- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on beetles, set Sunday, Jan. 22, will include "Beetles in Belize."
Beetle expert Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College and a Bohart Museum scientist, will discuss the beetles that she and other scientists collected in Belize, and will introduce the public to several drawers of the specimens.
The open house will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It is free and family friendly.
"In November I started working in the Natural History Museum London Coleoptera collection, working on Belize Cerambycidae to facilitate identification and then catalog specimens for the Belize National Insect Collection," Keller said. "I worked with Larry Bezark, via the internet/email/Google Drive, who is retired from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. There were 28 new country records for Belize and two new species to science that Larry will describe."
"We don't have an exact number but I would say we have over 500 beetle species identified, but there are many more that need identification."
Among the other presenters at the Bohart Museum open house will be UC Davis graduate student and burying beetle researcher Tracie Hayes of the laboratory of Professor Louie Yang, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and Cal Fire bark beetle specialist Curtis Ewing, a senior environmental scientist, Forest Entomology and Pathology.
The family arts-and-crafts activity will be to color a drawing of a carrion beetle, the work of Tracie Hayes.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens; a live "petting zoo" that includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, cave roaches, tarantulas, black widow spiders, a brown widow spider and a centipede (see species); and a year-around gift shop, stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters and collecting equipment.
Founded in 1946, the Bohart Museum is named for noted entomologist Richard Bohart (1913-2007), UC Davis entomology professor, and is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Now that the sun's out and the worst California storms are over, check your yard for lady beetles.
We saw several of them on our agave this morning. The center of the plant looked like bunched-up asparagus--red-tipped asparagus--and there they were, ruby-red lady beetles threading through the leaves.
Close, closer, closest...
Ready to see scores of beetle species? Be sure to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house, themed "Beetles," from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Open to the public, the event is free (both admission and parking) and family friendly.
Among the presenters will be UC Davis graduate student and burying beetle researcher Tracie Hayes of the laboratory of Professor Louie Yang, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; beetle specialist Fran Keller, biology professor at Folsom Lake College and a Bohart Museum scientist and UC doctoral alumna; and Cal Fire bark beetle specialist Curtis Ewing, a senior environmental scientist, Forest Entomology and Pathology.
The family arts-and-crafts activity will be to color a drawing of a carrion beetle, the work of Tracie Hayes.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens; a live petting zoo where you can photograph the residents (and pet some of them, including Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects); and a year-around gift shop, stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters and collecting equipment.
Founded in 1946, the Bohart Museum is named for noted entomologist Richard Bohart (1913-2007), UC Davis entomology professor, is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
One involved the fanaticism directed at the English rock band, The Beatles.
The other? It's taking place Sunday, Jan. 22 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis.
Beetle Mania!
The Bohart Museum is sponsoring an open house, starring the insects--not the rock band--from 1 to 4 p.m., in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, on the UC Davis campus. It's free, family friendly and open to the public.
Scientists will display scores of beetle species, ranging from burying beetles and darkling beetles to dung beetles and lady beetles (aka ladybugs).
Among the presenters will be Tracie Hayes, a doctoral student in the laboratory of Professor Louie Yang, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. She researches burying beetles, genus Nicrophorus, at the Bodega Marine Reserve. She will show a video she created, display specimens, and answer questions. Burying beetles, as the name implies, are known for burying the carcasses of small vertebrates, such as mice, squirrels and birds, and using them as a food source for their larvae. The American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, endemic to North America, is a critically endangered species.
Folsom Lake College professor Fran Keller, a Bohart Museum scientist and a UC Davis doctoral alumna of entomology, is scheduled to discuss darkling beetles, members of the family Tenebrionidae.
Scientists from the California Department of Food and Agriculture also will be a key part of the open house.
Beetles, belonging to the order Coleoptera, the largest insect order, total some 400,000 species. They make up "about 40 percent of all insect species so far described, and about 25 percent of all animals," according to Wikipedia.
Beneficial beetles include the lady beetle, aka ladybug, which devours aphids and other small soft-bodied insects. Another beneficial beetle: the dung beetle, which feed on feces. Serious pests include the boll weevil, the Colorado potato beetle, the coconut hispine beetle, and the mountain pine beetle.
The family arts-and-crafts activity at the open house will be coloring a burying beetle, art that's the work of Tracie Hayes.
The Bohart Museum, dedicated to "understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity," is directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. Founded in 1946 and named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens; a live "petting zoo," featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas; and a year-around gift shop, stocked with insect-themed books, posters, jewelry, t-shirts, hoodies and more.
The museum is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bees, butterflies and beetles will be well represented at the 145th annual Dixon May Fair, which opens Thursday, May 5 for a four-day run (May 5-8) after a two-year hiatus.
They're among the insects depicted in photographs and other art by Solano County 4-H'ers and other youth in the Youth Building, Denverton Hall. The work includes that of Matthew Agbayani of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville, who entered a color photograph of a honey bee and a syrphid fly (aka flower fly or hover fly) foraging on a sunflower.
The judging is done, the ribbons are hung and the doors will open at 4 p.m. May 5.
Chief executive officer of the fair since 2012 is Patricia Conklin, a member of the Western Fairs Association Hall of Fame and a 4-H and FFA alumnus who grew up in Dixon and exhibited at the Dixon May Fair in her youth. Her daughter, Leta Myers, a marine biologist, assisted with the clerking during the recent judging. Like her mother, she, too, is a 4-H and FFA alumnus, but in Gridley, Calif., where Mom served as CEO of the Butte County Fair for 10 years.
The Dixon May Fair, the 36th District Agriculture Association, is the oldest district fair and fairgrounds in the state. It traditionally ends on Mother's Day. This year's theme is "Super Fun.”
The fairgrounds are located at 655 S. First St., Dixon. Fair hours are noon to 9 p.m. on May 5; noon to 10 p.m. on May 6; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on May 7; and noon to 10 p.m. on May 8. General admission is $15 for those 13 and older; $10 for children ages 5 to 12; and free for children 4 and under. Seniors over age 65 and military members with active duty cards will be admitted for $10. Special days include Thrifty Thursday, when general admission for those 5 and older is $5, and Kids' Day Friday, with free admission all day for children 12 and under. See Dixon May Fair website and fast facts for more information on entertainment, exhibits, livestock shows and parking.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And well you should: honey bees are the global workhorses of the pollination community and pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, including fruits and vegetables and some nuts, primarily almonds (California's almond acreage exceeds 1.6 million.)
But to continue the alliteration--butterflies, bats, birds and beetles are pollinators, too.
That includes "the good guys and gals," the lady beetles, aka ladybugs, which devour aphids.
However, this is National Pollinator Week and a good time to reiterate that insects can be both pollinators and pests. Take the blister beetles (family Meloidae, which contains about 2500 species) are one color or striped. Blister beetles are a pest of alfalfa and many species secrete a poisonous chemical called cantharidin, which protects them from their predators but is quite toxic to livestock, especially horses.
According to the Alfalfa Pest Management Guidelines published by the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM): “Blister beetles do not cause widespread feeding damage to alfalfa; however, they contain a chemical, cantharidin, which is toxic to livestock. Cantharidin is contained in the hemolymph (blood) of the beetles, and can contaminate forage directly, when beetles killed during harvest are incorporated into baled hay, or indirectly, by transfer of the hemolymph from crushed beetles onto forage. Horses are particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of cantharidin. Consuming as few as six beetles can kill a horse.”
A 2020 news story out of the Midwest related that beetle-infested hay purchased at an auction in South Dakota led to the deaths of 16 horses at a riding stable in Mauston, Wisconsin. Reporter Carleen Wild wrote that even a small amount of the bug itself or cantharidin "can be toxic enough to kill a horse within 72 hours." The horse owners reported what looked like "blisters and holes down their esophagus and throughout their insides."
The odorless, colorless chemical also blisters the human skin; physicians use it to remove warts.
That's one powerful chemical.