- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
No, say many scientists, including Hugh Dingle, professor emeritus of entomology, behavior and evolution at UC Davis.
Professor Dingle is an internationally known expert on animal migration. He's researched animal migration for some 50 years. In the last 20 years or so, he has focused on monarch butterflies. He has authored two editions of Migration: The Biology of Life on the Move and some 100 papers. National Geographic featured Professor Dingle in its cover story on “Great Migrations” in November 2010. LiveScience interviewed him for its November 2010 piece on “Why Do Animals Migrate?” (See news story that includes his biographical information)
Professor Dingle, a resident of Marin County, responded to a recent front-page article in a Marin County paper about the California ban on tropical milkweed. Banning tropical milkweed, A. curassavica, will NOT save the monarch, Dingle emailed the reporter. In fact, he said, the ban will "essentially have zero effect on monarchs" and "no one should rush out and pull out their tropical milkweed as it would be a waste of time and effort. Nurseries should also be able to continue to sell it."
The professor shared this with Bug Squad:
- "There is not enough tropical milkweed planted to have much influence (see the amount of A. syriaca and A. fascicularis throughout the American West not to mention various other species like A. erosa, cordifolia, californica, etc.) Yes, there are parasites on A. curassavica as there are on ALL milkweeds."
- "There are populations of monarchs that are doing just fine feeding exclusively on A. curassavica (e.g. on many Pacific Islands, such as Guam where I have studied them."
- "Migration and the diapause that accompanies it in the fall are determined by shortening photoperiod and temperature (warm temps can override short days hence the issue with climate change). There is no significant influence of food plant."
Tropical milkweed has been in California for more than a century. It's along our roadsides, in our parks, in our gardens. If the California border were moved a bit, it would be a native plant. Yet the California Department of Food and Agriculture, influenced by native plant proponents, has deemed it a "noxious weed."
Professor Dingle is among many scientists who point out that milkWEED (despite the "weed" in its name), is NOT a noxious plant. If you're standing on the California-Mexico border, on one side it's a noxious weed (evil, dangerous, nasty, get-rid-of-it-now, how-dare-you) and inches away, it's a beautiful host plant for monarchs, and a great nectar source for monarchs and other pollinators, including honey bees, syrphid flies and hummingbirds.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's ban on rearing monarchs (no one can do so without a permit) is unsettling to many. Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis and is a member of the Lepidopterists' Society, reared a few monarchs as a child, but laments that today, no one in California can do so without a permit, and it's difficult to get a permit unless you're a researcher.
In the latest edition of the Lepidopterists' Society newsletter, Robert Michael Pyle (founder of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation) and David Wagner wrote a piece, "Keep Nets in the Hands of Kids--and Others!"
An excerpt: "Give a kid a net, and watch her go! Not that the net is the only porthole into our world. For some it could be raising caterpillars or tadpoles, keeping mantises and walking sticks as pets, or examining ants, beetles, and grass- hoppers through a magnifying glass. But the common feature is having hands-on, unfettered exploration of the living world as children. Many life-science professionals, including RMP's cardiologist, ascribe their passion for life and nature to hunting bugs, crawdads, and pollywogs in their youth. This is why the Society instituted the Outernet Project, to get nets into the hands of children—a task made more difficult not only by the umbilical USB connection now present at birth and children's subsequent inseparability from electronica, but also by the loss of BioQuip. Is the coup de grâce for children's face-to-face fascination with small-scale life to be delivered now by well-intended but ill-considered regulation?"
So Very Controversial. Amazing that tropical milkweed issue has become so very controversial. You cannot post an image of a egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or a monarch on A. curassavica--a food and nectar source--without a native plant proponent attacking you and ordering you to remove that tropical plant in your garden immediately. (Never mind that you are growing native milkweed as well.) One scientist told me: "They just want to control you and bully you."
In our pollinator garden in Vacaville, monarchs prefer tropical milkweed over the non-natives. Tropical is more toxic.
Mona Miller, who administers the popular Facebook page, Creating Habitat For Butterflies, Moths, & Pollinators, related: "Monarch are resilient insects, they have so many strategies to increase their population, but they do have their limits. We must stop pulling out tropical milkweed and cutting it back. Washing off all milkweed should suffice to clean off the OE spores. I emailed several scientists, no one could tell me that OE (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha is a protozoan parasite) has any way to attach to milkweed leaves other than getting caught in the hairs. Tropical milkweed has smooth leaves. Tropical milkweed has been in California since 1909, that is over 100 years. Totally eradicating tropical milkweed, just like totally eradicating all the eucalyptus trees (non-natives), would have a detrimental effect on the monarch population--perhaps it already has."
Indeed, folks should pay more attention to habitat loss and pesticide use, the real culprits of the monarch population decline.
Bohart Museum Open House. At any rate, be sure to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on monarchs from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis. It's free and family friendly. A number of scientists will be there to answer your questions.
Scheduled to participate are:
- UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, who has studied butterfly populations in central California since 1972 and maintains a research website, Art's Butterfly World.
- UC Davis emeritus professor Hugh Dingle, a worldwide authority on animal migration, including monarchs. He is the author of Migration: The Biology of Life on the Move (Oxford University Press), a sequel to the first edition published in 1996. See news story on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website.
- UC Davis professor Louie Yang, who does research on monarchs. Due to parental duties, he may be able to attend only the last part of the open house. See news story about his work.
- UC Davis professor Elizabeth Crone of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, formerly of Tufts University, who researches monarchs. See news story about the declining monarch population on the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a living insect petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects, among others), and a insect-themed gift shop. UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey has directed the Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, since 1990.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house learned about such "household vampires" as mosquitoes, fleas, lice, ticks and bedbugs, and many also participated in the family arts-and-crafts activities.
The artsy-craftsy activities, a traditional part of all the Bohart Museum open house, are also educational and informative. At the Sept. 23 open house, UC Davis entomology students introduced visitors to (1) collecting tiny insects and then viewing them under a microscope and (2) making insect collecting or "kill" jars.
Bohart intern Melody Ruiz, a third-year entomology major at UC Davis, demonstrated "Clear Packing Tape Art" as a way to collect tiny insects and view them under a microscope, while UC Davis entomology senior Sol Wantz, president of the Entomology Club, showed participants how to make insect collecting jars or "kill" jars.
For the collecting jar or "kill" jars, Wantz explained:
- Get a clean wide-mourth jar with a lid
- Add some plaster to the bottom
- Add some water so it is like pancake batter
- Swirl it around to mix
- Let air dry (15 minutes to a day)
- Add a teaspoon of poison-like nail polish remover (acetone or ethyl acetate). The plaster absorbs this.
- Add in a tissue so the insects don't bump into each other.
- Add an insect or insects.
- Seal the jar and the insect(s) should die within a few minutes
- They are ready to be pinned for a collection
An 11-part YouTube video series by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology explains "How to Make an Insect Collection." The "kill jar" procedure is here.
The Entomology Club, advised by forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, meets Thursdays at 6 p.m. in 122 Briggs. The meetings are open to all interested persons, Kimsey said.
Ruiz staffed the "Clear Packing Tape Art" table and provided insect nets. She noted that clear packing tape is a good way to collect and see tiny insects. "Use a strip of clear packing tape. Put the sticky side down on your pillow, couch, clothes, skin, etc. Then place that same tape onto a white piece of paper. Write down the date, where it was collected from, and your name. Look at your project through a microscope."
Also popular at the open house was the Lepidoptera specimen collection, curated by entomologist Jeff Smith; and the live insect petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, aka "hissers," and stick insects, aka "walking sticks."
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus the insect petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop. The museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane,. UC Davis.
The next open house, themed "Monarchs," is set for Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 to 4 p.m. All open houses are free and family friendly. For more information, contact the Bohart Museum at bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or telephone (530-752-0493.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They learned that "medical entomologist is the study of arthropods (such as insects and ticks) that spread pathogens that cause human disease. It is also important to study insects and arthropods that spread diseases to other animals! This field o study is called veterinary entomology. Some diseases affect both humans and animals. This is called a zoonotic disease." (from Bohart Museum poster)
They asked questions. They observed "the vampires" through microscopes. And they left with first-hand information.
The presenters included:
-
Robert "Bob" Kimsey, forensic entomologist, Department of Entomology and Nematology, who answered questions about medical entomology.
-
Luz Maria Robles, public information officer, Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District, who discussed and displayed mosquitoes and how to keep yourself safe. See https://www.fightthebite.net/
- Carla-Cristina "CC" Melo Edwards, doctoral student and mosquito researcher in the laboratory of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, associate professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who fielded questions about mosquitoes. Attardo displayed enlarged images of mosquitoes, including a blood-fed Aedes aegypti, and a female and male Culex tarsalis.
- Moriah Garrison, senior entomologist and research coordinator with Carroll-Loye Biological Research (CLBR), (owned by doctoral scientists Scott Carroll and Jenella Loye, affiliated with the Department of Entomology and Nematology), displayed live ticks and mosquitoes.
- Nazzy Pakpour, UC Davis alumna, Novozymes scientist and author, displayed her newly published children's book, Please Don't Bite Me
For the occasion, UC Davis alumnus Kevin Murakoshi, gifted the Bohart Museum a trio of origami sculptures: a tick, an engorged tick and a bedbug. At an earlier open house, he presented the museum with origami sculptures of praying mantises. "They're beautiful," said UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum. "We're going to display them in our hallway."
The museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live insect petting zoo (including Madasgascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks), and a gift shop. It is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. UC Davis.
The next open house, themed "Monarchs," is set for Saturday, Nov. 4 from 1 to 4 p.m. All open houses are free and family friendly and include a family arts-and-crafts activity. For more information, contact the Bohart Museum at bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or telephone (530-752-0493.
(Part 2 of the open house will be published Friday, Sept. 29)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sunday, Aug. 27: Praying Mantises
Saturday, Sept. 23: Household Vampires
Saturday, Nov. 4: Monarchs
The open houses, free and family friendly, take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the insect museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Parking is free.
At each event, the focus is on the special theme, and there's also a family arts-and-crafts activity. You can see insect displays and hold the Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects from the live petting zoo.
The museum, founded in 1946, is directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey. It houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. In addition to the petting zoo, it houses a year-around, insect-themed gift shop.
Meanwhile, how many praying mantises (or praying mantids) have you seen this year? Or in past years?
What were they eating?
This mantis is a Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by Lohit Garikipati, a UC Davis alumnus studying for his master's degree at Towson University, Md.
It nailed a cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. As a caterpillar, P. rapae is a major pest of cole crops such as cabbage.
This time the menu did not include "bee."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosted an open house, "An Evening at the Museum," on Saturday, July 22, showcasing moths and flies, the moth experts were there to celebrate National Moth Week, July 22-30 and the fly experts had just attended the 10th International Dipterology Congress, held July 16-21, in Reno.
But just as the Bohart Museum houses a global collection of 8 million insect specimens, international scientists were there representing a number of countries, including Greece, Ukraine, Iran and Spain, as well as the United States.
Among the fly experts participating in the Bohart Museum's open house was tephritid fruit fly expert Nikos Papadopoulos of Greece, professor of applied entomology, who directs the laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology at the University of Thessaly. He shared a video ontephritid flies and answered questions. Professor Papadopoulos obtained his PhD in 1999 (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), and did postdoctoral work (2001-2003) at UC Davis, before joining the University of Thessaly. He collaborates with UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey. (See his biosketch)
Postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev, a Ukrainian entomologist who studies flies, showed specimens and fielded questions. He holds a joint postdoc position with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. A member of the Ukrainian Entomological Society and the Entomological Society of America, Korneyev specializes in the systematics and taxonomy of the true fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). His expertise includes morphological and molecular diagnostics, collection management, and the field collecting of insects. (See Bug Squad blog)
Professor Miguel Angel Miranda of the University of the Balearic Islands (UBI), Spain, showed specimens and led insect-drawing workshops. A zoologist, entomologist and noted insect illustrator, he currently teaches zoology, parasitology, and biotechnology applied for pest control. He is a member of UBI's Applied Zoology and Animal Conservation Research Group or ZAP. See Bug Squad blog)
Iranian-American scientist Nazzy Pakpour, who received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis and her doctorate in microbiology, virology, and parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania, read from her newly published children's book, Please Don't Bite Me. Her UC Davis connections including serving as a postdoctoral scholar in the mosquito research lab of Professor Shirley Luckhart, now with the University of Idaho.
The Bohart Museum, established in 1946 by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart of UC Davis, is directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey. It is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. The insect museum is open to the public for summer hours from 2 to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays. It also maintains a live insect petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insect and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.