Congratulations to integrated pest management specialist  Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, on his selection as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Economic Entomology,
the largest and most cited of the family of scientific journals published by the Entomological Society of the America (ESA).

He succeeds John Trumble, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Riverside, who announced last year he would be leaving his 20-year post as editor-in-chief in 2018.

Following an intensive search, ESA announced this week that Frank Zalom, a past president of the 7000-member ESA-- and highly skilled in basic biology and applied entomology--will fill that position. He will serve a five-year term. The journal publishes research on the economic significance of insects. It includes sections on apiculture and social insects, insecticides, biological control, household and structural insects, crop protection, forest entomology, and other topics.

Zalom's 40-year career intersects entomological research, teaching, and application. He served 16 years as director of the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), considered the gold standard of IPM programs. He is the only entomologist in the UC system to receive a simultaneous appointment in teaching, research, and extension. Zalom focuses his research on IPM of agricultural crops.

The UC Davis entomologist's career is closely connected with ESA. He's a 43-year member. He served as president in 2014. He's also a past president of the Entomological Foundation (2015) and continues to serve as a member of the Entomological Foundation board of directors and ESA's Science Policy Committee. More  regionally, he served as president of the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA) and received the coveted C. W.Woodworth Award, the organization's highest honor.

"I couldn't be more pleased to be selected the next editor-in-chief of the Journal of Economic Entomology," Zalom said. "I have spent the last 40 years of my career trying to solve economically important problems caused by arthropods using an IPM approach, and this journal, as well as ESA's other journals, have always served as a primary foundation and outlet for research conducted in my lab. As I approach the end of my career, I hope to be able to dedicate my efforts to enhancing our Society's influence on science and its application to addressing some of the most important entomological challenges that affect communities worldwide. JEE is uniquely positioned to do exactly that."

Zalom, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1978, holds two degrees in zoology and ecology from Arizona State University (bachelor of science, 1973, and master's degree, 1974). He joined the UC system in 1980, serving in roles ranging from extension IPM coordinator to professor to vice chair of the department to advisor of the UC Davis International Agricultural Development Graduate Group. He has authored more than 335 journal articles and book chapters. including "Food, Crop Pests, and the Environment" published by APS Press.  His career includes serving as major professor for 12 Ph.D students and seven master's degree students.

In March of this year, Zalom received a lifetime achievement award, presented at the 9th International IPM Symposium in Baltimore, where officials noted that Frank Zalom's beliefs for IPM are four-fold:

1. To solve pest control problems using effective, biologically-based pest management approaches
2. To provide IPM leadership at the regional, state, national and international levels
3. To provide a vigorous research program in entomology, especially related to IPM and invasive species; and
4. To educate a new generation of IPM practitioners through effective undergraduate teaching and graduate student mentoring.

He was introduced at the International IPM Symposium as a dedicated entomologist who "advances the science and implementation of IPM to reduce the impact of pests and pest control on agriculture and the environment." This is critical in California. "California agriculture is a $42.6 billion industry that generates at least $100 billion in related economic industry," according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and California grows more than a third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of the nation's fruits and nuts.

It was also pointed out at the symposium that "Frank has pursued these goals through a combination of fundamental studies related to pest biology, physiology, and community ecology; problem-focused, hypothesis-driven management research; and community-oriented extension efforts. His research focuses on exploiting weaknesses in the biology of a pest species and its niche in the agroecosystem or the broader landscape. He builds multidisciplinary research and outreach teams to pursue innovative ideas needed to solve major IPM challenges. His lab's research has addressed seventeen invasive species introductions: among them southern green stink bug, silverleaf whitefly, glassy-winged sharpshooter, olive fly, invasive salt cedar, light brown apple moth, spotted wing drosophila, and most recently European grape vine moth, brown marmorated stink bug and Bagrada bug." (See more about his career on UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website.)

Zalom is a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Entomological Society, and ESA.  Among his numerous honors: a Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship (1992-93), the ESA Achievement Award in Extension (1992), the ESA Recognition Award (2002), the James H. Meyer Award from UC Davis for teaching, research and service (2004), the Entomological Foundation IPM Team Award (2008), the Entomological Foundation Excellence in IPM Award (2010), Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research (2013).

The ESA, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Annapolis, Md., is the world's largest organization serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines.

You've heard the phase, "wear your heart on your sleeve"--which means to show your emotions openly.

How about wearing a pollinator on your heart?

It's National Pollinator Week.

The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) offers a wealth of t-shirts as part of its year-around fundraising efforts. It's for a good cause. The EGSA, comprised of UC Davis graduate students who study insect systems, is an organization that "works to connect students from across disciplines, inform students of and provide opportunities for academic success, and to serve as a bridge between the students and administration," according to EGSA president Brendon Boudinot, an ant specialist/doctoral student in the Phil Ward lab.

The t-shirts can be ordered online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/, according to medical entomologist and EGSA treasurer Olivia Winokur, a doctoral student in the Christopher Barker lab.  She serves as the t-shirt sales coordinator and can be reached at ocwinokur@ucdavis.edu.

One of the favorite bee t-shirts depicts a honey bee emerging from its iconic hexagonal cells. It's the 2014 winner of then graduate student Danny Klittich, who recently received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis and now works as a California central coast agronomist.

Another "fave" bee shirt--this one showing a bee barbecuing--is by doctoral student and nematologist Corwin Parker, who studies with Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.  It was one of the 2018 winners. (See the three winners on this site.)

Pollinators also include butterflies, birds and beetles.

"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 thing's for certain: Pollinators matter.  Not just during National Pollinator Week but every day of the year. 

They didn't get the memo.

A sign on a recycling bin near the Mann Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, clearly reads "Bottles and Cans Only."

It says nothing about wasps.

But there they were: European paper wasps (Polistes dominula) building a nest yesterday beneath the overhanging lid of a bright blue recycling bin meant for "Bottles and Cans Only."

"They make open-faced nests under eaves all over the place," says Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis.

Associate professor Amy Toth of the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, who studies European paper wasps (she's also delivered several presentations at UC Davis) says she's seen "many interesting (nest) places— in mailboxes, under the caps of metal gas cylinders, on outdoor thermometers."

But her all-time favorite was this one: European paper wasps building a nest inside a donation box at the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. "The wasps were using the bills as building material for their nests," shw related. "These ladies had expensive taste!"

Classic!

They're also meat eaters. We've seen them shred adult Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) butterflies and caterpillars in our yard and fly off with the parts.

Since this is National Pollinator Week, it should be noted that European paper wasps are pollinators.

Take it from Professor Toth who loves her research subjects. It was she who coined and popularized the Twitter hashtag #wasplove.

For a previous Bug Squad blog, we asked what she loves about wasps. Her answers are worth repeating!

1. They are pollinators.
2. They contribute to biocontrol of lepidopteran pests in gardens and on decorative plants.
3. They have been shown to carry yeasts to winemaking grapes that may be important contributors to the fermentation process and wonderful flavors in wine!
4. They are the only known insect (Polistes fuscatus) that can recognize each other as individuals by their faces.
5. They are devoted mothers that will dote on their young all day long for weeks, defending their families with fury.
6. Their social behavior, in my opinion, is the most human-like of any insect.  They know each other as individuals, and are great cooperators overall, but there is an undercurrent of selfishness to their behavior,
7. They are artists. They make perfect hexagonal nest cells out of paper, which they make themselves out of tree bark + saliva.
8. They are extremely intelligent.  They're predators, architects, good navigators, and great learners.  Among insects, they have large brains, especially the mushroom bodies (learning/memory and cognition area of insect brain).
9. They are beautiful, complex, and fascinating creatures!

That they are. However, they have never been known to read or adhere to "Bottles and Cans Only" signs--or stay away from donation boxes filled with paper bills.

Let's celebrate National Pollinator Week.

And what better time for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology to host an open house than during National Pollinator Week?

It's from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, June 23 at its bee garden, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central UC Davis campus.

Here's what you can expect to see or do:

• learn how to catch and observe bees up close
• see honey bees at work in an observation beehive
• learn about bee diversity and identification
• learn about what and how to plant for bees
• learn about growing and good pollination in home fruit gardens
• see easy-to-grow bee plants and solitary bee houses available for a donation to the garden.

A Little History: The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, installed in the fall of 2009 and located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, off Hopkins Road, is a half-acre garden devoted to bee pollinator conservation and education.

It was founded and sprang to life during the term of interim department chair, Professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, who coordinated the entire project.

A Sausalito team – landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki – won the design competition. The judges were Professor Kimsey; founding garden manager Missy Borel (now Missy Borel Gable), then of the California Center for Urban Horticulture; David Fujino, executive director, California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis; Aaron Majors, construction department manager, Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors, based in Novato; Diane McIntyre, senior public relations manager, Häagen-Dazs ice cream; Heath Schenker, professor of environmental design, UC Davis; Jacob Voit, sustainability manager and construction project manager, Cagwin and Dorward Landscape Contractors; and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Others with a key role in the founding and "look" of the garden included the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, founded and directed by the duo of entomologist/artist Diane Ullman, professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis. Miss Bee Haven, a six-foot long worker bee sculpture, the work of Billick, anchors the garden. The art in the garden is the work of their students, ranging from those in Entomology 1 class to community residents. Eagle Scout Derek Tully planned, organized and built a state-of-the-art fence around the garden.

Today. Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, serves as the faculty advisor and director of the garden. Staff member Christine Casey is the  academic program management officer.  Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, plays a key role in the garden. Thorp has recorded more than 80 species of bees foraging in the garden since 2009.  He is the co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University Press) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday). Of the 20,000 bee species identified worldwide, some 4000 are found in the United States, and 1600 in California.