During the 11th annual National Moth Week, one thing's for sure:

Beekeepers won't be celebrating the beauty, life cycle, or habitat of the Greater Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella), also known as "the honeycomb moth." It's a major pest of bee colonies that aren't maintained well.

During the night, when we are sleeping, these female wax moths slip into bee hives and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae which consume honeycomb, leaving a destructive mess. The Greater Wax Moth is the most destructive comb pest, while the Lesser Wax Moth (smaller) is less serious.

In his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: the Care and Keeping of Honey Bees, UC Davis emeritus entomology professor Norm Gary, explains that that the females wax moth "lays eggs at night in the cracks and cervices outside and inside the hive. Tiny tax-moth larvae tunnel through the combs--eating as they go--and lining the tunnels with silk that affords some protection from the bees, which would cast them from the colony. As the moth larvae grow larger, they are more exposed and vulnerable and are cast out of the hive by housecleaning bees."

Beekeepers remove the frames and freeze them, killing the larvae and any other pests that that might be in there--such as small hive beetles (Aethina tumida). 

In its fact sheet on wax moths, the Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), says that "Beekeepers will never completely win the battle against wax moth. It is an insect well adapted for surviving around bee colonies."

MAAREC, however, describes the larvae as "a mixed blessing." The larvae are "raised for use as fish bait, animal feed, and  scientific research and they are a good representative insect to use in Biology and Entomology classes. Beekeepers see the wax moth as a pest."

Meanwhile, it's National Moth Week, and a good time to head over to the Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night open house on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.  

Indoors you'll see the Bohart Museum's global collection of moths, and outside, within a short walking distance, you'll see moths and other insects hanging on a white sheet in theblacklighting display. They are drawn there by an ultraviolet (UV) light. Yes, you'll see wax moth specimens.

"Yes, we have plenty of Greater Wax Moths as well as Lesser Wax Moths and a few other Pyralids that were reared from bumble bee nests," said entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection. (See Bug Squad blog about what Jeff Smith says about the collection)

The open house is free, family friendly and open to the public. Folks are invited to bring photos or moth specimens from their house, yard or neighborhood that they would like help in identifying, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. There also will be a craft activity, cookies, and "hot cocoa for anyone who needs help staying up past their bedtime," Yang quipped.

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 and directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, houses a worldwide collection of eight million insects. It also houses a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and a insect-themed gift shop.  

(Editor's Note: The public can sign up for the free- access webinar, sponsored by Bedoukian Research, Inc., here: https://bit.ly/3PeXJhu)

If you're a postdoctoral researcher, it's not every day you get to present your work at an international symposium.

And it's not every day that a veteran professor seeks out "rising stars" to participate in that international symposium.

Congrats to postdoctoral researcher Amber Crowley-Gall of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, selected as one of the rising stars featured in an international symposium on “The Frontiers in Chemical Ecology,” part of the Aug. 8-12 joint meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE) and the Asia-Pacific Association of Chemical Ecologists (APACE) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

Crowley-Gall, a two-year USDA-NIFA (U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture) postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of associate professor and community ecologist Rachel Vannette, will present  "Olfactory Variation Among Closely Related Cactophilic Drosophila Species," a collaborative project with her doctoral dissertation advisor, Professor Stephanie Rollmann of the University of Cincinnati.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to participate in this symposium,” said Crowley-Gall, who holds a doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Cincinnati (2019), and a bachelor's degree in biological sciences, magna cum laude, from Wright State University (2012).

UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is organizing and producing the hybrid (in-person and virtual) symposium.

 “The chairperson, Alvin Hee, asked me to organize one of the symposia, and I formatted it to highlight the work of rising stars in the field," said Leal. The symposium will feature eight contributed presentations by postdoctoral scholars, a soon-to-be-assistant professor, three scholars recently promoted to associated professors, and a full professor. Two recipients of the President's National Medal of Science, Wendell Roelofs and May Berenbaum, will deliver the symposium's preface and closing remarks, respectively. 

Others to be spotlighted in the Frontiers symposium: postdoctoral fellows Rick Fandino of Cornell University and Ani Agnihotri of Murdoch University; soon-to-be-assistant professor Dan Peach of the University of Georgia; associate professors Mengbo Guo of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,  Zain Syed of the University of Kentucky (formerly of the Walter Leal lab, UC Davis) and Karen Menuz of the University of Connecticut; and professor Chen-Zhu Wang, of the Chinese Academy Sciences.

"I am grateful for this opportunity to present my research and network with other chemical ecologists around the world," said postdoctoral scholar Rick Fandino, a research associate at Cornell University's Department of Ecology and Evolution.  "As a first-generation U.S. American Latinx these opportunities are critical to advance in highly competitive and underrepresented STEM fields."

“It's incredibly supportive of Walter to use his standing in the field to help elevate early career researchers," said selected participant Greg Pask, an assistant professor of biology, Middlebury College, Vermont. "And I'm excited to hear about the exciting research from this generation of chemical ecologists.”  (For more on the invited speakers, access this short video at https://youtu.be/liy9HpKTmOo)

Managing Sustainability in Challenging Times. The ISCE-APACE joint meeting, themed “Managing Sustainability in Challenging Times,” will include 15 plenary, 15 symposia, as well as invited lectures. Among the lectures is the inaugural Wittko Francke Daaks-Chemicals Memorial Lecture, sponsored by Wittko Francke's Daaks-Chemicals Fund. ISCE promotes the understanding of interactions between organisms and their environment that are mediated by naturally occurring chemicals.

Crowley-Gall's research on Drosophila repleta is "the first in-depth analysis of the olfactory system across the repleta group and provides the opportunity to test for conserved mechanisms in the olfactory system underlying divergence and host shift."  A species of vinegar fly in the family Drosophilidae, D. repleta is a carrier of foodborne illnesses.

 "Chemical cues are important for a wide range of tasks such as host plant identification and localization, oviposition site selection, and mate recognition," she explains in the abstract of the paper, co-authored by Stephanie Rollmann, John Layne, Aaron Hamrick, Lucinda Lawson, all of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnnati. "Insects use volatile cues emitted from plants when navigating toward an appropriate host and divergence in odor detection has been shown to result in shifts in host use between populations and in some cases reproductive isolation between populations and eventual speciation. A comparative phylogenetic approach can determine whether variation in the olfactory system is linked to shifts in host plant use and is a means to determine the influence of olfactory tuning on divergence between species.

Useful Model. "A useful model to examine this is the Drosophila repleta species group, a radiation of flies specializing on cacti, that exhibits three types of host use: 1) Opuntia specialists, 2) columnar specialists, and 3) “generalists” on both. Opuntia, a flat leaf cactus, is hypothesized to be the ancestral host, and the use of the more chemically complex columnar cactus is believed to be an acquired trait. Columnar cacti contain elevated levels of secondary compounds that can be toxic to flies and affect the volatile headspace flies are exposed to when choosing a suitable host plant. This study examined the extent to which odor tuning has diverged along with the repeated shifts in host plants within the Drosophila repleta species group. We characterized odor response profiles from select sensillar subtypes across multiple species within the repletagroup as well as the outgroup D. melanogaster. Variation in both sensitivity and specificity to odors was observed, with some ORNs exhibiting variation associated with host cactus use. This study is the first in-depth analysis of the olfactory system across the repleta group and provides the opportunity to test for conserved mechanisms in the olfactory system underlying divergence and host shift."

Leal, widely known for his research, teaching, mentoring and public service,  won the 2022 Academic Senate's Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award for his outstanding series of webinars educating the public about COVID-19. His four online or virtual symposiums drew more than 6000 viewers from 35 countries.  And just recently, he was named the UC Davis College of Biological Science's Faculty Teaching Award.

Leal is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, American Association for the Advancement of Science, California Academy of Sciences, Royal Entomological Society and the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The UC Davis Academic Senate named him the recipient of its  2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching, and the Pacific Branch of ESA presented him with its 2020 Award of Excellent in Teaching. 

The public can sign up for the free-access webinar, sponsored by Bedoukian Research, Inc., here: https://bit.ly/3PeXJhu

They marveled at the tadpole shrimp.

They crafted tadpole shrimp-themed hats and puppets using paper plates and googly eyes.

And they asked questions. Lots of questions.

It was all part of the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, themed "Bugs in Ag: What Is Eating Our Crops and What Is Eating Them?" The event, held May 28 and free and open to the public, drew dozens of visitors ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. 

Cooperative Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger, an agricultural entomologist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and postdoctoral fellow Buddhi Achhami of the Grettenberger lab displayed pests of rice and alfalfa--as well as beneficial insects--and fielded questions. Bohart Museum volunteer and undergraduate student Omri Livneh assisted.

Grettenberger noted that Triops longicaudatus is an early-season pest of rice that damages germinating seeds. Tadpole shrimp look superficially like tadpoles (frogs), he said. They are omniverous, meaning they eat plant material, invertebrates and "even their siblings (cannibalism)." The eggs can survive for many years in a desiccated state, and  hatch when rice fields are flooded.

The Grettenberger lab showed KQED's Deep Look video, Tadpole Shrimp Are Coming For Your Rice. which includes Grettenberger's expertise.

"People enjoyed the event and learned about rice and agricultural pests, thanks to the Grettenberger lab special displays," commented Tabatha Yang, Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator who organized the event.   She credited UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne of the Emily Meineke lab with loaning additional USB scopes.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection, showcased butterfly and moth specimens, including Atlas moths and monarchs. He marveled at the knowledge of "budding scientist" 6-year-old Riley Laurel of Vacaville, who arrived with her father, Julius, and brother, Aidan, 2. It was their first visit to the Bohart Museum.

Bohart lab assistant Brennen Dyer and Bohart volunteer Allen Chew, a UC Davis student and artist, encouraged folks to get acquainted with Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks), both part of the live "petting zoo." 

Bohart volunteer Barbara Heinsch, UC Davis graduate and environmental scientist and Chew staffed the arts and crafts table. Ellie Lindquist, 4, of Woodland and Kelsey Meng, 5, of Davis expressed delight in making tadpole shrimp-themed creations.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens; the petting zoo; and a year-around gift shop (also online), stocked with insect-themed gifts, such as t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, posters, jewelry, books, puppets, candy and collecting equipment. It is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane.

The next open houses are scheduled June 25 and July 16. Like all of the Bohart Museum open houses, they are free and open to the public. 

• Saturday, June 25,  1 to 4 p.m.
  "8-Legged Wonders" 
  This open house is all about arachnids (think spiders) and will feature scientists from across the country. It is being held in collaboration with the American Arachnological Society's 2022 meeting, June 26-30m on the UC Davis campus and hosted by Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Joel Ledford, assistant professor of teaching, Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences. Arachnids also will be discussed at a public session on Tuesday, June 28, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in California Hall. 
  
  
• Saturday, July 16, 1 to 4 p.m.
  "Celebrating 50 years of the Dogface Butterfly: California's State Insect"
  Scientists will join the public in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the California State Legislature' designation of the dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, as the state insect. Found only in California, the butterfly thrives in the 40-acre Shutamul Bear River Preserve near Auburn, Placer County.  The  preserve is part of the Placer Land Trust and is closed to the public except for specially arranged tours. At the July 16th open house, Folsom Lake College professor and Bohart scientist Fran Keller, and Bohart associate Greg Karofelas, a volunteer docent for the Placer Land Trust's dogface butterfly tours, will discuss the butterfly.  Keller, who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, authored the 35-page children's book, The Story of the Dogface Butterfly (with photos by Keller and Kareofelas, and illustrations by former UC Davis student Laine Bauer.)  Kareofelas and Keller also teamed to create a dogface butterfly poster of the male and female.  Both the book and the poster are available online from the the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop. (Read more on how the butterfly became the state insect under the Ronald Reagan administration.)