From controlling insects to relieving human suffering...

Entomologist Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, is in the news.

Some forty years ago, he discovered an enzyme inhibitor that dramatically reduces inflammation, inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain.

Fast forward to July 6, 2015. In ground-breaking research estimated to affect millions of patients globally, the Hammock lab and the Fawaz Haj lab, Department of Nutrition, discovered a key mechanism that causes neuropathic pain--a complex, chronic and difficult-to-treat pain caused by nerve injuries from trauma or from such diseases as diabetes, shingles, multiple sclerosis and stroke.

A biological process, termed endoplasmic reticulum stress or ER stress, is the significant driver of neuropathic pain, said lead researchers Bora Inceoglu of the Hammock lab/UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Ahmed Bettaieb of the Fawaz Haj lab.

The ground-breaking discovery has attracted worldwide attention since its publication July 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This is a fundamental discovery that opens new ways to control chronic pain,” said Hammock. "We can now specifically search for agents to control ER stress and its downstream pathways. This search is already underway in a number of laboratories working on cancer and other diseases.” (See news story.)

Who is Bruce Hammock? Holly Caster, editor of PAINWeek interviewed Hammock July 10 and published a Q&A today in a piece titled "Pain Reporter: The Professor and the Science Behind the Potential Management of Neuropathic Pain."

Hammock pointed out that his research "started as very fundamental research in developmental biology using insects as models.  We found that the soluble epoxide hydrolase is highly conserved in evolution and asked its role in man and other mammals.  We first found that inhibitors of the enzyme stabilize natural anti hypertensive compounds called EETs and reduced blood pressure.  We then found that they reduced inflammation and inflammatory pain.  We tried neuropathic pain as an indication because it is so difficult to treat and were surprised to find that the sEH inhibitor worked far better than drugs like gabapentin and Lyrica currently sold for neuropathic pain. I have attached a comparison.  Having failed to interest large pharma companies in this biology we started a small company EicOsis to move the inhibitors to the clinic for treating pain in both companion  animals and man.

"

The research, Hammock noted, was initially done on rodents. "The fact that the compounds work in a variety of species builds confidence.  It argues that with regard to neuropathic pain different species are similar (dog, horse, man, rat,etc.)" he told her. Read the full interview here: http://www.painweek.org/brainfood_post/pain-reporter-the-professor-and-the-science-behind-the-potential-management-of-neuropathic-pain/

Hammock acknowledged his long-term interest in nature and biology. "This was fostered by a wonderful boy scoutmaster who thought kids should be wandering in the woods and a great biology teacher who provided a microscope to me in high school and said 'go discover.'  The move to entomology was further stimulated when I realized that the big cause of human suffering in the world was starvation caused in part by insects eating crops.  It was also stimulated by realizing that insect-borne diseases dwarf cancer, heart disease, etc., in terms of human suffering. It is hard to know where science leads.  In this case, asking how caterpillars turn into butterflies led to a treatment for pain."

Who would have ever thought that the study of caterpillars would lead to a treatment for pain?

It's Saturday night, July 18--or soon will be.

Do you know where your moths are?

It so happens that July 18 marks the beginning of National Moth Week, and that event has not gone unnoticed by the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Moths, considered among the most diverse and successful organisms on earth, will be featured at the museum's first-ever evening open house on Saturday, July 18. 

The special activity, “Moth Night,” will take place from 8 to 11 p.m. at 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Free and open to the public, it will include outdoor collecting; viewing of the Bohart Museum's vast collection of worldwide moth specimens; demonstrations on how to spread the wings of a moth; and information on how to differentiate a moth from a butterfly. Free hot chocolate will be served.

Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart, said that after the sun sets, a black light demonstration will be held. Visitors will collect moths from a white sheet, much as residents do around their porch lights.

Entomologist Jeff Smith of Rocklin, an associate and 27-year volunteer at the Bohart Museum, will show visitors how to spread the wings of moths. Smith curates the 400,000-specimen Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum. Smith organizes and identifies the butterflies and moths, creates the drawers that display them, and the labels that identify them. In between, he shares his passion for insects and spiders at outreach programs. Smith has spread the wings of 200,000 butterflies and moths, or about 7000 a year, since 1988.

Naturalist Greg Kareofelas of Davis, a longtime associate at the Bohart Museum, will assist with the open house and the outdoor collecting. The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly 8 million specimens.

Moths continue to attract the attention of the entomological world and other curious persons. Scientists estimate that there may be more than 500,000 moth species in the world. “Their colors and patterns are either dazzling or so cryptic that they define camouflage,” according to National Moth Week spokespersons. “Shapes and sizes span the gamut from as small as a pinhead to as large as an adult's hand.” Most moths are nocturnal, but some fly during the day, as butterflies do.

Do you know how to tell butterflies and moths apart? You'll learn from the experts Saturday night, July 18.

It's never too early to think about the pollinators.

We're glad to see that the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State University will host the third International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy next year--July 18-20, 2016--on the Penn State campus in University Park, Penn.

Some of our UC Davis pollinator specialists will be involved. One of the conference organizers is pollination ecologist Neal Williams, associate professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and one of the speakers will be his former graduate student, Katharina Ullmann, who received her doctorate last year and is now working with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

A major theme of this year's conference will be translating the results of recent research advances in the biology and health of pollinators into solutions that can be applied in the field to conserve and expand pollinator populations, said conference coordinator Kim Swistock of Penn State.

"The conference will cover a range of topics in pollinator research, from genomics to ecology, and their application to land use and management, breeding of managed bees, and monitoring of global pollinator populations," she said in a news release. "Recent global initiatives in policy, education, and extension will also be highlighted."

Three world-renowned keynote speakers will address the crowd: Rachael Winfree (Rutgers University) who will discuss the evaluation and development of land management strategies to improve pollinator populations and ecosystem services, Gene Robinson (University of Illinois), who will share insights from the application of genomics to pollinator behavior and health, and Sonny Ramaswamy (director, USDA-NIFA) who will discuss highlights and successes of the US federal strategy to promote pollinator health.
 
Other confirmed speakers include:

Dennis vanEngelsdorp (University of Maryland), Marina Meixner (Bieneninstitut Kirchhain, Germany), Taylor Ricketts (University of Vermont), Luisa Carvalheiro (University of Brasilia, Brazil), Ed Rajotte (Penn State University), Amy Toth (Iowa State University), Guy Smagghe (Ghent University, Belgium), Lucy King (Save the Elephants), Andrew Barron (Macquarie University, Australia), Hollis Woodard (University of California, Riverside), Mark Brown (Royal Holloway University of London), Dan Cariveau (University of Minnesota), Katharina Ullmann (The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation), Vicki Wojcik (Pollinator Partnership), and Matthew Smart (USGS). Symposia will include invited and contributed talks and posters related to epidemiology and modeling of global pollinator populations, managing landscapes for ecosystem services, pollinator nutrition and habitat, integrated pest and pollinator management, molecular tools for managing pollinator populations, and education and outreach.

Prior to the conference, the Xerces Society will host a one-day Pollinator Conservation Short Course on Sunday, July 17, 2016 at Penn State.  Topics include creating and protecting pollinator habitat, as well as related research of Penn State scientists. (Contact Jillian Vento jilian.vento@xerces.org for more information.)

So, how many people are expected to attend the conference? When it was held in 2013, it drew more than 230 participants from 15 countries, representing universities, government agencies, industry, non-profit organizations, and several stakeholder groups. (See http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/conference-materials, including an abstract book and several of the policy-related presentations.)

The conference agenda, online registration, and online abstract submission will be available in early February 2016. (To receive an email announcement once registration is open, send a message to csco@psu.edu)

For more information about the conference, email conference coordinator Kim Swistock (kar3@psu.edu) or the conference organizers, Christina Grozinger - PSU (cmgrozinger@psu.edu ),  Shelby Fleischer – PSU (sjf4@psu.edu), Neal Williams - UC Davis (nmwilliams@ucdavis.edu)  and Rufus Isaacs - Michigan State University (isaacsr@msu.edu) or visit the conference website: http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/events/2016-international-conference-on-pollinator-biology-health-and-policy.

The Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State is described as "a dynamic consortium of more than 25 faculty involved in research, education and extension efforts focused on improving pollinator health, conservation and ecosystem services."

The UC Davis "bee people" hope to host the conference in 2018. Extension apiculturist Elina Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, received her doctorate in entomology from Penn State, working with Christina Grozinger.

Boys will be boys!

Especially on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). It's a favorite of Melissodes and Svastra sunflower bees.

The males get downright defensive and aggressive when it comes to protecting their turf and seeking the females of their species.

If you watch closely at a territorial action that occurs from dawn to dusk, you'll see what I call "the karate kick:" one male delivering a swift kick to another.

"Mine!"

"No, mine!"

In the photos below, a male Svastra (the larger bee) karate-kicks a smaller male Melissodes. 

It happened in a blink of an eye,  a fraction of a second, the click of a shutter.