It's the Big 4-0 for the Almond Board of California's annual almond industry conference this week.

Some 1000 convention-goers are gathering in the Sacramento Convention Center. The 40th annual conference opened Tuesday, Dec. 11 and runs through Thursday, Dec. 13.

A contingent from the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is there--including some from chemical ecologist Walter Leal's lab and some from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.

Many came to hear U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

After all, almonds are California's biggest export.  With some 750,000 acres of almonds in production in the state, the National Agricultural Statistics Service is forecasting a record-breaking 2.10 billion meat pounds this year, valued at approximately $3 billion. Eighty-percent of the global supply of almonds is grown in California, and about 70 percent of California’s crop is marketed overseas.

Over at the Laidlaw facility, you can't help but notice the sign that graces the entrance. The work of self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis, it shows a skep, honey bees, DNA strands, and almond blossoms.

Then if you walk a few steps east of the facility to the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, you'll run into the gigantic worker bee sculpture, also the work of Donna Billick. It's a six-foot-long morphologically correct worker bee, right down to the wax glands.

If it appears to be on a pedestal, that's the way it should be. Honey bees, those tiny   agricultural workers, pollinate one-third of the food we eat.

As for the almonds, the pollination season begins around Valentine's Day. The orchards will be buzzing. It takes two hives per acre to pollinate California's almond crop.

When chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, was elected to the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Sciences, his lab members donned matching t-shirts--t-shirts with a touch of humor and a dose of humility.

On the front: "I did the work."

On the back: "And Walter Leal got in the Academy."

It was his idea and he purchased the t-shirts.

Leal, a native of Brazil, will be honored at a ceremony on May 7 in Rio de Janeiro.

“Let me say that your election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences is a well-deserved recognition for your accomplishments as a distinguished scientist in your field of studies, entomology, and also for the very important role you have been playing in promoting cooperation among Brazilian and U.S .universities and, through those arrangements, fostering scientific development in our country,” said Ambassador Eduardo Prisco of the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco.

Leal, a native of Brazil, is a liaison with UC Davis and the Brazil government’s Scientific Mobility Program, launched to exchange graduate and undergraduate students.

The U.S. currently hosts the largest number of students participating in the Brazil government’s Scientific Mobility Program, according to the Institute of International Education, and UC Davis leads the nation, hosting more than 30 Brazilian undergraduate scholarship students. Leal is also involved in the Brazilian/UC Davis student exchange with the Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) grants for research related to Brazil.

A pioneer in the field of insect communication and on the cutting edge of research, Leal employs innovative approaches to insect olfaction problems. His work examines how insects detect smells, communicate with their species, detect host and non-host plants, and detect prey. Leal has designed and synthesized complex pheromones from many insects, including scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles and the citrus leafminer. He and his lab discovered the secret mode of the insect repellent DEET.

Leal, educated in Brazil and Japan,  joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2000. He holds a doctorate in applied biochemistry from Tsukuba University, Japan, and also earned degrees in chemical engineering and agricultural chemistry. 

You'll be hearing much more of Walter Leal. Active in national and international entomological circles, the UC Davis professor is serving as co-chair of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference, to be hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA)  Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

His honors and awards are many. He is a Fellow of the ESA, the Royal Entomological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He served as president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE).  Among his awards: the ISCE Silver Medal, and awards from ESA and scientific societies in Japan and Brazil. 

Caption (Top Photo):
The Walter Leal lab wore humorous t-shirts to announce his selection to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Four countries are represented in this lab photo. The four in front are (from left) Junior Specialist Hang Gao, United States; Professor Fen Zhu, Huazhong Agricultural University, China; Professor Leal, a native of Brazil; and Graduate Student Alyssa De La Rosa (Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry Graduate Group). Circling them in back are (from left) Postdoctoral Fellow Cherre Sade, Brazil; Postdoctoral Fellow Young-Moo Choo, Korea; Project Scientist Pingxi Xu, China;  Graduate Student Kevin Cloonan (entomology major), Professor Carlos Ueira Vieira, Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil; Graduate  Student Yinliang Wang, Northeast Normal University, China; and Graduate Student Washington Carvalho, Federal University of Uberlandia. 

If you or someone in a household near you can draw a bug, then you need to head over to the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 15.

The Bohart Museum is hosting an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane. It's free and open to the public.

The theme: "Insects in Art." 

The person (all ages invited) who submits the most creative bug drawing between 1 and 3:30 p.m. will win a t-shirt at around 4 p.m.

Here's what you do: draw a bug that will fit into a button about 2-1/4 wide. The Bohart Museum folks will insert it into their button-maker machine.  If your bug art is selected as the most creative, you take the button home--and your prize, an insect-related t-shirt.

The open house will feature the illustrations of Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart and professor of entomology at UC Davis; the late Mary Foley Benson of Davis;  and Ivana Li, an undergraduate entomology student and president of the UC Davis Entomology Club. 

Visitors also will be able to see the original plates for the children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” written by Fran Keller, doctoral candidate in entomology, and Laine Bauer, who received her degree in art in June from UC Davis. Greg Kareofelas of Davis, a Bohart volunteer, contributed photos.

Expanding on the open house theme, Heydon said that “Insects and Art” began as early as the caveman days.  Cave drawings found in Spain depict honey gatherers from more than 10,000 years ago.

“Insects in art are found in scientific illustrations and are represented on fabric, paintings, toys, jewelry and other media,” Heydon said.

The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million insect specimens and is the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.

In addition to the insect specimens, the Bohart houses a “live petting zoo” of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas; and a gift shop filled with t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, posters, insect nets, and insect-themed candy.

Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year so that families and others who cannot attend on the weekdays can do so on the weekends. The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday.  The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.

The remaining weekend open houses:

Sunday, Jan. 13, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Extreme Insects"

Saturday, Feb. 2, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"

Sunday, March 24, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Aquatic Insects"

Saturday, April 20: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Theme: UC Davis Picnic Day

Saturday, May 11, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Moth-er's Day"

Sunday, June 9, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "How to Find Insects"

Cabinet of Curiosity: Musei Wormiani Historia (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Art made of fungus?

Tales about insects?

That will all take place at “Organism,” an art show fusing art, science and technology, including insect art by young entomologists on the University of California, Davis campus

The date: Tuesday night, Dec. 11.
The time: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
The place: the Old Nelson Gallery in the UC Davis Art Building.

The event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.

"Organism" also will include visual, sound, live performance, and a look at a Cabinet of Natural Curiosities (see example on Wikipedia).

“This is a two-part show,” said curator Anna Davidson, a doctoral candidate who teaches for the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, which was launched in 2006 by entomologist Diane Ullman and self-described “rock artist” Donna Billick.

Part One will spotlight artworks created by both artists and scientists on the UC Davis campus. Participating scientists will include Ciera Martinez, Anna Davidson, Brad Townsly, Dan Chitwood and Diane Ullman. Among the artists: Daniel Brickman, May Wilson, Evan Clayburg, Daniel Mendoza, Sarah Julig, Dylan Wright, Donna Billick and Emily Schleiner.

Part One also includes performance art by Allison Fall and a dance performance by Linda Bair Dance Company. 

Part Two of the show will feature 15 students from the Entomology 1 class, which is housed in the Art Science Fusion program. “These 15 students have been writing curious tales about insects and illustrating those stories through their art pieces,” Davidson said. “The concept behind their art pieces is based on Cabinets of Curiosities, a pre-Linnaeus collection of curiosities made popular among the affluent in 14th and 15th century Europe.”

“During this show you will experience glow in-the-dark organisms, art made of fungus, large-scale installation, live performance, and sound, art and tales about insects that are so curious they are almost unbelievable!” she said.

The 15 students include Christina Ball, Edna Chen, Alejandra Gonzalez, Whitney Krupp, Danielle Laub, Nina Liu, Huong Nhu Mai, Amy McElroy, Brenda Nguyen, Lawrence Nguyen, Meredith Scarborough, Alison Stewart, Kevin Tran and Hsin Hwei Tsou.

For more information, contact Anna Davidson at adavidson@ucdavis.edu. She is a Ph.D student in the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group, Department of Plant Sciences.