- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Well, they're huddled inside their colonies as California storms erupt with a vengeance reserved for politics.
The bees venture out...one here...one there...on sun breaks, but never is the nectarine tree a'buzzing as it did last year.
"So far things could be worse," UC Davis butterfly guru Art Shapiro distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, wrote in a group email (his "posse") on March 13. "Unfortunately, there appears to be no break through the end of the month, with never more than two consecutive dry days in the entire stretch and temperatures remaining well below normal. I don't think it's an 1861-62 scenario...yet...glub.."
Shapiro, who has monitored the butterfly populations of central California for 50 years and maintains a research website, Art's Butterfly World, tracks both butterflies AND temperatures--past, present and future.
On a scale not seen since 1861-62? That references the Great Flood of 1862, "the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862," according to Wikipedia.
Wikipedia says "it was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows in the very high elevations that began in Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862. This was followed by a record amount of rain from January 9–12, and contributed to a flood that extended from the Columbia River southward in western Oregon, and through California to San Diego, and extended as far inland as Idaho in the Washington Territory, Nevada and Utah in the Utah Territory, and Arizona in the western New Mexico Territory. The event dumped an equivalent of 10 feet (3.0 m) of water in California, in the form of rain and snow, over a period of 43 days. Immense snowfalls in the mountains of far western North America caused more flooding in Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, as well as in Baja California and Sonora, Mexico the following spring and summer, as the snow melted."
Indeed, Shaprio could hold a second job as a meteorologist, but he says this: "As you know, I adhere to the 'weatherman's philosophy,' i.e. predict the worst because if it doesn't happen people will feel relieved, whereas if you didn't predict it and it happens people will want to kill you. May it not happen--any of it."
Meanwhile, we welcomed another sun break yesterday. So did the nectarine tree and the honey bees.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Volunteers will be wearing green T-shirts featuring a logo or symbol of each of the participating museums. The artwork and design are by Heesun Kim, a UC Davis undergraduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology. Kim works with research microbiologist Kyria Boundy-Mills, curator of the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection.
Helping with the event this year are volunteers from the Career Advisors for the UC Davis Sacramento Valley College Corps fellowship program, affiliated with the Office of the Governor. Senior career advisor John Lee of the Sacramento Valley College Corps/UC Davis Internship and Career Center, told Biodiversity Museum Day officials that "the program focuses on three areas: K-12, Food Insecurities, and Climate Action. Our mission is to allow our students to go into their communities, provide services to members who need it, and make a difference. We have students tutoring at various K-12 schools, working at Food Banks, 350 Sacramento, any many more."
That organization is part of the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, which aims to create debt-free pathways to college while engaging students across the state in solving problems in their communities.
A news release issued Feb. 1 indicated that more than 3000 students will be selected from partner campuses to participate during the 2023-2024 academic year. From the news release: "College Corps is a statewide, paid service program, launched during the 2022-2023 academic year, which provides meaningful work to college students in exchange for serving their community. The program helps participants graduate on time and with less debt while gaining valuable work experience. Students will receive up to $10,000 for completing up to 450 hours of community service."
Interested in purchasing Biodiversity Museum Day t-shirts or hoodies? Following the event, a website (the URL yet to be announced) will be offering them for sale in multiple colors to the public. This is a first-of-its-kind fundraiser for Biodiversity Museum Day.
- Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds, noon to 4 p.m.
- Arboretum and Public Garden, Habitat Gardens in the Environmental GATEway, adjacent to the Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 and main hall of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
- Botanical Conservatory, the greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- California Raptor Center, 1340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Center for Plant Diversity, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Nematode Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 9 am. to 3 p.m..
- Marine Invertebrate Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building/Esau Science Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive, 9 am. to 3 p.m.
- Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Paleontology Collection, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1309 Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road, 12 noon to 4 p.m.
- Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery and Food Processing facility, Old Davis Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (See news story)
Maps are available online and also will be handed out at the Biodiversity Museum Day, said Tabatha Yang of the Bohart Museum, chair and a co-founder of Biodiversity Museum Day. Visitors can purchase food from assorted food trucks. Those who wish to donate to the event can access this UC Davis crowdfunding page.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He participates in his annual "Beer for a Butterfly" contest that he's sponsored since 1972 as part of his scientific research to determine the butterfly's first flight of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. The rules: net the first butterfly and win a pitcher of beer or its equivalent. Suds for a bug.
Today, Feb. 8, proved to be a "bingo" day.
"I knew when I left the house at 10:10 this morning that today would be rapae day," he announced in an email with the subject line, Bingo!
"It was."
He spotted his first rapae of the year, a female, at 11:22 a.m. in West Sacramento, Yolo County. At 11:38, he saw a male. "Both were typical late winter phenotypes, quite different from what was flying in December," he noted. "My last in West Sac was Christmas Eve. So the rapae-less hiatus was 45 days, i.e. just over 6 weeks."
It was 64 degrees, clear, no wind.
"I did not get a specimen," Shapiro related. "Both of them were flying up near the railroad track at the top of the railroad embankment, where the ground is strewn with coarse gravel. That makes for a warm layer of air in full sun, but terrible footing. I am no longer so nimble or so self-confident as I used to be, and I never got a clean shot at either bug even though I got within about 6 feet of both."
"I could have stayed in that area and probably eventually would have caught one or both of them," Shapiro added. "I had to weigh that against covering the rest of the upland half of my site and possibly finding something else out. Remember that the butterfly-friendly window of time each day is still very short. I opted to keep moving, ultimately observing two atalanta (Vanessa atalanta, the red admiral) but nothing else. Malvella (mallow family) has not broken ground yet. Plenty of Erodium (family Geraniaceae) in bloom now, though.
P. rapae inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow. In its caterpillar stage, it is a pest commonly called "cabbageworm" that chews on cole crops.
Shapiro, who is in the field 200 days of the year, has been defeated only four times and those were by UC Davis graduate students. Adam Porter won in 1983; Sherri Graves and Rick VanBuskirk each won in the late 1990s; and Jacob Montgomery in 2016. The first three were his own graduate students.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Blame the rain. Blame the cold.
As of today, Jan. 26, no one has won Art Shapiro's "Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest," aka Suds-for-a-Bug.
Not Art, not anyone.
Shapiro, a UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, has sponsored the Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest since 1972 in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano to determine the cabbage white butterfly's first flight of the year.
It's part of his long-term studies of butterfly life cycles and climate change. He's been researching butterfly populations of central California since 1972 and posts information on his website, Art's Butterfly World.
How does this contest work? He'll trade you a pitcher of beer or its equivalent if you collect the first cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, of the year.
But he usually wins because he knows where to look.
Shapiro went looking for the bug today, which he described as "a perfect rapae day."
Any results? "Nope."
The contest rules include:
- It must be an adult (no caterpillars or pupae) and be captured outdoors.
- It must be brought in alive to the Department of Evolution and Ecology office, 2320 Storer Hall, UC Davis, during work hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the full data (exact time, date and location of the capture) and the contact information of the collector (address, phone number and/or e-mail.) The receptionist will certify that it is alive and refrigerate it. (If it's collected on a weekend or holiday, it can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days--do not freeze it.)
- Shapiro is the sole judge.
P. rapae inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow. The male is white. The female is often slightly buffy; the "underside of the hindwing and apex of the forewing may be distinctly yellow and normally have a gray cast,” Shapiro said. “The black dots and apical spot on the upperside tend to be faint or even to disappear really early in the season.” In its caterpillar stage, it is a pest commonly called "cabbageworm."
Shapiro, who is in the field 200 days of the year, has been defeated only four times and those were by UC Davis graduate students. Adam Porter won in 1983; Sherri Graves and Rick VanBuskirk each won in the late 1990s; and Jacob Montgomery in 2016. The first three were his own graduate students.
The search is on...Rumor has it that Ria de Grassi of Davis, who won the third annual Robbin Thorp First-Bumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest by photographing a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, in her yard, may try her hand (and her net) at collecting one. (See Bug Squad blog)
Shapiro loves the competition, all of it. "Let the best person win!"
Anyone?
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
As of 4 p.m. today (Jan. 6), the two UC Davis "bug contests" underway--one, to collect the first cabbage white butterfly of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, and two, to photograph the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano--have yielded no winners.
UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro, who sponsors the "Beer for a Butterfly" Contest (he'll trade you a pitcher of beer or its equivalent if you collect the first cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae), blames it on the rain. And more to come.
Shapiro was out looking for P. rapae today and "got wet and muddy but no bugs." He celebrated anyway with a beer. After all, today is his birthday!
And the rain?
"This may be the end of the world," he wrote in a group email (subject: "GLUB") on Jan. 5. "Periods of rain are expected every day through perhaps the 19th, with heavy rain and high winds on several occasions, beginning early next week. At least 6" more of rain can be expected in the Valley through Friday the 13th, with 10-20" on the west slopes of the Sierra and Coast Range. A megaflood scenario a la 1861-62 is unlikely-- but not out of the question. No discharges are yet expected into the Yolo Bypass, but that will probably change next week. Do not expect any butterfly records any time soon. Everybody stay safe and prepared for whatever may eventuate."
The barometer dropped to 29.54" on Wednesday morning, he added. "It's nowhere near a record but quite low."
Cabbage White Butterfly Contest
Shapiro, a member of the Department of Evolution and Ecology faculty, has sponsored the “Suds for a Bug” contest since 1972 to determine the butterfly's first flight of the year. He launched the contest as part of his long-term studies of butterfly life cycles and climate change.
P. rapae is emerging earlier and earlier as the regional climate has warmed, said Shapiro. "Since 1972, the first flight of the cabbage white butterfly has varied from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, averaging about Jan. 20."
The contest rules include:
- It must be an adult (no caterpillars or pupae) and be captured outdoors.
- It must be brought in alive to the Department of Evolution and Ecology office, 2320 Storer Hall, UC Davis, during work hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the full data (exact time, date and location of the capture) and the contact information of the collector (address, phone number and/or e-mail.) The receptionist will certify that it is alive and refrigerate it. (If it's collected on a weekend or holiday, it can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days--do not freeze it.)
- Shapiro is the sole judge.
The professor said P. rapae inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow. The male is white. The female is often slightly buffy; the "underside of the hindwing and apex of the forewing may be distinctly yellow and normally have a gray cast,” Shapiro said. “The black dots and apical spot on the upperside tend to be faint or even to disappear really early in the season.” In its caterpillar stage, it is a pest commonly called "cabbageworm."
Shapiro, who monitors butterfly populations in the field for more than 200 days of the year and posts information on his research website at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/, usually wins the contest. He has been defeated only four times and those were by UC Davis graduate students. Adam Porter won in 1983; Sherri Graves and Rick VanBuskirk each won in the late 1990s; and Jacob Montgomery in 2016. The first three were his own graduate students.
Shapiro is the author of A Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, illustrated by Tim Manolis and published in 2007 by the University of California Press.
The Robbin Thorp Memorial First-Bumble Bee-of-the-Year Contest, the third annual, is sponsored by the Bohart Museum of Entomology. The first person to photograph a bumble bee in either Yolo or Solano and email the image to the sponsor, will receive a coffee cup designed with the endangered Franklin's bumble bee, the bee that Thorp monitored on the California-Oregon border for decades.
Contest coordinator Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, said the image must be taken in the wild and emailed to bmuseum@ucdavis.edu, with the time, date and place. The image must be recognizable as a bumble bee.
The first bumble bees to emerge in this area are the black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, and the yellow-faced bumble bee, B. vosnesenskii.
The contest memorializes Professor Thorp (1933-2019), a global authority on bees and a UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, who died June 7, 2019 at age 85. A 30-year member of the UC Davis faculty, he retired in 1994 but continued working until several weeks before his death. Every year he looked forward to seeing the first bumble bee in the area.
Two scientists shared the 2022 prize: UC Davis doctoral candidate Maureen Page of the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (who now holds a Ph.D) and horticulturist Ellen Zagory, retired director of public horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. They each photographed a bumble bee foraging on manzanita (Arctostaphylos) in the 100-acre Arboretum at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 1.
Page photographed a B. melanopygus, while Zagory captured an image B. vosnesenskii. Fittingly, they both knew and worked with Thorp, a tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation and the co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University, 2014) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday, 2014).
This marked the second consecutive win for a member of the Williams lab. Postdoctoral researcher Charlie Casey Nicholson of the Williams lab and the Elina Lastro Niño lab, won the 2021 contest by photographing a B. melanopygus at 3:10 p.m., Jan. 14 in a manzanita patch in the Arboretum.
Both Page and Nicholson are alumni of The Bee Course, which Thorp co-taught from 2002-2018. Page completed the course in 2018, and Nicholson in 2015. In July 2016, Page participated in a "Bumble Bee Blitz" organized by Thorp and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Mt. Ashland, where, she said, "we searched for Bombus franklini and Bombus occidentalis--two very rare west coast bee species. We unfortunately did not find B. franklini, which is now recognized as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.”
The prized coffee cup features an image of the bee specimen, photographed by Bohart scientist Brennen Dyer, now collections manager, and designed by UC Davis doctoral alumnus Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College. Previous winners are ineligible to win the prize.
The bumble bee contest originated as an impromptu contest in 2012 as a little rivalry between the late Professor Thorp and his "posse"--three of his bumble bee aficionados: Allan Jones, Gary Zamzow, and Kathy Keatley Garvey.