- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In stunning images, the Bohart Museum display depicts the complete metamorphosis of the monarch: from egg to larva to pupa to adult.
It's the work of Larry Snyder of Davis, who for several years photographed a UC Davis professor's research project on wild monarch-native milkweed interactions in the North Davis Channel of rural Davis. Snyder is a retired music teacher, vocal accompanist, and piano and harpsichord technician.
We wrote about the monarch-milkweed project on the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website on July 28, 2022.
Professor Louie Yang, the principal investigator of the research project, organized and led a 135-member team, all co-authors of the paper, “Different Factors Limit Early- and Late-Season Windows of Opportunity for Monarch Development,” published in the journal Ecology and Evolution. (This document is open access at https://bit.ly/3volFaI.)
From 2015 through 2017, the team monitored the interactions of monarchs, Danaus plexippus, on narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, planted in December 2013 on city-owned property adjacent to the North Davis irrigation channel.
The project, funded by two of Yang's National Science Foundation grants, involved UC Davis, Davis Senior High School and the Center for Land-Based learning. Among them were 107 high school students and a K-12 teacher, 18 UC Davis undergraduate students, three graduate students and two post-graduate researchers.
Unfortunately, a City of Davis maintenance crew unintentionally mowed the site on May 5, 2017, “damaging several plants in this population," Yang related. "However, most plants in the population were below the height of the mower blades at this point in the growing season.”
Today the milkweed population at the North Davis Channel is being maintained by the City of Davis and dedicated citizens, including Larry Snyder.
From music to milkweed to monarchs...it's been quite a journey.
The work of Professor Yang's MMMILC crew fascinated him, and the site became his "adopted back yard." At first, Snyder just watched, then he began photographing "the insect life on the plants." At the end of the project's official monitoring period, he "secured the cooperation of city staff" so he could continue maintaining the milkweeds without the loss of spring growth to the annual fire-suppression mowings.
Snyder says he "especially enjoys watching insect behavior and interaction, both within and between species and in relation to the host plants, as well as tracking how individual populations change during the seasons and from year to year."
"I am most grateful to the Bohart Museum and the frequent assistance of their remarkable staff and associates," Snyder said.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. It is the global home of eight million insect specimens, as well as the live "petting zoo" and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry, collecting equipment and more. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. More information is available on the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So wrote Helene Dillard, dean of CA&ES, in her October column paying tribute to six outstanding individuals who will be honored at an awards dinner and ceremony on Nov. 3 in the Activities and Recreation Center ballroom, UC Davis.
It's an amazing group of individuals! And two of them are entomologists: one is known for his expertise on honey bees and the other, for his expertise on butterflies.
Honey geneticist and UC Davis doctoral alumnus Robert E. Page Jr., winner of the Exceptional Emeriti Award, is known by his colleagues as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world." (See news article of Oct. 26 on the Department of Entomology and Nematology website and the Oct. 28 post on the Bug Squad blog.)
Butterfly collector Bill Patterson and his wife, Doris Brown, of Sacramento are winners of the CA&ES' "Friend of the College Award." They are longtime friends and supporters of the Bohart Museum, which houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens and is the seventh largest insect museum in North America.
The couple recently donated $1 million to support the museum's insect collection, a gift that will provide the museum with the financial security to support staff and resources, according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.
"Doris and Bill have been incredibly supportive of the Bohart," Kimsey told us. "Bill has collected butterflies and moths for many years and sees the museum as the place he wants to be home to his collection. Doris isn't a collector herself, but she strongly supports his interests and has been enthusiastic about his collection coming here as a permanent home."
Patterson, a native of Oakland, began collecting butterflies at age 6. He received his bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1962. He worked as a technician for UC Davis entomology professor Howard McKenzie from 1958 to 1968, retiring from UC Davis in 1963. Patterson also holds a teaching credential from Sacramento State University and taught math and science for 15 years as a substitute teacher, retiring from teaching in 1985.
Doris Brown, born in Seattle, holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Washington State University, Pullman, Wash. She also has a master's degree in counseling. She worked as an analyst and manager for the federal and state government and a private consulting firm. She retired as the chief of Fiscal Programs Division, California Employment Development Department.
They hope their donation will help educate the community about the importance of butterflies and moths. Patterson told Ashley Han in a CA&ES news story: “I believe scientifically valuable collections should not stay in private hands. The museum is the perfect place for my collection to be permanently protected and studied."
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 and located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart. It is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
In addition to the trio of Bill Patterson/Doris Brown and Rob Page, the 2022 recipients of Awards of Distinction are:
- Alumnus of the Year, Marko Zaninovich (Class of 1964)
- Exceptional Faculty Award, Daniel Sumner, the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- Exceptional Staff Award, Shannon Tanguay, budget fiscal officer with CA&ES. (See more on CA&ES website)
Another entomologist, Jeff Smith, the volunteer curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, won the "Friend of the College Award" in 2015. (See news story)
CA&ES is known throughout the world for its expertise, educational opportunities, and contributions to society, according to its website announcing the 2022 winners. "Much of that is due to the great dedication and efforts of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the college."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ironically, some folks proclaim their hatred or disgust for all things spiders throughout the year, but when the Halloween season arrives, they're thinking webs, fangs and eight legs as perfect decor for their door.
And to scare the bejeezus out of trick-or-treaters, the postal employee (who goes postal), cousins (who become distant) and other folks approaching the front porch who wish they hadn't.
So, it's good to see the Bohart Museum of Entomology come up with a "Got Legs?" spider t-shirt in its gift shop this week. It's a trapdoor spider, or what arachnologist Jason Bond of UC Davis studies. Bond is the associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. In June, 2022, he co-hosted the American Arachnological Society's "Eight-Legged Encounters" conference at UC Davis. The focus on spiders also included a Bohart Museum's open house, "Eight-Legged Wonders!"
"We designed it together and Francisco did the art," Keller said.
"I think it's fantastic," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. "I haven't seen any other t-shirts featuring spiders like this."
The gift shop offers the spider t-shirt in both youth and adult sizes. The youth t-shirt glows in the dark.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. The insect-themed gift shop, stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and more, is open year-around and is also online.
Now back to spiders. We remember asking Professor Bond five good reasons why folks should like spiders. (See Bug Squad blog)
- Spiders consume 400-800 million tons of prey, mostly insects, each year. Humans consume somewhere around 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.
- Spider silk is one of the strongest naturally occurring materials. Spider silk is stronger than steel, stronger and more stretchy than Kevlar; a pencil thick strand of spider silk could be used to stop a Boeing 747 in flight.
- Some spiders are incredibly fast – able to run up to 70 body lengths per second (10X faster than Usain Bolt).
- Athough nearly all 47,000-plus spider species have venom used to kill their insect prey, very few actually have venom that is harmful to humans.
- Some spiders are really good parents –wolf spider moms carry their young on their backs until they are ready to strike out on their own; female trapdoor spiders keep their broods safe inside their burrows often longer than one year, and some female jumping spiders even nurse their spiderlings with a protein rich substance comparable to milk.
Spiders rock! And yes, they got legs...
Eight. Of. Them.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Then you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on "Insects, Art and Culture" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15 on the UC Davis campus.
The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. The event is free and family friendly.
Among artists represented will be UC Davis graduate student Srdan Tunic; UC Davis undergraduate students Allen Chew, Francisco Basso and Brittany Kohler; and UC Davis alumna Megan Ma; plus the work of the late scientific illustrator Mary Foley Benson (1905-1992), employed by the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, the Smithsonian before retiring and moving to Davis. She also did illustrations for several UC Davis entomologists.
Tunic, a UC Davis candidate for a master's degree in art history, will present a seminar on Benson from 11 a.m. to noon, Oct. 15, in Room 1010 of the TLC Teaching and Learning Complex, 482 Hutchison Drive. (See research story on Mary Foley Benson by forest entomologist Malcolm Furniss)
The family arts-and-crafts activity at the open house will be to "create your own Pokemon card," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. Also planned: eating insects, creating gall ghosts (from oak galls), learning about cochineal dyes, and showing off insect tattoos.
"We would love to have folks come and show off their insect tattoos," Kimsey said.
The UC Davis museum, founded in 1946 by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), is dedicated to teaching, research and service. It is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. The collection is now the seventh largest in North America and includes terrestrial and fresh water arthropods. The museum is also home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity of California's deserts, mountains, coast, and the Great Central Valley. In addition, the Bohart features a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, posters, books and insect-collecting equipment.
The Bohart is open to the public year-around (except for holidays) Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. It is closed to the public on Friday to enable research activities. Admission is free. For more information, access the website or contact the museum at bmuseum@udavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What better way to celebrate Aggie Spirit Week, Oct. 10-16, on the UC Davis campus than to
- See specimens and live insects at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the week, Oct. 10-13?
- Attend a Bohart Museum-hosted lecture on scientific illustrator Mary Foley Benson on Saturday, Oct. 15?
- Attend a Bohart open house themed "Insects, Art and Culture" on Saturday, Oct. 15?
Aggie Spirit Week, which began Monday, Oct. 10 and continues through Sunday, Oct. 16, is a celebration of "Homecoming, The Golden Society, Parent and Family Weekend and campus-wide events for Aggies across the globe," officials said.
Spirit Week. The Bohart Museum, home of a worldwide collection of eight million insect specimens, a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches stick insects and tarantulas), and a gift shop stocked with insect-themed items, is participating in Aggie Spirit Week four days this week (Monday through Thursday). Hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. The insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.
Open House! On Saturday, Oct. 15, a special open house on "Insects, Art and Culture" will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Bohart Museum. It's free and family friendly. "Come and learn about insects through the lenses of art and culture," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. "This event is part of Spirit Week for Aggie students, parents and alumni, but all are welcome."
Seminar on Mary Foley Benson. One of the highlights of Aggie Spirit Week will be a seminar on the life and work of noted scientific illustrator Mary Foley Benson.Srdan Tunic, a candidate for a master's degree in art history, will present the seminar from 11 a.m. to noon, Oct. 15, in Room 1010 TLC Teaching and Learning Complex, 482 Hutchison Drive.
Benson (1905-1992), internationally known for her entomology and horticulture illustrations, served as scientific illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology and the Smithsonian Institution. Later, as a resident of Davis, she engaged in other projects, including working for UC Davis entomologists. Much of her work appears in campus buildings, including Briggs Hall, home of the Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (See research story on Mary Foley Benson by forest entomologist Malcolm Furniss)
Tunic has spent the last year researching her life and work. He is one of the co-founders of initiatives Street Art Walks Belgrade, Kustosiranje / About and Around Curating. A graduate of the University of Belgrade and University of the Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, he holds degrees in both art history and cultural management. He anticipates receiving his master's degree from UC Davis in June 2023.
History of Bohart Museum. The UC Davis museum, founded in 1946 by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), is dedicated to teaching, research and service. It originated with two Schmitt boxes of insect specimens that Bohart had collected. The university named it the R. H. Bohart Museum of Entomology in 1982. Its insect collection is now the seventh largest in North America and includes terrestrial and fresh water arthropods. The museum is also home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity of California's deserts, mountains, coast, and the Great Central Valley.
Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, the insect museum is open to the public year-around (except for holidays) Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon an from 1 to 5 p.m. It is closed to the public on Friday to enable research activities. Admission is free. For more information, access the website or contact the museum at bmuseum@udavis.edu.