The entomophagy ("eating insects") T-shirts are also "in," as are those that whip and roll--whip scorpions and dung beetles.
They are also great conversation pieces! What's that design on your shirt? Where did you get it?
With Halloween coming up I am seeing lots of scary faux spiders among front yard Halloween decorations. I must admit I am guilty of feeding into the arachnophobia that so many people have by placing a big fake hairy tarantula in my yard.
Fascinating Creatures
Most spiders are solitary creatures, but some form groups and even cooperate in brood care, caring for other spiders' offspring.
Not all spiders spin webs but those that do can create an incredible assortment of web designs, depending on the species, including spiral orbs, funnels, tubular, or ground sheets.
In some cases, two or more males will perform for a female to compete for her favor.
Some drop their silk to act as parachutes so they can drift on the slightest breeze
While spiders do not have brains in the traditional sense, a type of jumping spider appears to remember similar prey it has encountered, using trial and error to determine what works in capturing it.
Common and Beneficial
Spiders are the most common miniature living things living in our homes (besides micro-organisms). We are seldom aware of them because they conceal themselves in hidden spots (thus camouflaging themselves from their prey), tend to be active at night, and avoid humans. After all, we are much bigger than they are!
Spiders are beneficial organisms because they feed on common indoor pests such as mosquitoes, flies, roaches, earwigs, and moths. An additional benefit: many of the indoor pests that spiders consume can transmit diseases, i.e., mosquitoes, fleas, flies, and cockroaches. If left alone, spiders will consume most of the insects in your home, thus providing effective pest control.
Spider Bites
The jaws of most spiders are too small to bite humans. Of those that can bite, they will bite only if provoked, but very few spider bites are dangerous to humans. If you are bitten, the bite area may swell slightly and itch.
The adult female black widow is the primary spider in California capable of seriously injuring people. If bitten, remain calm and seek medical help.
Contrary to common myth, the brown recluse spider does not reside in California.
Managing Spiders
If you do have a spider issue around your home, the most effective way to manage them is to do regular housecleaning. Sweep or vacuum up their webs both indoors and outdoors, and prevent clutter build up that can provide hiding places for them both indoors and outdoors. If you do come across one, capture it in a jar and release it outside in an out-of-the-way spot. Avoid using pesticides since the chemicals will also kill other beneficial insects.
Appreciate Spiders Beneficial Role and Help Protect Them!
I will continue to put out my big “scary” tarantula out with the Halloween décor because spiders are so awesome. However, I do not put out the fake webbing, because like real spider webs, they can trap beneficial insects, spiders, and even small birds such as hummingbirds.
I will continue to allow spiders to share my home and garden, so they can do their crucial work of reducing pests. I much prefer having a few spiders around than mosquitoes, flies, moths, or cockroaches!
You do not have to love spiders like I do, but I hope you can appreciate the vital role arachnids play in our homes and gardens, and generally let them be.
References:
Spiders: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/spiderscard.html
Pests of Homes, Structures, People and Pets: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7442.html
Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener since 2020.
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- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Professor Bond is serving a 2023-2025 term with president Linda Rayor of Cornell University's Department of Entomology, and then will assume the presidency. Bond specializes in the evolutionary diversification of terrestrial arthropods, specifically spiders, millipedes, and tenebrionid beetles. Rayor, a behavioral ecologist, focuses her research on the evolution of sociality in spiders.
AAS has played a huge role in Bond's career, with lifelong friends, colleagues, and collaborators who extend back nearly 30 years. "I consider it an honor to serve as AAS president."
AAS, founded in 1972, aims “to further the study of arachnids, foster closer cooperation and understanding between amateur and professional arachnologists, and to publish the Journal of Arachnology, according to its website. The journal is published three times a year.
A member of AAS since 1993, Bond co-hosted the 2022 AAS meeting at UC Davis, which included an outreach event, “Eight-Legged Encounters,” at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Bond joined the UC Davis faculty in 2018 after a seven-year academic career at Auburn University, Ala. He served as professor of biology, director of the Auburn University Museum of Natural History (2011-2105); chair of the Department of Biological Sciences from January 2016 to July 2018; and as curator of arachnids and myriapods (centipedes, millipedes, and related animals) from August 2011 to July 2018.
Bond also is the co-editor-in-chief of the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity, published by the Entomological Society of America. He and co-editor Hojun Song of Texas A&M began serving their four-year terms in 2022.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Bond served as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew chief upon graduation from high school.
Jason received his bachelor's degree in biological sciences, cum laude, in 1993 from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, and his master's degree in biology in 1995 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. He earned his doctorate in evolutionary systematics and genetics in 1999 from Virginia Tech.
Research in his lab currently focuses on the California trapdoor spider fauna, specifically species delimitation, phylogeography, systematics and taxonomy; Bond has described many new spider taxa to include new families, genera, and more than 50 species.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," co-sponsored by the American Arachnological Society (AAS) and held June 25 in the Academic Surge Building, drew more than 250 attendees and 40 volunteers.
"It was an absolutely amazing event!" said arachnologist Jason Bond of UC Davis, co-host of the AAS meeting.
"We were pleased to see such a large turnout from the community but even more so delighted to see so many young people," said Bond, associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and professor and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "There were over 40 volunteer arachnologists representing a national and international contingent of expertise. While we couldn't have done it without them, they also contributed a tremendous amount of expertise, excitement, and energy to the event."
Hebets, the Charles Bessey Professor at UNL and president of the Animal Behavior Society, co-hosted the open house as part of a U.S. National Science Foundation grant, “Eight-Legged Encounters” that she developed as an outreach project to connect arachnologists with communities, especially youth. (See her website).
Some 20 activity tables lined the hallway of the Academic Surge Building.
"Our Eight-Legged Encounters event at the UC Davis Bohart Museum far exceeded our expectations!" said Professor Hebets. "It was an incredibly successful event, with well over 250 attendees and more then 40 volunteers, many of which were graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from across the country and world. There is no doubt it was a life-changing experience for some of our young attendees as well as some of the student volunteers. I am so very thankful for the help and support we received from the Bohart Museum and from Dr. Jason Bond and his laboratory. It could not have happened without them."
Bond co-hosted the AAS conference, held June 26-30 on the UC Davis campus, with Lisa Chamberland, postdoctoral research associate of the Bond lab, and Joel Ledford, assistant professor of teaching, Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences. Chamberland coordinated the spider-species naming project with second-year doctoral student Emma Jochim of the Bond lab and incoming doctoral student Iris Bright, who starts this fall. No winner has yet been announced.
Some of the displays:
- "Black widow hourglasses are actually on their bellies. These spiders are actually social!"--Laura
- "I want to learn what is in spider venom and how it helps catch prey."--Greta
- "Trapdoor spiders live in California and eat bugs. There are many unknown species. I use DNA to find new species."-Jim
The Bohart Museum also drew scores of visitors during the 1 to 4 p.m. open house. Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas showed visitors butterfly and moth specimens, while other volunteers discussed other collections, including spider wasps and small-headed flies. The museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, as well as a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.