Do you like to blend science with art, or is there a budding young artist in your family?

Then you may want to create Maggot Art, a hands-on activity offered by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology during the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day celebration on Saturday, April 15.

Just call it "Me and My Maggot."

Maggot Art will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Briggs Hall courtyard. You dip a maggot into water-based, non-toxic paint (your choice of colors), watch it crawl on a piece of white paper, and voila! Maggot Art! It's suitable for framing--or at least a spot on your refrigerator door. 

Like all Picnic Day activities, it's free and open to the public. Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and doctoral student Grace Horne, a fellow of the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) and a member of the lab of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, are coordinating the entomological activities.

Maggot Art has been a traditional part of the UC Davis Picnic Day since the early 2000s.

Rebecca O'Flaherty, a former graduate student of Bob Kimsey's, coined the educational teaching curriculum,  "Maggot Art," back in 2001 when she was studying at the University of Hawaii. She was rearing blowflies for her forensic research and wanted an activity to draw the interest of elementary school students.  She also wanted to generate interest and respect for forensic entomology.  

Her Maggot Art quickly drew national interest. The CSI television show featured one of her works, “Ancient Offering,”  which hung on the permanent set in Gil Grissom's office. O'Flaherty also exhibited her work at art shows, including a two-month exhibition at the Capital Athletic Club, Sacramento, in 2007.

And the maggots at UC Davis Picnic Day? "The maggots are Calliphora vacinia, the blue bottle fly," Kimsey said. "Realize that there are likely close to 100 species that can be called blue bottle flies. This particular one is very large as an adult and has huge larvae that are perfect for Maggot Art."

"Although at certain times of the year, it is active in California, particularly around cities, it is not as common as others and I do not have a colony," he added. "There has been a lot of very famous research in entomology done on this species, particularly at University of Massachusetts and Harvard under Vincent Dethier, whose research has provided profound insights into human biology." 

The maggots are on order from Knutson's Sporting Goods, an Internet purveyor based in Brooklyn, Mich., which sells them as live fish bait and as research tools. "Maggots are one of the most popular bait used by ice fisherman in the United States," the company says on its website.

The Department of Entomology and Nematology's "bug" exhibits will be at two sites:

• Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, Kleiber Hall Drive, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and
• Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is "Bugs, Boom, Bang!" The insect museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, a live "petting zoo" (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas).

The line-up of entomological events at Briggs Hall includes:

Cockroach Races
Briggs Hall entrance
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cheer the roaches (American cockroaches) as they race in a specially made race track, encouraged by an air pump.

Bug Doctor
Briggs Hall Entryway 
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Meet an entomologist and talk about insects! Bring an insect to identify.  

Dr. Death
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will display and discuss his work. 

Entomology at UC Davis 
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Displays of insects, including bees, ants and more
Graduate students, faculty and emeriti will staff the tables

Scavenger Hunt
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be several drawers of insects that people can look through to see if they can spot the insects on the check list

Fly-tying
Briggs Hall courtyard
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fly Fishers of Davis will show you how to tie a fly.

Insect-Themed T-shirt Sales
Briggs hall entryway
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Members of the Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) will be selling popular insect-themed t-shirts, including "The Beetles" 

Mosquito Control
Briggs Hall entrance
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District will be providing information on mosquitoes and how to protect yourself

Other Creepy Crawlies
122 Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
UC Davis doctoral candidate Emma Jochim of the Jason Bond lab and others will display live arachnids, myriapods, tarantulas, scorpions, millipedes and more 

UC  Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) 
Briggs Hall Courtyard
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Learn about pests and how to control them from UC IPM scientists. The staff will be giving away lady beetles, aka ladybugs.

The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, headed by director Amina Harris and affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will host a honey tasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the courtyard of Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road. "Come taste and learn about UC Davis honey and honey varietals from North America," she said. "Honey available for purchase."

The UC Davis Picnic Day, a campuswide open house, is billed as "one of UC Davis' most revered traditions and serves as the university's annual open house for prospective and current students, families, alumni, staff, faculty and the greater Davis and regional communities."

Congratulations to the four student entomologists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology who won National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) grants, a record high achievement for the department.

A tip of the insect veil to:

• Doctoral student Grace Horne, who studies with urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor
• Doctoral student Alexia “Lexie" Martin, who studies with community ecologist Rachel Vannette, associate professor
• Doctoral student Marshall Nakatani, who studies with bee scientist Brian Johnson, associate professor
• Undergraduate student Mingxuan “Gary” Ge, entomology major and research scholar in the Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology. He is advised by community ecologist and professor Louie Yang of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and UC Davis distinguished professor and lepidopterist Art Shapiro of the Department of Evolution and Ecology.

Each recipient will receive a five-year fellowship providing three years of financial support, inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.  The NSF-GRFP is the most prestigious award of its type and highly competitive. The annual acceptance rates are about 16 percent from among more than 12,000 annual applicants. The awards are given to outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated “the potential to be high-achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers.”

Grace Horne, Emily Meineke Lab
Grace Horne, who grew up in Marlborough, N.H., is a 2021 graduate of Colby College, Waterville, Maine, where she double-majored in biology (evolution and ecology), and environmental science (conservation biology), receiving magna cum laude (with distinction) in both majors. Horne, who joined the Meineke lab in 2021, studies plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, global change biology, natural history and community science.

Horne submitted this successful proposal:

Title: "Natural History Collections for Backcasting Plant-Insect Interactions in a Changing World."

Description: "Herbivory by caterpillars can have negative impacts on plant survival, growth, and reproduction. Interactions between plants and caterpillars, which are both metabolically tied to temperature, are particularly consequential for ecosystems. However, investigations of how species have and will interact under a changing climate are lacking. In particular, insects are in decline in many areas, but the downstream effects of insect herbivore losses and simultaneous climate change on plants are unclear. Thus, I propose to combine modern observations, a controlled experiment, and data cached in natural history collections to investigate effects of climate change on plant-insect interactions in a biodiversity hotspot."

Lexie Martin, Rachel Vannette Lab 
Lexie Martin, a native of Cypress, Texas, is a 2021 graduate  of the University of Texas, Austin, where she received her  bachelor of science degree in biology, with a concentration in ecology, evolution and behavior, and a bachelor of science and arts in chemistry. She graduated with research distinction and as a dean's honored graduate. Martin's research interests include bees, mutualism, bee-microbe interactions, bee diversity, plant-pollination interactions, conservation and bee health. Her career plans are to pursue a professor position at a university, to continue researching bee-microbe interactions and other factors affecting bee health. Martin submitted this successful proposal 

Title: "Effects of Intraspecifically Transmitted Versus Environmentally Acquired Microbes on Bees."  

Description: "Although most social organisms can obtain microbes through intraspecific and environmental acquisition routes, few studies have directly compared how microbial acquisition route affects host health. In this project, I am investigating how microbes in the bee core gut microbiota vs. microbes obtained from flowers establish within the gut and affect the overall health of bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) and blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria). I selectively introduced microbes obtained through each route to bees and will be measuring establishment within the gut, survivorship, fitness, and lipid stores. The results of this project will be applicable to other social organisms, as well as relevant to the management of commercial bees and crops."

Marshall Nakatani, Brian Johnson Lab 
Marshall Nakatani, from Lansdale, Pa., is a 2021 graduate of George Washington Univeristy, where he received his bachelor of science degree in biology, with a concentration in cell and molecular biology. He is in his second year as a UC Davis doctoral student. Nakatani's general interests include eusociality, the division of labor in social insects, and how genetics and the environment interact to determine phenotype. His career plans: to continue working in academia.  

Nakatani submitted this winning proposal:  

Title: "Social Influence on Molecular Mechanisms of Phenotypic Plasticity in Honeybee Circadian Rhythm." 

Description:  "The goal of my research is to uncover the social cues that entrain the clock and how the ontogeny of circadian rhythm is controlled in honeybees.  These efforts will involve examining clock function in all four worker castes, along with the queens, drones, accelerated foragers, and reverted nurses through the use of western blots, immunocytostaining, and single cell RNAseq. The project will also examine how social cues, specifically brood pheromones, influence the rhythmicity of worker activity.  This project will attempt to advance the understanding of the ontogeny of the honeybee circadian clock, specifically untangling the relationship between phenotype and the molecular state of the clock." 

Gary Ge, Labs of Louie Yang and Art Shapiro
Gary Ge, who anticipates receiving his bachelor of science degree in entomology from UC Davis in 2023, was born in Beijing China, and schooled in New York City, Singapore and Hawaii.

In his project, he uses the American Apollo butterfly (Parnassius clodius) as a model to study how microclimatic conditions affect cold-adapted insects. P. clodius, a white butterfly, is found at high elevations in western United States (Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Canada) and in British Columbia, Canada.  

“The genus Parnassius is prone to global warming due to its affinity for alpine and arctic habitats, and several species are considered to be threatened,” Ge wrote in his winning proposal. “The American Apollo has habitats ranging from coastal forests to above the tree line. Thus, they experience very different combinations of microclimatic variations depending on time and location. Unlike most other butterflies, their larvae develop under cold macroclimatic temperatures and demonstrate active behavioral thermoregulation. This makes them highly dependent and consequently sensitive to microclimatic temperatures. In addition, the adults are poor dispersers, limiting gene flow between spatially close populations. Their larvae are also likely the sole insect herbivore of the host plant species, thus microhabitat identification is easy in the field.” 

Ge's project also factored in his winning the 2023 Dr. Stephen Garczynski Undergraduate Research Scholarship from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA), which encompasses 11 Western states, plus Canada, Mexico and U.S. territories.

Mark your calendar!

A BioBlitz is set from 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, April 29 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. It's being hosted by UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Participants will meet in at the Wyatt Deck (previously the BioBlitz was scheduled for the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo.)

"I am excited about the location change because we will be located next to two biodiversity hubs: The T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove and the Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants," said Horne,  a member of the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Reservations (free) are underway here.   

“We need your help to track and identify the wildlife in Davis!" said Horne, a member of the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. "Participants will take photos of plants, animals, and fungi, and upload these observations to the community science platform, iNaturalist. All you need to bring is a smartphone or a photo-taking device. We will have a table with small lenses, bug boxes, field guides, insect specimens, and more to help you make observations of wildlife. Local experts will also be available to assist in identifying the wildlife."

This event will be hosted in coordination with the City Nature Challenge Sacramento. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an annual international competition among cities with the goal of documenting the most biodiversity within a four-day period.

This year the challenge will occur from April 28 to May 1, "so any observations of wildlife that are uploaded to iNaturalist will contribute to the 2023 CNC," Horne said. "At the end of the CNC, the region with the most observations wins. We are looking to make as many quality observations as we can during the Davis Bioblitz, so stop by the Shields Gazebo to help contribute observations to the Greater Sacramento Region!”

Horne joined the Meineke lab in 2021 after graduating from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, where she double-majored in majored in biology (evolution and ecology), and environmental science (conservation biology). She served as education staff member and undergraduate researcher at The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. from 2018-2021. The environmental education organization focuses on inviting people—youth and adults alike—to share in stories of ecology, evolution, and natural history. She gained experience in conservation and education in the spring of 2020 when she participated in the Round River Conservation Studies in Maun, Botswana. 

Horne's undergraduate thesis about the effects of the decline of ash trees on native caterpillars, scored the cover of the February edition of the journal Environmental Entomology.  The paper, “Specialist Herbivore Performance on Introduced Plants During Native Host Decline,”  is co-authored by Ria Manderino of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation,  Upperville, VA and Samuel Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H.  “Our publication highlights the importance of multispecies assessments of host plant acceptance,” said Horne, who studies plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, global change biology, natural history and community science in the Meineke lab.   

It's not every day that an undergraduate thesis makes the cover story of a professional journal.

But that's the case with UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne. Her undergraduate thesis about the effects of the decline of ash trees on native caterpillars, scored the cover of the February edition of the journal Environmental Entomology. Or, should we say, it "graced" the cover. 

The paper, “Specialist Herbivore Performance on Introduced Plants During Native Host Decline,”  is co-authored by Ria Manderino of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation,  Upperville, VA and Samuel Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. 

“Our publication highlights the importance of multispecies assessments of host plant acceptance,” said Horne, who studies plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, global change biology, natural history and community science in the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. 

 “We tested three related species, two of them congeners, on their ability to accept alternative host plants in the face of the loss of their primary host," Horne said. "We found a diversity of responses even among these three species. Further downstream, landscape managers may be able to use our results to make decisions about which plantings will help support native herbivores.”

Jaffe provided the cover image of a Sphinx kalmiae, commonly known as "laurel sphinx."

The abstract:

Ash (Fraxinus spp.) is in rapid decline across the northeastern USA due to the invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire). Three recently co-occurring confamilial species may serve as alternative larval host plants for ash-reliant Lepidoptera. These prospective hosts are nonnative shrubs often planted in managed suburban landscapes and are sometimes invasive or naturalized in North America. Given the imminent decline of ash trees, we considered potential downstream effects on insect herbivores historically specialized on ash foliage. We measured the performance of three ash-specialist hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) on native white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) and alternative host plants: common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.), weeping forsythia [Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl], and European privet (Ligustrum vulgare L.). We found the nonnative host plants provided varied support for larval survival to pupation, with biomass and growth rate affected differently by both plant and insect identity. Nearly all caterpillars reared on one alternative host, European privet, exhibited distinct malformations of the wing buds at pupation. Given caterpillar presence on privet in the field, privet may constitute an ecological trap (i.e., when female moths select a sub-optimal host, offspring survival and fitness are reduced). This work demonstrates how performance testing can reveal species-specific effects of host plant loss on mono- or oligophagous insects. For some ash specialists, alternative nonnative host plants may be suboptimal, but some cultivated host plants may be able to support certain specialist insects during native host decline. We suggest that landscaping decisions can be tailored to support threatened insect species."

Environmental Entomology, published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October, and December), covers the interaction of insects with the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of their environment.

Graduate of Colby College. Grace is a 2021 graduate of Colby College, Waterville, Maine, where she majored in biology (evolution and ecology), and environmental science (conservation biology), receiving magna cum laude (with distinction) in both majors.  Her thesis: “Reduced Performance of Ash-Specialist Caterpillars on Nonnative, Cultivated Oleaceous Plants.”

Horne joined the Meineke lab in 2021 after serving as an education staff member and undergraduate researcher at The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. from 2018-2021. The environmental education organization focuses on inviting people—youth and adults alike—to share in stories of ecology, evolution, and natural history. Horne presented at more than 30 venues, including elementary school classrooms, botanical gardens, and children's museums, "with a goal to ignite in us a curiosity of the world we live in, from the smallest leaf-miners to the tallest trees."

Horne gained experience in conservation and education in the spring of 2020 when she participated in the Round River Conservation Studies in Maun, Botswana. The environmental organization operates at the nexus of conservation and education to explore the complex relationship between conservation, people, and wildlife, mostly in Mababe, Botswana. "We worked with local experts to design and maintain wildlife monitoring systems to be used to substantiate economic and environmental decisions," she related.

Check out the recent feature, For Ash-Dependent Insects, Some Plants Make Good Alternatives—But Others Don't, in the Entomological Society of America's Entomology Today publication.

Picnic Day Co-Chair. You'll be able to see more of Horne's leadership at the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on April 15. Horne, active in the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (EGSA), is co-chairing the entomological  activities with forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.

The entomological events, held at Briggs Hall and the Bohart Museum of Entomology, are both educational and entertaining.  At Briggs Hall, look for forest, medical and agricultural entomology displays, and participate in cockroach races, maggot art, and scores of other activities. And over at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, check out the insect specimens and hold such critters as Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects in the live "petting zoo." 

Last year Horne displayed pipevine swallowtails, Battus philenor, munching on their host plant, Dutchman's pipe, Aristolochia macrophylla.

"Picnic Day," as the officials say on their website, "is one of UC Davis' most revered traditions and serves as the university's annual Open House for prospective and current students, families, alumni, staff, faculty, and the greater Davis and regional communities."