- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Biodiversity Museum Day is billed as a “free, family friendly educational event for the community where visitors get to meet and talk with UC Davis scientists and see amazing objects and organisms from the world around us,” according to Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Eleven museums or collections on campus will showcase their work:
- 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, 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)
The UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day is traditionally held on Presidents' Day Weekend at various venues on campus. The 2022 event, however, took place March 6 in the UC Davis Conference Center and drew some 1000 visitors. This year, it's back home to the individual departments where scientists will be on hand to greet visitors and answer questions.
Many middle school and high school students attend the event to take the opportunity to consider careers in science.
All participating museums and collections have active education and outreach programs, Yang said, but the collections are not always accessible to the public.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Two USDA forest entomologists will be presenting in-person and virtual seminars at the University of California, Davis on Tuesday, Jan. 31 and Wednesday, Feb. 1. If you're around UC Davis, drop in and hear the seminars, sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. They'll take place at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hallon Kleiber Hall Drive, located near the UC Davis police and fire departments.
Or, you can access the seminars on Zoom.
The first speaker is Justin Runyon, who will deliver his seminar at 4:10 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 21 on "Secrets of a Long Life: Chemical Defense of Bark Beetles by Bristlecone Pines." The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/
Next is Chris Fettig, who will speak at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1 on "Bark Beetles: How Tiny Insects Are Transforming Western Forests with a Little Help From Climate Change." The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672
Host for both seminars is UC Davis doctoral student Crystal Homicz, who is advised by Fettig. She began her studies with forest entomologist and chemical ecologist Steve Seybold (1959-2019). Her dissertation research focuses on western pine beetle and red turpentine beetle interactions with forest disturbances, such as drought, wildfire and prescribed fire.
"Bristlecone pines are iconic species that can live to be thousands of years old," Runyon says in his abstract. "Secrets to their great longevity include a stable environment, sectored architecture, and avoidance of fire. However, to survive thousands of years, these trees must also avoid getting attacked by tree-killing bark beetles."
"Only in the last few years have we begun to uncover how bristlecone pines do this," he related. "We use field work, chemical ecology and laboratory assays to understand interactions between long-lived bristlecone pine species (Great Basic Bristlecone pine and foxtail pine), co-occurring limber pine, and the mountain pine beetle (MPB). I will talk about recent and going research examining (1) the plant volatile cues used by host-searching MPBs, (2) the terpene-based phloem defenses used against MPB larvae, and (3) tradeoffs between constitutive and induced defenses across these pine species. Understanding these interactions provides insight into the longevity of bristlecone pines, the implications for these species under climate change, and development of management tool to protect trees from bark beetles."
Runyon, based on the Montana State University (MSU) campus in Bozeman, received his bachelor's degree in biology and mathematics in 1998 from the University of Virginia's College at Wise, Va.; his master's degree in entomology from MSU in 2001; and his doctorate in entomology in 2008 from Pennsylvania State University Park, Pa.
In 2014, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Chris Fettig
"Bark beetles are a major disturbance in western forests," Fettig says in his abstract. "Several recent outbreaks of species such as mountain pine beetle, spruce beetle, and western pine beetle are among the most severe in recorded history. There is strong evidence that climate change has increased the impacts of bark beetles. For example, in California warming and exceptional drought resulted in mortality of more than a 100 million trees from 2014-2017. Much of this mortality was attributed to western pine beetle colonizing drought-stressed hosts. I will discuss observed and projected changes in climate, the direct and indirect effects of climate change on bark beetles and forests, and management actions that increase the resilience of forests to bark beetles and climate change."
Fettig received his bachelor's degree (1993) and a master's degree (1996) from Virginia Tech University, and his doctorate in forest entomology in 1999 from the University of Georgia.
Winter Seminars. Note that the Justin Runyon seminar is a specially scheduled seminar. The Chris Fettig seminar is part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's series of winter seminars, held on Wednesdays at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. Urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, coordinates the weekly seminars. (See schedule.) She may be reached at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu for any technical issues. A coffee social precede each seminar in158 Briggs from 3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
For general information about bark beetles, read the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program's "How to Manage Pests in Gardens and Landscapes":
"Bark beetles, family Scolytidae, are common pests of conifers (such as pines) and some attack broadleaf trees. Over 600 species occur in the United States and Canada with approximately 200 in California alone...California now has 20 invasive species of bark beetles, of which 10 species have been discovered since 2002." The UC IPM information includes a chart of bark beetles common in landscapes.
- 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
Curious visitors crowded around the flightless beetle, taking multiple cell phone images as Kohler fielded multiple questions.
"I found it in the Sierra Foothills, by Murphys," said Kohler, a UC Davis alumna and prospective graduate student. Murphys, located in Calaveras County, sits in the central Sierra Nevada foothills between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park.
What's unusual about this inch-long beetle, found in the deserts of western North America and living on fungi growing under tree bark?
It lies flat and low to the ground and is built like a little armored tank. It can withstand crushing forces--not just your foot, a pinch, or a battering ram, but a 3400-pound car. UC Riverside researcher Jesus Rivera, now of UC Irvine, performed compression tests in 2015: a Toyota Camry drove over the beetle twice and it survived.
"A 200-pound man would have to endure the crushing weight of 7.8 million pounds to equal this feat," according to a UCI news release, published Oct. 21, 2020.
Rivera's research, "Toughening Mechanisms of the Elytra of the Diabolical Ironclad Beetle," published in the Oct. 21 edition of Nature, drew widespread coverage, ranging from the New York Times and Science to the Smithsonian magazine.
The beetle's tough structure, notably the densely layered and interlocking wing covers, or elytra, seem out of this world.
"...The beetle's exoskeleton uses internal layers, tight joints and overall near-indestructible shape to give it both toughness and flexibility under pressure," wrote correspondent Theresa Machemer in the Oct. 22 edition of the Smithsonian magazine.
Katherine Wu of the New York Times related that the researchers "assessed the tensile strength and composition of the beetle's exterior with a suite of ultrasensitive instruments. The ironclad's exoskeleton, they found, was packed with proteins that seemed to enhance its durability. It was also cleverly structured: Evolved from a pair of now-defunct forewings, the exoskeleton stretched across the insect's back and hooked into a separate structure sheathing the insect's belly, encasing the beetle in a shell with an airy buffer underneath."
Wu compared the arrangement "to an industrial-strength egg, with the yolk sloshing gently against a cushion of whites."
Said Kohler of the Bohart Museum display: "Surprisingly, none of the visitors really knew about them; they were interested to learn that they were so tough externally and that they ate mushrooms--they are fungiphores. The children had the best time using the magnifying glasses to look at them along with being able to touch, and hold them!"
The amazing world of insects...
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, including a million beetles. Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the museum also houses a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and more) and a year-around gift shop. The Bohart is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Chamberland's in-person and virtual seminar, titled "The Biogeography and Eye Size Evolution of the Ogre-Faced Spiders," will take place from 4:10 to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 25 in 122 Briggs Hall. A coffee social in 158 Briggs will precede the seminar from 3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Chamberland studies the evolution and biogeography of spiders as an arachnologist in the laboratory of Jason Bond, associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Natural Resources, and professor and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
“Net-casting spiders (Deinopidae) comprise three genera with enigmatic evolutionary histories. Deinopis and Asianopis, the ogre-faced spiders, are best known for their giant light-capturing posterior median eyes (PME), whereas Menneus does not have enlarged PMEs,” Chamberland says in her abstract. “Molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed discordance between morphology and molecular data. We employed a character-rich, ultra-conserved element (UCE) dataset and a taxon-rich cytochrome oxidase I (COI) dataset to reconstruct a genus-level phylogeny of Deinopidae, aiming to investigate the group's historical biogeography, and examine PME size evolution. Although the phylogenetic results support the monophyly of Menneus and the single reduction of PME size in deinopids, these data also show that Deinopis is not monophyletic. Deinopid biogeographic history reflects the separation of Western Gondwana as well as long-distance dispersal events.”
Chamberland joined the Bond lab in 2021. She holds a doctorate in biology (2020) from the University of Vermont, Burlington, where she studied with Ingi Agnarsson. Her dissertation title: "From Gondwana to GAARlandia: Molecular Phylogenetics and Historical Biogeography of Spiders." She received her bachelor's degree in biology and anthropology in 2013 from the University of Vermont.
Love at First Sight. “As an undergraduate at the University of Vermont, I was introduced to deinopids, the ogre-faced spiders, and it was love at first sight,” Chamberland related. “With a wide range of dispersal propensities and diverse hunting strategies, spiders have been a rich source for me to explore biogeographic and evolutionary questions. I would like to continue my work with historical biogeography and spiders after my postdoc and help foster the upcoming generation of arachnologists. I enjoy teaching, especially through the lens of phylogenetics and systematics, and I am working towards finding a teaching career where I can teach, mentor, and continue to ask evolutionary questions.”
Chamberland and Bond co-hosted the 2022 American Arachnological Society Summer Symposium at UC Davis and she also delivered a research presentation at the symposium. At both UC Davis and at the University of Vermont, she has led and taught lab and field techniques, molecular methods and data analyses, and arachnology to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students resulting in publications on systematics, evolution, and biogeography of spiders.
She earlier served as the invertebrate collections manager at the Zadock Thompson Zoological Collections (2020-2021), University of Vermont.
Chamberland is the lead author of “Biogeography and Eye Evolution of the Ogre-faced Spiders," published Oct. 22, 2022 in Scientific Reports and co-authored by Ingi Agnarsson, Iris Quayle, Tess Ruddy, James Starrett and Jason Bond.
The department seminars, coordinated by urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, are held on Wednesdays through March 15. (See schedule.) Eight of the 10 will be in-person in 122 Briggs Hall, and all will be virtual.