If you attended the Entomological Society of America's 2021 meeting last week in Denver, you probably saw a monarch laying eggs.

That is, you saw a photograph of a Danaus plexippus ovipositing. 

The image, by Joe Virbickis of Washington, Ill., won a medal at International Insect Salon, a highly competitive annual event coordinated by the Peoria Camera Club, Illinois and showcased by ESA. Each year photographers worldwide are invited to submit images of insects, spiders, and related arthropods (such as barnacles, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, centipedes and millipedes).

The 2021 Insect Salon drew a total of 256 images from photographers residing in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Scotland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, as well as within the United States.

An image must receive a minimum of 13 points of the maximum 15 points to be accepted into the show, said Virbickis, chair of the Peoria Camera Club's Insect Salon committee.  This year the judges accepted a little over 100 entries. The names of the winning photographers and their images are currently posted online.

ESA member Tom Myers, a Board-Certified Entomologist and noted photographer, chaired and emceed the Insect Salon showing at the Denver meeting. 

The "Best of Show" medal went to Marcus Kam of Ipoh, state of Perak, Malaysia for "Bugs Love." Kam, an 11-year insect photographer, also won the medal for the "Best Image by a Non-ESA Member" for his "Sharing."

Other medalists:

• "Medal, Most Unusual," won by Albertus Nugroho of Jakarta, Indonesia, for "Super Ant In Action."
• "Medal, Best Story Telling,"  Dre Van Mensel of Tielen, Antwerpen, Belgium for "Fall Over."
• "Medal, Best by ESA Member," Tom Myers of Lexington, Ky for "Syrphid Fly Feeding." 
• "Medal, Best by Peoria Camera Club Member," Joe Virbickis of Washington, Ill., for "Monarch Laying Eggs."

The monarch image? Here's the story behind the image.

Joe Virbickis. Virbickis, who began photographing insects in 2011, the year after he joined the Peoria Camera Club,  related he took the monarch image on common milkweed, Asclepius syriaca, in his backyard garden. "We plant several varieties of plants to attract and nurture pollinators."

"The story...I was searching our milkweeds for monarch caterpillars.  I did not find any, but to my surprise, I encountered this monarch laying eggs.  Fortunately, my movements to raise my camera did not startle her.  I was able to focus and shoot a burst of six images before she fluttered off. Unfortunately, I could not find the eggs to gather them.  I do not rear monarchs regularly.  A couple years ago, I managed to find, harvest and raise four monarchs for release.  It was quite exciting."

Virbickis created the image with his Canon 80D, and a 100-400mm Tamron lens, zooming in at about 200mm. "I have learned that monarchs can be skittish as they are sensitive to movement, sounds and shadows and I did not want to make any more movement than necessary."

A past president of the Peoria Camera Club and a repeat Insect Salon winner, Virbickis also won the same medal in 2012 and 2014 and has scored several acceptances over the years. "I have been interested in photography since age 12 and much of my collection is connected to travel (45 states and 7 countries)," Virbickis related. "I enjoy taking all sorts of images but wildlife, landscapes, nature, grandkids, travel and photojournalism are my favorites."

Virbickis worked as a school psychologist and director of special education from 1980 to 2015, and since then, has continued to work post-retirement as a part-time school psychologist. He has entered photographic competitions "within our local club, within our regional camera club association, in regional art fairs and some national/international contests (like the National Insect Salon).  Over the years I've had a good deal of success in competitions and have sold several prints. I like to print my images, as I believe printing is the logical conclusion of the photographic process. It is very satisfying to hold the physical representation of my works and share that with others.  Nothing beats watching someone get immersed in viewing one of my images and appreciate what I have captured. I have a very precious collection of prints of grandkids and the wildlife I have encountered over the years.  I try to capture stories in my images and share those stories with others."

Tom Myers, Entomologist. Myers' image of a syrphid fly feeding won the ESA-member category. The Board-Certified Entomologist has been involved in insect research while at Purdue, Iowa State and the University of Kentucky. His work in insect biodiversity studies has taken him to the rain forests of South America, Africa, Australasia and Asia, and led to the discovery of numerous new species of insects. "I've had the honor of having three species of insects named after me."

Known world-wide for his skills as a photographer and entomologist, Myers has traveled to all seven continents, sometimes under the most extreme circumstances, "to document our world and the people and wildlife in it." His images have appeared in USA Today, The Rachael Ray Show, National Geographic publications and Nature's Best, among others. They are also widespread on the Internet, as well as on calendars and in newspapers, textbooks, TV news broadcasts and scientific guides.

Myers, who has worked in the urban entomology field for several years, owns a pest management company in Lexington, KY.  The National Pest Management Association and ESA extensively use his insect images. One recent image appeared on the Spring 2021 cover of American Entomologist. His images have won local, national, and international awards. His credits also include two invitational exhibits in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. 

Myers says he wants his photos "to convey the incredible array of colors, shapes, and behavior in earth's tiny creatures. It's something that people don't notice on a regular basis. When people see the insect diversity, they're in awe because they've never seen anything like that up close.”

Among the two California entries accepted was one by yours truly, Kathy Keatley Garvey. It depicts two passion butterflies, Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), "keeping busy." Garvey, a communication specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and a member of ESA, quips that it is "insect wedding photography." An image of two bees, titled "Bee 4066" by Nan Carder of Lancaster, Ca., a retired registered nurse and active in the Photographic Society of America, was the other California entry accepted.

ESA, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Annapolis, Md., is the world's largest organization serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and others in related disciplines. Its 7000-members are in educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. 

Halloween is over, but the misinformation spread about spiders never will be. 

Some folks just despise spiders. 

A Facebook post that went viral has resulted in USA Today setting the record straight today (Nov. 9) by conferring with UC Davis arachnologist Jason Bond. He's an expert on spiders; the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and the newly appointed Associate Dean for Research and Outreach for Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. 

The "trouble" began Oct. 27 when a Facebook user in Nigeria posted several pictures (at 3:46 a.m., by the way!) of a gorgeous spider (well, I think it's gorgeous).  She warned: "For those of you who are going to the beach. Please beware of this. Don't try to pick it up thinking it's a work of art. It's a very poisonous spider. If it stings you, you will die within five minutes." 

As of today, the post drew 5,000 comments and 89,000 shares--and a new nickname for the spider: "Oreo spider." You know, the cookie?

Many expressed disbelief at the very start. Scolded one Facebook user in all caps: "THERE IS NO SPIDER BITE THAT I KNOW OF THAT WILL KILL YOU IN 5 MINUTES. TALK TO ME." (She apparently didn't.) Others found the text and images as terrifying as "murder hornets."

USA Today Fact Check disputed the post with: "Viral photos show trapdoor spider that isn't poisonous to humans."

The spider? It's in the genus Cyclocosmia and belongs to the family of cork-lid trapdoor spiders.

Bond told USA Today in a Nov. 5th telephone interview: “Nearly all spiders have venom, but very few of those are toxic to humans. Cyclocosmia is one of those spider groups that has no known toxicity to humans...Most people have never seen (them) because you really have to go out and look for them. They're not incredibly common, and then, of course, you'd have to dig one out of its burrow to even get bitten by it.”

“(In) all my years of collecting and working on trapdoor spiders, the only time any of us have ever gotten bitten by one was in the lab, when we were trying to photograph them,” Bond told USA Today. “For most spiders, you have to provoke them, you've got to grab them, you have to do something to make them really defensive to get them to bite you.”

He further said: "In that rare situation when a trapdoor spider bites, you might feel the pinch of tiny fangs, but you don't really feel anything from the venom.”

Nature photographer Nicky Bay, an incredible macro photographer, took the images of the cork-lid trapdoor spider in Thailand and posted them on his Flickr account in 2019. He clarified: "The cork-lid trapdoor spider has a highly sclerotised and abruptly truncated abdominal posterior, which is used as a plug to its burrow entrance. This prevents any effective attacks from predators such as wasps."

Apparently someone "found" his copyrighted images and "borrowed" them.

Bay subsequently tweeted that the Facebook post contains "a whole bunch of falsehoods." 

So, bottom line:

1. You won't find these spiders on the beach. It's safe to go to the beach. Bring your towel and your dog.
2. Spiders don't sting; they bite. Bees sting.
3. You will probably never encounter these cork-lid trapdoor spiders anywhere (much less on the beach), but if you do, you're not likely to pick them up, thinking "Wow! What an amazing piece of art." Who does that?  
4. The venom of these spiders is poisonous to their prey, including grasshoppers and crickets, as well as other small critters. You are not the prey.  
5. You won't perish from the bite. Why the "deadline" of five minutes? You got the spider on a five-minute timer or something?

Meanwhile, arachnologists around the world must be (1) shaking their heads in unison and in disbelief  (2) laughing uproariously or snickering outlandishly or (3) wondering if they can create a "Oreo spider" costume for next Halloween. 

A “neighborly” project by entomologist Jeff Smith, the volunteer curator of the worldwide Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California Davis, has ended on a sweet note that will benefit the museum.

When Smith provided 10 framed insect displays for wall decorations at the Neighborly Pest Management, Roseville, the president-owner James “Jim” Steed gifted him with $1500, which Smith promptly donated to the museum.

"Jim knew that his check would be a donation to the Bohart Museum," Smith said, "and that was the reason for his generosity. As a past president of the statewide Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC) and the local chapter, Jim had previously gotten nice checks into the Bohart's hands and has high praise for the value of the museum." 

Smith, a longtime friend and colleague of Steed (since 1993),  requested $500. “Jim thought that was far too low,” Smith said, adding “It's a wonderful company.  Neighborly Pest Management has been in business since 1978, nearly 45 years, and is one of the most forward-thinking and professional companies I've ever known.”

“They recently did a magnificent job of remodeling the interior of their office—they did it themselves--and wanted to decorate the walls with something entomological,” Smith related.  “Since I've made these framed displays before, they thought that was perfect and said they'd like all I could make for them and would pay top dollar.”

 “For 10 displays, I suggested maybe $50 each, and Jim looked surprised and said he was thinking twice that. Obviously, it turned out to be three times that!”

 “The insect specimens,” Smith said, “are primarily from surplus material from that massive Chiapas, Mexico donation of papered bugs the Bohart Museum received in 2019, all collected in 1971-1974 by the renowned Lepidopterist Robert Wind, (1912-1975). His niece lives in Rio Linda and she was the family member who ended up with the huge amount of material that no other relative wanted.”

 For the Neighborly Pest Management project, Smith spread all the specimens, including butterflies, bees and beetles, and created the frames, using “lots of surplus glass.” 

“A flag on their wall was made from repurposed 2x6 redwood decking from the original owner's property and Jim said he wanted the USA flag to be the largest and most prominent thing in their office,” Smith commented. 

Smith praised Steed's dedication toward helping minorities get involved in pest control industry management. 

Steed and colleague Ashley Clark, director and vice president of Allenstrategic Communications (Steed worked with her on pyrethroid training) founded a national movement, Black Ownership Matters, to find ways to encourage minorities, blacks in particular, to enter pest control management.  The two launched the project in 2020, on Juneteenth (June 19), a day that commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States.

On their website, they emphasize creating equity and advancement in the pest control industry: "We are a community of individuals and organizations from across all backgrounds that have chosen to come together to support black economic advancement in the field of pest management."

“We have mentors and mentees in Black Ownership Matters,” Steed said. He recently took several mentees to a national pest management conference.

Said Smith: “They find ways to train them and get them started and they also encourage current black-owned pest businesses to continue to do well.” 

Neighborly Pest Management, a family-owned business founded on April 1, 1978 (“no fooling,” Steed quipped),  now includes 30 employees serving the pest management needs of residential, commercial, and schools, among other entities, in the five-county area of Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Solano and El Dorado.  The team is also currently working in Solano to control the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis,  an agricultural pest threatening vineyards. 

Smith and Steed first met in 1993, the beginning of their 28-year friendship.  “It's a win-win for us,” said Steed. “We not only have these excellent framed specimen displays but we will always have of piece of Jeff in our office. He's a good man and we support him any way we can.” 

Smith received the 2015 “Friend of the College” award from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for his volunteer work in the Bohart Museum. Nominator Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, said at the time that “Jeff has spread the wings of 200,000 butterflies and moths, which translates into something like 33,000 hours of work, over a 27-year period. He  has brought us international acclaim and saved us $160,000 through donations of specimens and materials, identification skills and his professional woodworking skills. This does not include the thousands of hours he has donated in outreach programs that draw attention to the museum, the college and the university.”  (link to https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=18627 

To date, Smith has made 2,300 drawers for the museum, and about 350 to 400 are from repurposed redwood from old decks and old fences.  “I've spread, likely, a couple hundred thousand Leps,” Smith related. “I figure it at a rate of maybe 6,000 per year for the past 30 or so years. I started doing some sorting of the neglected Lepidoptera collection while it was still in Briggs Hall, and accelerated once it moved to the current location in the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.  

“Right now, I'm continuing to sort and spread Leps for (Bohart lab assistant) Brennen Dyer's Delta Project.” Smith is also working on trap-caught material from Texas, and on Nov. 11 will do an evening spreading class for the UC Davis Entomology Club.  For the occasion, Smith has crafted 40 new spreading boards and will supply the club with not only the boards, but pins and hooked probes,  and “a LOT of relaxed butterflies from Chiapas, surplus material we received in 2019.”

The Bohart lepidopterist also presents information on butterflies and moths via videos, Zoom meetings, and at open houses (currently on hold due to the COVID-19 precautions).

Smith, who moved to Rocklin from San Jose in 1987, was introduced to the  Bohart Museum  collection in 1988 (then at Briggs Hall) and began volunteering that year. He is the sole curator of the Lepidoptera collection. In addition to the pens, the entomologist has also “made a lot of gifts to give to friends, including kitchen cutting boards, tissue box covers, and miscellaneous other things as needed.”

 “I love the creativity,” Smith said.  

 The Bohart Museum, home of a global collection of nearly eight million insect specimens. is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building  on Crocker Lane. The museum, currently closed to the public due to COVD-19 restrictions, is also the home of a live “petting zoo,” comprised of Madagasgar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas;  and a gift shop (now online) stocked with insect-themed jewelry, t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters and collecting equipment.  The gift shop also includes Smith's finely crafted wooden pens.