You could say that entomologist Megan Meuti of The Ohio State University (OSU) messes with mosquitoes' circadian clocks.

She's hoping she can trick Culex pipiens, the Northern house mosquito, into not biting us.

As a recent OSU article on Can We Trick Mosquitoes So They Stop Biting Us? explained:

"In her lab, Meuti employed a technique called RNA interference. She injected several thousand Culex pipiens mosquitoes with double-stranded RNA. (RNA stands for ribonucleic acid, which can serve as a messenger, carrying genetic information from the DNA inside an organism's cells and allowing it to be made into the proteins that do all the work.)

"The double-stranded RNA that she injected into the mosquitoes prevented a specific protein that governs the mosquitoes' circadian rhythms from being made.

"Then Meuti waited. She hoped to see if reducing the amount of a circadian clock proteins had any effect on the mosquitoes' ability to measure seasonal time. Specifically, she wanted to see if she could convince a mosquito that it was winter when it was really summer — and vice versa."

Did it work? Yes.

Meuti will discuss her work on Wednesday, Jan. 19 when the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology hosts her virtual seminar on "How Do Mosquitoes Correctly Interpret Environmental Signals Into Complex Seasonal Responses?"

Her presentation begins at 4:10 p.m., Pacific Time. The Zoom link:  https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/99515291076 

"Northern house mosquitoes, Culex pipiens, transmit West Nile virus to birds and people in the United States," Meuti says in her abstract. "However, transmission is limited to a few months of the year when female mosquitoes are actively biting and reproducing. During autumn, females of Cx. pipiens enter a physiologically dynamic but arrested state of development known as diapause where they divert resources from reproduction to survival."

Meuti and members of her lab study (1) how mosquitoes are able to measure daylength and whether the circadian clock is involved and (2) how human-mediated changes to the environment, like light pollution and higher temperatures in urban heat islands, affect mosquito seasonality, and how this might affect disease transmission in cities. 

Meuti holds three degrees from OSU:  dual bachelor degrees in microbiology and entomology, 2008; and her doctorate in  entomology, 2014. Studying with major professor David Denlinger, she completed her dissertation on "Circadian Clocks and Photoperiodic Diapause in the Northern House Mosquito, Culex pipiens: Search for the Missing Link.” 

Prior to joining the OSU faculty, Meuti served as a visiting professor in the Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in 2015-16.

"Many of us intuitively recognize that our mosquito problems are seasonal; there are times of the year when mosquitoes are abundant and we cannot go outside without getting bitten (e.g. late spring and summer), while there are other times when we enjoy a reprieve from mosquito bites (e.g. late fall and winter)," Meuti writes on her website. "I am interested in how precisely mosquitoes are able to tell what time of year it is and appropriately respond to their environment. Members of my lab group study how circadian clock genes might allow mosquitoes to measure day length to determine the time of year; how male mosquitoes change their accessory gland proteins to influence female behavior and physiology; and whether mosquitoes in urban environments are active for longer periods during the year and/or bite humans more frequently. We use a variety of molecular, genetic and physiological techniques to investigate these questions. Our ultimate goal is to uncover specific ways to manipulate seasonal responses in insects so that we can more effectively control them."  (Watch Megan Meuti's  Discovery Talk)

Meuti recently co-authored research, "Artificial Light at Night Alters the Seasonal Responses of Biting Mosquitoes," published in the Journal of Insect Physiology.

 The abstract: 

"Urban light pollution caused by artificial light at night (ALAN) profoundly affects the ecology, behavior, and physiology of plants and animals. Further, this widespread environmental pollutant has the potential to negatively impact human and animal health by changing the seasonal dynamics of disease-transmitting insects. In response to short days, females of the Northern house mosquito enter an overwintering dormancy, or diapause. While in diapause, female mosquitoes divert energy away from reproduction, cease blood-feeding, and no longer transmit disease. We demonstrate that exposure to dim ALAN (~4 lx) causes female mosquitoes to avert diapause and become reproductively active, as these females acquired less fat content, developed larger egg follicles, imbibed vertebrate blood, and produced viable eggs and larvae. Our findings suggest that mosquitoes in highly light-polluted areas such as cities may be actively reproducing and biting later in the season, thereby extending the period of disease risk for urban residents. Our results suggest that ALAN should be considered when modeling mosquito abundance, disease risk, and when deciding how long mosquito surveillance and control should persist in temperate regions."

Active in the Entomological Society of America, Meuti received the 2018 Early Career Professional Teaching Award of $1,000. She earlier won a 2008-2014 OSU fellowship, the Susan D. Huntington Dean's Distinguished University Graduate Fellowship of $67,200; and a 2010-2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship of $90,000.

Coordinator of the UC Davis seminars is nematologist Shahid Siddique, assistant professor. For technical issues involving the seminar, contact him at ssiddique@ucdavis.edu. 

"Around 250 million years ago, at the start of the Triassic period, a species of insect evolved to have a narrow waist, called a petiole. This adaptation allowed greater flexibility and maneuverability of the ovipositor, the tubular structure on the female's rear used to deposit eggs."--Hazel Russman London, UK, New Scientist

With all the emphasis on New Year's resolutions and the "growing" desire of many folks to lose weight, consider the waist of the mud dauber wasp, Sceliphron caementarium.

The petiole is about twice as long as the rest of the abdomen, according to BugGuide.net.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, some "fashionable" women wore corsets and girdles to try to achieve the "wasp waist," sometimes as small as 15 to 18 inches in circumference. Can you imagine that?

The French singer and actress, Émilie Marie Bouchaud (1874-1939), better known as Polaire, drew fame for her 16-inch corseted wasp waist.

Polaire, meaning "Pole Star," worked first as a music-hall singer and dancer, according to Wikipedia. One of her earliest hits:  performing the French version of the vaudeville song, Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay. 

A wasp waist can result in severe medical issues. As Wikipedia points out: "Among the multitude of medical problems women suffered to achieve these drastic measurements were deformed ribs, weakened abdominal muscles, deformed and dislocated internal organs, and respiratory ailments. Displacement and disfigurement of the reproductive organs greatly increased the risk of miscarriage and maternal death."

Polaire, though, apparently didn't die from the adverse effects of the tightlacing.

"Polaire's finances suffered from a series of actions by the French tax authorities and she struggled to find stage or screen roles as she aged," Wikipedia tells us. "She may have suffered from depression. She died in 14 October 1939, aged 65, in Champigny-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, France."

Wasp waists? Hourglass figures? Entomologists probably just shake their heads in disbelief.

Leave the wasp waists to the wasps.

The newly published UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology calendar is DCI: delightful, creative and innovative!

Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey, a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, said the calendar--featuring students' unusual comments on their Entomology 100 term papers and illustrated by Bohart associate Kris Merritt--is now on sale for $12 in-house or $15 through the online gift shop. (Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Bohart Museum is currently closed to the public.) Funds will benefit the Bohart.

Kimsey teaches ENT100 and annually collects what she calls the "prized sentences."  

The sentences selected for the calendar include:

• "Normally, locusts are introverted creatures; they do not socialize unless it is for reproduction."
• "Drones are male bees that contribute only in the perm production for the queen."
• "In addition to a food product, pollinators are also used to pollinated crops."
• "The swarmers are attracted to lights and tend to expose themselves in the evenings."
• "Bees being shipped across country stored in trucks or vans are shown to cause more stress."
• "The thrip is a pest is not always a serious pest."
• "The other mentality that must be overcome is a chemically dependent one."
• "Theosmeteria are typically waved around in an erotic fashion and then retracted back into the body."
• "If not for their communication skills, honey bees would have long been extinct, leading to numerous crop losses.
• "The infected fleas can harbor rats, ground squirrels, rabbits and occasionally, even house cats."

"One of the outcomes of teaching a general entomology course to undergraduates is that you develop a new appreciation for science fiction-fantasy," Kimsey said recently. "In part, this is because every year some new scientific discovery about an insect causes you to have a head slapping moment—they do what? The other part is how little students know about insects. Most are not entomology majors, and many aren't even majors in the biological sciences, so there are a lot of misconceptions.”

“One aspect of teaching this course is the writing requirement,"  explained Kimsey, a UC Davis faculty since 1989. "Students at UC Davis are required to take a number of units in general education, science and writing. My course fulfills two of those requirements, which means that I have to require—and grade—student term papers as part of their assignments. I can say definitely that student writing abilities have not improved over the years. So, to alleviate the pain of grading these works of art, I started collecting particularly silly or otherwise awesome sentences from their papers.” 

Merritt, who holds a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis, does freelance illustrations and enclosure designs. A resident of Sacramento, she is an entomologist, artist and beekeeper. (See her work on her Instagram account at @bombus_polaris)

"My earliest memory of putting pen to surface is of some amorphous blob meant to be a pirate ship drawn on the side of those old giant inflated balls with handles you'd bounce around on,"  Merritt said. "Ever since, there has been no surface or media safe from my touch. I pretty much got into anime and manga (Japanese animation and comics) beginning in the fifth grade, and then on through high school.

"That gave me a decent understanding of anatomy and portraying motion," she said, adding "I later expanded my subjects to the extremes of realism and cartoons/caricatures, eventually developing my own unique style."

"I started working at the Bohart Museum in 2016 while an entomology undergraduate and was soon recruited as the in-house artist. I was tasked to illustrate Lynn Kimsey's collection of sentences, as well as various outreach projects. My favorite mediums to work with include alcohol markers, ink, and colored pencils, though I also appreciate the various advantages of digital art programs."

The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building on Crocker Lane. Home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens, it is the seventh largest university insect museum in North America. It also houses a live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects tarantulas. The online gift shop includes such insect-themed gifts as hoodies, t-shirts, books, posters and jewelry, as well as insect-collecting equipment. For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.

Who doesn't love jumping spiders?

They're adorable. No? Well, they are to arthropod enthusiasts, but not so much to their prey.

This one (probably a Phidippus audax, a Bold Jumper) was moving slowly and unobtrusively up a shadowed Vacaville stucco wall on the morning of Jan. 2.

It may have been hunting for prey or simply seeking some sun.

The jumping spider, family Salticidae, is a thing of beauty, but to some folks it's a thing of fright. 

Did you catch science writer James Gorman's article on How the Jumping Spider Sees Its Prey in the Nov. 6, 2018  edition of The New York Times?   

"If you love spiders, you will really love jumping spiders," Gordon began, humorously adding that "If you hate spiders, try reading this article on dandelions."

"O.K., if you're still here, jumping spiders are predators that stalk their prey and leap on them, like a cat. They are smart, agile and have terrific eyesight." 

Gorman pointed out that "It has been clear for a long time that their vision is critical to the way they hunt, and to the accuracy of their leaps. But a lot has remained unknown about the way their eyes work together." He then detailed the newly published research on spider vision by Elizabeth Jakob of the University of Massachusetts and her colleagues.

"Jumping spiders have eight eyes," Gorman gently reminded his readers (who were probably already reading about dandelions). "Two big eyes, right in the center of what you might call the spider's forehead, are the principal ones, and they pick up detail and color. Of the other three pairs, a rear set looks backward, a middle set is as yet a bit of a mystery, and the foremost detect motion."

The spider we saw on the stucco wall certainly detected our motion. 

Somewhat like the phrase attributed to Julius Cesar's "I came, I saw, I conquered," our spider "came, jumped and vanished."

Goodbye, spider. 

And no, I'm not going to read that article on dandelions.