- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That was just the beginning of what would unfold into an outstanding entomological career.
So we were delighted to see that UC Davis doctoral alumnus Kelli Hoover, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, is one of the 10 recipients of the Entomological Society of America's 2021 Fellow awards.
Hoover is internationally known for her research on invasive species, including the Asian longhorned beetle, gypsy moth and spotted lanternfly, all serious pests.
Hoover, who received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in June, 1997, studied with major professors Sean Duffey (1943-1997) and Bruce Hammock. Hoover joined the PSU faculty as an assistant professor in 1998, achieving full professor in 2010.
Hoover's areas of expertise include biology and ecology of invasive species, insect-microbial symbiosis, tritrophic interactions, insect virology, and pollination of forest trees. She is active in PSU's Center for Chemical Ecology, Center for Pollinator Research, and the Insect Biodiversity Center.
Nominator Gary Felton,professor and head of the PSU Department of Entomology, said it well in his nomination letter: “Hoover is internationally recognized for uncovering detailed mechanisms of how phytochemicals reduce mortality by baculoviruses through physiological impacts on the larva's midgut (epithelial cells and peritrophic matrix." Hoover and her co-advisors “patented baculovirus formulation additives that counteract these physiological effects, and thus increase the sensitivity of larvae to infections.”
“Kelli's interest in tritrophic interactions and her outgoing and engaging personality were just what was needed to pull the team together,” said Hammock, a 2010 Fellow. “As one would expect, Kelli's talents in science and leadership have served her well at Penn State. There her baculovirus work transitioned into a broader program in gypsy moth control and the invasion of the Asian longhorned beetle provided an opportunity to look at gut symbionts. Every project that Kelli touches seems to yield exciting results with practical implications. I am thrilled that the ESA has recognized what a star she is in our field.”
“I worked with Kelli for two, delightful years at UC Davis, and was particularly impressed by the number of undergraduate students that she managed to mentor at the bench!” Bonning said. “Since then, she has established a stellar research program that has recently focused on both the fundamental biology and management solutions for invasive pests including Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) and spotted lantern fly. Analysis of ALB semiochemicals resulted in a blend now sold by two companies and used in North America and Europe for ALB management."
“In collaboration with engineers, she has also spearheaded development of a method to prevent introduction of invasive species in the wood packing associated with international shipments,” Bonning noted. “This dielectric heating technology, used to treat and kill insects hidden in the wood packing, is at the stage of commercial equipment prototype. These examples reflect both the interdisciplinary breadth of Kelli's research program and the seamless melding of science to address fundamental questions that lead to practical solutions. This breadth of scope and ability to identify commercially useful components of the system is a relatively rare phenotype among entomologists! Further, Kelli is driven to engage the necessary parties (scientists, stakeholders, policy makers) toward implementation of strategies to prevent or manage the impact of invasive species on U.S. agriculture."
Active in ESA since 1996, Hoover has judged student competitions; organized numerous national or branch meeting symposia, and served as a subject editor for Environmental Entomology. She chaired or co-chaired organizing committees for three annual meetings of the International Society for Invertebrate Pathology and held the office of treasurer for four years.
Kelli received her bachelor of science degree in 1979 from UC Berkeley, with honors, majoring in the biology of natural resources. She obtained her master's degree in biology, with an emphasis on entomology, from San Jose State University in 1992 before joining the doctoral program at UC Davis and completing her PhD in 1997. In 1998, after a year as a President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, she joined the faculty in the PSU Department of Entomology.
Fellows of ESA are individuals who have made outstanding contributions to entomology— via research, teaching, extension, administration, military service, and public engagement and science policy —and whose career accomplishments serve to inspire all entomologists, according to the ESA.
A tip of the insect net to Kelli Hoover.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you're a honey bee and you're packing pollen and approaching your landing--an artichoke thistle--it's a good idea to clean your proboscis (tongue) first.
Caught in flight: a honey bee doing a little grooming.
This one hovered like a syrphid fly or flower fly, perhaps waiting for the bee below her to move a bit as a few seconds lapsed.
"A long tongue (proboscis--pronounced pro-BAH-sis) is used to suck nectar from flowers," Explains Norman Gary, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology, in his book, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees. "It functions as a straw, yet it unfolds and retracts like a miniature landing gear. Extemely sensitive taste buds at the tip trigger the sucking response for the intake of nectar and water."
The honey bee touched down, the grooming complete, and the other bee gone.
Just a few seconds in the life of a honey bee cleaning its "miniature landing gear" before it lands on another thistle.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The elm leaf beetles and their larvae don't want to hold your hand--unless perhaps you're holding a elm leaf that they can eat.
A recent walk down the 200 block of Buck Avenue, Vacaville, California, revealed the damage this pest does. The stately canopied elms don't look so stately, what with the dry skeletonized leaves, the browning and the dieback.
And if you look closer, you'll see the leaves--the feeding site--dropping prematurely, and beetles and their larvae falling with them.
Infestations of these beetles can defoliate large elm trees, according to the UC Integrated Statewide Management Program's Pest Note on this pest, Xanthogaleruca (=Pyrrhalta) luteola.
Have you ever seen them? They're about 1/4 inch long, yellow to olive-green with a black stripe on each side and four black spots near the head. They are an invasive species from southern Europe, introduced here in the 1800s, and considered the most serious elm defoliator in the United States.
"Females lay yellowish eggs in double rows of about 5 to 25 on the underside of leaves," according to UC IPM. "Eggs become grayish before hatching. Larvae resemble caterpillars and are black when newly hatched and shortly after molting (shedding the old skin). After feeding, larvae become yellowish to green with rows of tiny dark tubercles (projections). Third-instar larvae grow up to 1/3 inch long and have dense rows of dark tubercles down their sides that resemble two black stripes. Pupae are orange to bright yellow."
We observed some natural enemies on site: lady beetles, aka ladybugs, and their larvae munching on the larvae of the elm leaf beetles. Yes, beetle larvae eating beetle larvae. Lady beetles and their larvae target soft-bodied insects, and not just aphids.
UC IPM says:
"The elm leaf beetle develops through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Adults commonly overwinter in bark crevices and woodpiles or in buildings. In spring they fly to elm foliage and chew leaves, and females lay eggs. Eggs hatch into larvae that develop through three instars (growth stages) over a period of several weeks while chewing on foliage and then crawl down the tree trunk. Mature larvae become curled and inactive (a stage referred to as prepupae), then pupate, sometimes in large numbers, around the tree base. After about 10 days as pupae, adults emerge and fly to the canopy to feed and, during spring and summer, lay eggs. The elm leaf beetle has at least one generation a year in northern California and two to three generations in central and southern California."
Elm trees with massive defoliation can weaken the tree and pave the way for diseases and damage from other pests.
If you have elm trees, especially European elm species, and you have these little buggers all over them, you might want to access the UC IPM Pest Notes to see how to manage them.
These beetles mean business.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Sweat bees have earned their common name from the tendency, especially of the smaller species,to alight on one's skin and lap up perspiration for both its moisture and salt content."
So write University of California scientists in their award-winning book, California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists.
California has some 1600 species of undomesticated or wild bees, point out the authors (Gordon Frankie, Robbin Thorp, Rollin Coville and Barbara Ertter).
And one of them is the sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, a member of the family Halictidae. It's a medium-sized, ground-nesting bee with a striped abdomen.
This week one of these species (as identified by research scientist John Ascher) looked especially striking on a Black-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta, a member of the Aster (Asteraceae) family. Both the plant and the bee are natives.
Several years ago we managed to photograph a flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, munching on one of these sweat bees. Not a good day for that little gal!
No dragonflies were around, however, when we watched this one foraging on a Black-Eyed Susan.
Did you know that the Black-Eyed Susan is the designated state flower of Maryland? And that it was the inspiration for the University of Southern Mississippi's school colors (black and gold)? And that it's a larval host to butterflies such as the bordered batch, gorgone checkerspot and silvery checkerspot?
Who knew? If you plant it, though, be aware that it is toxic (when ingested) to cats.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A reader asked: "A friend was just telling me that butterflies and moths land differently. She couldn't remember if it was a moth that landed with its wings up or down. It looks like they land with their wings down. Am I right?"
We asked three experts affiliated with the University of California, Davis, for their responses.
Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, commented: "There are moths that hold the wings erect over the back like butterflies, and butterflies that hold them out at the sides like moths. Life can be confusing."
Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, said: "It depends on the kind of moth or butterfly. Some species/genera of moths will rest with wings folded vertically over them and some rest with wings folded flat over the abdomen. Same with butterflies, and some of this may depend on which surface they want to expose to dangers around them. For example, anglewing butterflies (Polygonia) have great bark-like colors on the ventral surface and they rest with wings over the body so they blend in with the bark of trees that they choose to land on. Buckeye butterflies most often expose the upper surfaces which have the large eyespots that may deter predators. So, not a good rule of thumb."
Bohart Museum associate Greg Kareofelas commented: "Some moths land flat against the substrate, but others can land with their wings closed over their back, depends on the situation sometimes. Some butterflies land with their wings closed, then open them, etc., etc. I think every possibility is possible."
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions. However, it is usually open to the public four days a week and it traditionally hosts open houses throughout the year, including a Moth Night that features moth displays and blacklighting. John "Moth Man" De Benedictus, senior museum scientist Steve Heydon and colleagues set up a blacklighting system, comprised of a UC-lit white sheet, in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
Home of nearly eight million insects, the Bohart Museum also includes a year-around gift shop (now online) and a live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas. UC Davis distinguished entomology professor Lynn Kimsey serves as the director.
(Editor's Note: Check out the moth and other videos on the Bohart Museum website)
