- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not as easy as it looks, but entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Lepidoptera collection, makes it look easy.
If you attend the Bohart Museum open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, you'll learn how he does it.
Indeed, it is no easy feat to pin a butterfly or moth. Just ask research entomologist Tom Zavorink, a Bohart Museum associate.
"Personally, I am astounded by the thousands upon thousands of butterflies and moths that Jeff has prepared for display or scientific study," Zavorink told us back in 2015, when the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences selected Smith for its Friend of the College Award.
"This is no small task," Zavortink said, "because butterfly and moth specimens are usually brought from the field in envelopes or boxes with their wings folded over their backs or around their bodies, and preparing them for display or scientific study involves relaxing them in a humid chamber so their wings and legs can be manipulated, carefully spreading open the wings, positioning them on a flat surface, and securing them in that position until the specimen dries again. This is an onerous task that many entomologists, myself included, shun because we don't have the time, manual dexterity, or patience it takes to prepare quality specimens."
A Bohart volunteer since 1998, Smith has spread the wings of some 180,000 moths and butterflies, typically 6,000 or more each year for the past 30-plus years. He has crafted and donated some 2,475 wooden specimen drawers, including 110 so far this year. He also has donated some 100,000 specimens (primarily butterflies, moths but a few other insects, including beetles) to the Bohart Museum.
The Lepidoptera collection now totals about 750,000 specimens. Lately Smith has been redoing the header labels in the unit trays for much of the Lepidoptera collection, "making the new ones in the better format where the geographic ranges of the various species and subspecies are on the label. This is so helpful when it comes to placing new material into the collection."
When Smith received the Friend of the College award, Bohart director Lynn Kimsey, now UC Davis distinguished professor emerita, said: “You could not ask for a better friend than Jeff Smith. He has brought us international acclaim and saved us $160,000 through donations of specimens and materials, identification skills and his professional woodworking skills. This does not include the thousands of hours he has donated in outreach programs that draw attention to the museum, the college and the university.”
“When Jeff was working for Univar Environmental Services, a 35-year career until his retirement in 2013, he would spend some of his vacation days at the museum. Over the years Jeff took over more and more of the curation of the butterfly and moth collection. He took home literally thousands of field pinned specimens and spread their wings at home, bringing them back to the museum perfectly mounted."
Smith engages in public outreach at the Bohart Museum's open houses, which include open houses with various themes, plus UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Take-Your-Daughters-and-Sons-to-Work Day. In addition, Smith annually presents an evening spreading class to the UC Davis Entomology Club as well as an annual presentation to Bio Boot Camp. He also speaks at 12 to 15 other venues per year, engaging students at School Science Days and in individual classrooms.
"We will have an overview of terrestrial arthropods which encompasses everything from insects, arachnids, millipedes, isopods and centipedes," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordination. "We will also showcase some of the trapping/catching methods we use, for example, nets, lights, pitfall traps and malaise traps."
"We also get asked a lot of questions about our own collection and why the specimens don't decay," she added. "We will highlight the different curation techniques from pinning, point mounting, preserving in alcohol and mounting on slides."
Also planned is a tribute to the late UC Davis professor Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), who founded the insect museum in 1946, served as the first director, and compiled 32 years on the UC Davis entomology faculty, Sept. 28 is his birthday anniversary and a cake to celebrate what would have been his 111th birthday will be served.
Kimsey, his last graduate student, remembers him in the audio of a newly produced video by Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Kimsey provides the narrative and images. Leal added excerpts from a 1996 Aggie Video production when Kimsey interviewed Bohart. (See https://youtu.be/3YqnK-CpbJE)
Luz Maria Robles, public information for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control, says the risk of contracting West Nile virus in Sacramento and Yolo counties continues. (See map of latest West Nile virus activity in the two counties.) This year, to date, the statistics show:
Sacramento County: 53 dead birds and 46 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus
Yolo County: 1 dead bird and 42 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also is the home of a petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with t-shirts,hoodies, books, posters,jewelry, stuffed animals, and insect collecting equipment.Museum director is professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's the birthday anniversary of noted entomologist Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), founder of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis.
So when the Bohart Museum hosts a public open house (theme:"Museum ABCs: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting") from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, plans also call for a tribute to him and his work.
"Doc" Bohart founded the insect museum in 1946 and served as its first director; compiled 32 years on the entomology faculty; and became an internationally recognized entomologist and author.
Born Sept. 28, 2013 in Palo Alto, Richard began collecting butterflies at age 7. "He and his brother George 'Ned' Bohart collected butterflies for a local collector to earn pocket money," according to UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years until her retirement on Feb. 1, 2024.
Bohart attended UC Berkeley, receiving three degrees in entomology culminating in his doctorate in 1938. He joined the UC Davis faculty in 1946 and chaired the Department of Entomology from 1956 to 1965. He taught general entomology, medical entomology, systematics, and agricultural entomology.
According to the Academic Senate's memorial, Bohart "contributed substantially to the world literature of the insect Order Hymenoptera, which included two landmark books, Sphecid Wasps of the World (with A. S. Menke), and The Chrysidid Wasps of the World (with L.S. Kimsey), as well as 230 journal articles and four other books on wasps and mosquitoes, including the second and third editions of The Mosquitoes of California (the second with Stanley B. Freeborn and the third with Robert K. Washino). During his career, he described more than 200 new species and genera of insects."
Today the Bohart Museum is the home of a global collection of eight million insects; a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas); and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters, and collecting equipment. The new director, only the third since 1946, is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"His teaching and collecting activities resulted in the development of one of the finest collections of stinging wasps in the world in the Bohart Museum of Entomology," Kimsey said. "A great deal of this material was obtained through his collecting and that of his students. During his tenure, the museum collection grew from 500 specimens to 7 million, a span of some 60 years. Chancellor James Meyer dedicated the entomology museum in his name in 1983. The R. M. Bohart Museum moved into a new building in 1994 and was dedicated by Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef."
Open House. The open house, free and family friendly, will include "an overview of terrestrial arthropods which encompasses everything from insects, arachnids, millipedes, isopods and centipedes," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordination. "We will also showcase some of the trapping/catching methods we use, for example, nets, lights, pitfall traps and malaise traps."
Pinning, spreading and curation demonstrations are planned "so people know how to take care of and preserve a dead arthropod for research or for a personal collection," Yang said. "People sometimes find a dead dragonfly or a butterfly on the ground and we often get asked how they can preserve it."
"We also get asked a lot of questions about our own collection and why the specimens don't decay," she added. "We will highlight the different curation techniques from pinning, point mounting, preserving in alcohol and mounting on slides."
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, which encompasses some 750,000 specimens, will demonstrate and discuss the various steps of relaxing, pinning, spreading, and labeling moths and butterflies.
A Bohart volunteer since 1998, Smith has spread the wings of some 180,000 moths and butterflies, typically 6,000 or more each year for the past 30-plus years. He has crafted and donated some 2,475 wooden specimen drawers, including 110 so far this year. He also has donated some 100,000 specimens (primarily butterflies, moths but a few other insects, including beetles) to the Bohart Museum.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
YSP is a six-week summer residential program that introduces several dozen high-achieving high school students to original research within the fields of biological, agricultural, environmental, or the natural sciences.
The lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, mentored Anderson Van Wang, a 17-year-old senior at California City High School, Kern County, and Mason Walline, now 18, and a senior at Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles.
Anderson worked with doctoral student Veronica Casey of the Siddique lab to investigate the effects of bacterial supernatant to plant parasitic nematodes. Walline worked with Ching-Jung Lin, a doctoral student in the Siddique lab and the lab of Professor Gitta Coaker, Department to Plant Pathology, to transiently express nematode proteins in the plant system.
Also mentoring them were Siddique and lab members Bardo Castro Esparza, a postdoctoral fellow; and Alison Blundell, a doctoral candidate.
Each scholar receives five units of University Group Study Credit. All work is graded. Not only do they engage in university-level course work, attend lectures, and work on their projects, but they experience “the climate and culture of living and learning on a university campus,” according to YSP director Megan Bettis.
Mason won second-place honors in the research competition, the "YSP Summer Slam" (Elevator Pitch or short-version), competing with some 35 other students. His topic: “Advancing Transient Nematode Peptide Expression: A Pathway to Co-Immunoprecipitation Optimization." Said Lin: "He delivered a compelling two-minute presentation with a single slide. His expertise and professionalism were evident, and he was awarded second-place among the six finalists."
Neither plans a career as a nematologist, but what an amazing program and what an amazing experience.
“Working in Dr. Shahid Siddique's lab was an absolutely amazing experience," Anderson said.
“The lab environment was very high energy and upbeat," said Mason. "I'm so glad I was a temporary part of such a strong and inclusive community.”
And they learned a lot about nematodes.
Siddique defines plant-parasitic nematodes as "destructive pests causing losses of billions of dollars annually. Economic, health, and environmental considerations make natural host plant resistance a preferred strategy for nematode control, but there are limitations to this approach. In many cases, the resistance conferred by resistance genes is partial, and some of the nematodes are able to survive. Similarly, nematode resistance genes are often effective against only one or a few species, whereas plants are exposed to several pathogens in the field. Another concern is the emergence of pathotypes that can overcome resistance. In view of all these limitations, it is important to identify additional mechanisms and tools that can be used to develop novel and sustainable approaches to the management of nematodes."
The 2025 YSP summer program is set June 22-Aug. 2, with applications opening Jan. 15. High school students can apply at https://ysp-app.ucdavis.edu/.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Wings up! Let's go!
The monarch fall migration is underway.
"Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots," explains Monarch Watch. "Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains travel to small groves of trees along the California coast. Those east of the Rocky Mountains fly farther south to the forests high in the mountains of Mexico. The monarch's migration is driven by seasonal changes. Daylength and temperature changes influence the movement of the monarch."
"In all the world, no butterflies migrate like the monarchs of North America. They travel much farther than all other tropical butterflies, up to three thousand miles. They are the only butterflies to make such a long, two-way migration every year. Amazingly, they fly in masses to the same winter roosts, often to the exact same trees. Their migration is more the type we expect from birds or whales. However, unlike birds and whales, individuals only make the round-trip once. It is their children's grandchildren that return south the following fall."
Have you seen any migratory monarchs? It's basically a "no" for our scientists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology , UC Davis.
- UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years until she retired Feb.1: No.
- Bohart Museum associate and UC Davis School of Medicine employee Greg Kareofelas: No. "I still have not seen a monarch (but I have not been 'out and about' much this summer)
- Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum's Lepidoptera collection: Maybe. "I may have seen 1 monarch in my yard (Rocklin) yesterday (Sept. 16) as a fly-by."
It's not so rosy in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), according to Washington State University entomologist David James, who studies migratory monarchs.
On Aug. 31, he posted this on his Facebook page, "Monarchs in the Pacific Northwest": One month ago, things were looking very rosy in the PNW monarch world with an 82% increase in sightings during June and July compared to the same months in 2023. Sadly, things are now not so rosy if the number of reported sightings are a good barometer of what's happening out there (and they have been in the past few years). During August 2023 there were 172 confirmed monarch sightings in the PNW. This year there has only been 108 and most of these (80%) were in the first two weeks. The second half of August has seen very few monarchs reported in the PNW. I-Naturalist, the reporting site most used by monarch recorders, has had NO monarch sightings posted in OR, WA, ID or BC since August 12-16. This is concerning because the second half of August into September is when the third PNW-bred generation should be emerging and migrating. There is still time for sightings to pick up and hopefully they will. So please keep watching and reporting your sightings to I-Naturalist or Journey North."
One of his WSU-tagged monarchs (from citizen scientist Steve Johnson) fluttered into our garden on Sept. 6, 2016 from Ashland, Ore. (See Bug Squad)
Hoping to see another tagged monarch.
Migrating monarchs began arriving in our Vacaville pollinator garden this year on Sept. 17 for some flight fuel on their way to their overwintering spots in coastal California.
They love the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. It's a great fall nectar source...and the colors are a perfect match...
Wings up! Let's go!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What we've been waiting for all season...
A migratory monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville garden at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and nectared on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola.
Then she treated us to a butterfly ballet.
The Danaus plexippus touched down, nectared, shot up, dropped down, and did it all over again, while male territorial longhorned bees tried to make her stay short.
But she hung around for and hour.
Wings up...and she was gone.
And then another flashed by...
It's migratory monarch season.