- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will not only celebrate insect and nematode diversity at Briggs Hall during the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20, but also "The Diversity of Arachnids."
Doctoral student Emma "Em" Jochim of the Jason Bond lab is coordinating an exhibit she created last year to display the diversity of arachnids, such as vinegaroons, whip spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions.
"We'll have live animals and fact sheets that will give a general overview of their diversity, behavior, and habitat," Jochim points out. "I'll also bring some curated specimens to show what goes into creating a scientific collection and talk about why collections are important for understanding biodiversity."
Emma holds a bachelor's degree in biology, with a minor in geology and chemistry, from Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss., where she graduated summa cum laude. Her honors thesis: "Species Delimitation of Vaejovis Scorpions from the Santa Catalina Mountains Using Genetic, Morphological, and Geographical Data." While a student at Millsaps College, her outreach activities including sharing her knowledge of tarantulas, scorpions and vinegaroons at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.
At UC Davis, her advisor is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology; the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology; and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He's also the president-elect of the American Arachnological Society.
What can you see at Briggs Hall during UC Davis Picnic Day? Cockroach races, maggot art, walking sticks, flies, ants, bees, nematodes, beetles, butterflies, mosquitoes and more. The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association will be selling insect-themed T-shirts. (See news story)
Most Briggs Hall events are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., announced the co-chairs, doctoral student Grace Horne and forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey. This year the Bohart Museum of Entomology, part of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, will staff a pop-up tent in front of Briggs from noon to 4 p.m. The theme: "Bonding with the Bohart." Visitors can hold walking sticks and Madagascar hissing cockroaches from the Bohart's live petting zoo, and see insect specimens, including butterflies, bees, beetles and dragonflies. (The Academic Surge Building, home of the Bohart Museum, will be closed on Picnic Day).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis third-year entomology student Sol Wantz, an intern at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, president of the UC Davis Entomology Club, and an undergraduate researcher in the Neal Williams' lab, shed light on "Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids" when she delivered a presentation at a recent Bohart Museum open house.
Jerusalem crickets, aka "potato bugs," drew the most interest.
The wingless insects, members of the family, Stenopelmatidae, are omniverous, feeding on both plants and animals, Wantz told the crowd. They are ground-dwelling insects found "mostly in North America, some in Asia and Africa," she said, and they include 7 genera and 67 species.
"They have a unique method of sound production," Wantz said. "They thump their abdomen against the ground to produce a surprisingly loud noise. Their thumping patterns can be used to identify their species."
Sol, who grew up in the Bay Area community of Belmont, is the first entomologist in her family. "My parents and brother all love insects, but I am the only one hoping to make a career out of entomology."
Jerusalem Cricket T-Shirt. The Bohart Museum sells a Jerusalem cricket t-shirt in its gift shop, the result of so many queries beginning with "What is that thing?" Kimsey's humorous answer, "basically Vienna sausages with bitey jaws," appears on the shirt. The art is the work of UC Davis student and Bohart volunteer Allen Chew, and the design by UC Davis doctoral alumnus Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a Bohart Museum scientist.
Wantz also discussed grasshoppers and katydids. "The katydid genus Supersonus produces the highest frequency sound of any known animal, up to 150 kHz!" she said. "For reference, humans can only hear between 0 and 20 kHz."
Wantz grew up in the Bay Area community of Belmont. "My parents and brother all love insects, but I am the only one hoping to make a career out of entomology." Her parents, Adam Wantz and Patti Leggett-Wantz, were among those attending the seminar.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Bulding, 455 Crocker Lane, is directed by Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Two-Week Public Closure. Due to staff shortage, spring break, and winter quarter finals, the Bohart Museum will be closed to the public (walk-ins) for the next two weeks, Monday, March 18 through Friday, March 29. Previously scheduled group tours will continue to take place those two weeks. For more information, access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
I did not save a spider today. I did not save one yesterday, either. Or the day before.
That's because I did not see any that needed saving. I frequently see them in our pollinator garden, however, and I always stop to take their image.
Nationaltoday.com tells us: "Save a Spider Day is celebrated on March 14 annually in the U.S. in part to reduce arachnophobia, a fear of spiders, and to conserve spiders. People are usually afraid of spiders, mostly due to their bites which are considered deadly. Although most of the fear is largely unfounded and exaggerated, spiders are incredibly useful to humans as they work as effective pest control among other things. On this day, we look at the many reasons why we should rather trap a spider in a jar and take it outside than kill it. Let us spin webs about spiders and why they should be saved." (See more.)
Did you know that arachnologist Jason Bond of UC Davis is the president-elect of the American Arachnological Society? Professor Bond is the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and the newly announced director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, succeeding UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey.
I remember asking Professor Bond to provide five good reasons why we should love spiders. (He didn't need to convince me!)
He listed these reasons:
- 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).
- Although 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.
Another good reason is that spiders are...well...beautiful. Check out this gorgeous redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum, or this eye-popping jumping spider from our pollinator garden. It's their garden, too, and I am just a visitor in their habitat.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Just ask UC Davis entomology student Sol Wantz, who will present a talk on katydids (her favorite insect), grasshoppers and crickets at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 3 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It's free and family friendly.
We remember a crab spider that also found a katydid "incredibly fascinating." Umm, make that "nutritious." The spider grabbed the katydid on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in our garden, paralyzed it with a venomous bite, and then dragged it beneath the petals to eat it.
It's all about the cycle of life. Everything eats in the garden.
Sol Wantz triples as a curator intern at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, a student researcher in the lab of pollination ecologist and professor Neal Williams, and as president of the UC Davis Entomology Club.
“I'll be giving a overview of all of the major and most interesting--in my opinion--families of Orthoptera," she said. The order includes some 20,000 species worldwide.
Did you know that "the katydid genus Supersonus produces the highest frequency sound of any known animal, up to 150 kHz!" she asks. "For reference, humans can hear only between 0 and 20 kHz."
The Bohart Museum, directed by Professor Jason Bond, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. It houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo (Madagasgar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, books, posters, jewelry and insect-collecting equipment.
For more information, access the Bohart website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu or contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They came. They saw. They held out their hands.
Hands? Yes, to hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects (walking sticks).
The Bohart Museum of Entomology greeted some 1400 visitors during the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, an event held Feb. 10 and showcasing 10 museums or collections across campus.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo ("the hissers" and "the sticks") and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, books, posters, stuffed animals, jewelry and insect-collecting equipment.
The entrance to the Bohart features a 5x6-foot photograph of a cuckoo or emerald wasp, commonly known as "the ruby-tailed wasp." It's the work of noted British photographer Levon Bliss. The microscupture encompasses more than 8,000 separate images.
Inside, Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection, and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas, answered questions about the butterfly and moth specimens.
New director of the Bohart Museum is professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Bond succeeds UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who served as director from 1999 until Jan. 31, retiring on Feb. 1. Kimsey continues her research and in serving as executive director of the Bohart Museum Society.
The next open house at the Bohart Museum will be from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 3. The theme: "Grasshoppers,Crickets and Katydids." A talk is planned from 1 to 2 p.m., with the museum open from 2 to 4 p.m.
The Bohart Museum also is planning its annual open house for the annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20.
Founded in 1946 by UC Davis professor Richard Bohart, the insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. More information is on its website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.