- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Those were some of the questions asked at the 2010 Linnaean Games, a college-bowl type game zeroing in on insects, entomologists and entomological facts. Graduate students from throughout the country compete on teams to determine the championship team
The team from the University of California, Davis, narrowly lost to Ohio State University, which advanced to the finals and then went on to win the championship. The event took place at the Entomological Society of America's 58th annual meeting in San Diego.
The UC Davis team, coached by Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey of the Department of Entomology faculty, consisted of Meredith Cenzer, who is studying for her doctorate with major professor Louie Yang; Matan Shelomi, studying for her doctorate with major professor Lynn Kimsey; Andrew Merwin, studying for his master's degree with major professor Michael Parrella, and Ralph Washington, who received his bachelor's degree in entomology earlier this year and plans to attend graduate school.
Ohio went on to defeat Pennsylvania State University, Georgia and finally, Nebraska to take home the championship. The Ohio team was comprised of Joshua Bryant, Glene Mynhardt, Kaitlin Uppstrom and Nicola Gallagher. Ryan Caesar later participated on the Ohio team.
One of the questions asked of Ohio State-Nebraska in the finals was “Name the individual who received the Entomological Foundation Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management.” Neither Ohio State nor Nebraska knew the answer, but UC Davis did. The answer: Frank Zalom, professor of entomology and an IPM specialist at UC Davis.
Tom Turpin of Purdue emceed the program as a trio of judges--J. E. McPherson of Southern Illinois University, Carol Annelli of Washington State University and Susan Weller of the University of Minnesota--scored the answers.
Each branch sponsors a competition and usually sends two to the nationals. Teams and their sponsoring ESA branch:
Pacific Branch: UC Davis and Washington State University
Southeastern Branch: University of Georgia and University of Florida
Eastern Branch: Pennsylvania State University (University of Maryland was also selected but did not participate)
North Central Branch: Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska
Southwestern Branch: New Mexico State and Texas A&M
Answers to the above questions.
Question:
What's the loudest insect in the world?
Answer:
African cicada (Brevisana brevis); it has been measured at 106 decibels, equivalent to a gas mower at 3 feet away.
Question:
What is the egg case of a cockroach called?
Answer:
Ootheca.
Question:
Kissing bugs, in the family Reduviidae, are vectors of what disease?
Answer:
Chagas disease
Question:
About how long have insects been on earth?
Answer:
Some 400-380 million years ago.
Question:
Give three official common names for Helicoverpa zea?
Answer:
Corn earworm, tomato fruitworm, and cotton bollworm
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Here are some of the other questions asked at the Linnaean Games:
Question:
Which sexes of cicadas have tymbals and which have tympana?
Answer:
Males have both. Females have only tympana.
Question:
What term is used to describe the antennae found on male mosquitoes?
Answer:
Plumrose
Question:
Crickets are well-known music makers. What are the names of the two specialized structures that allow them to make that wonderful noise and where specifically on the body are they located?
Answer:
File and scraper, located on the forewings.
Question:
At what American school was the first entomology class taught and who was the teacher?
Answer:
Harvard (1805-1822) W.D. Peck
Question:
In the Amazon rain forest, what are the common names of two groups of insects that make up about 1/3 of the biomass of all animals in the habitat?
Answer:
Ants and termites.
Question:
Problems with honey bee hives in what state led to the recognition of colony collapse disorder?
Answer:
Pennsylvania
Question:
Name two orders of insects that are entirely predatory.
Answer:
Odonata and Mantodea
Question:
The monarch is actually the second-most popular state insect. What insect is the most frequently adopted state insect?
Answer:
Honey bee.
Question:
Robert Frost wrote a poem that begins with the lines: “An ant on a table cloth ran into a dormant moth of many times his size.” As you might guess the poem is about ants. What is the title of the poem?
Answer:
Departmental