- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The museum, which houses nearly eight million insects, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building on the UC Davis campus, Crocker Lane.
The event is free and open to the public. It's a family friendly event.
"Beetles," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart," are incredibly diverse from the dung beetles to the shiny wood-boring beetles to the mighty rhinoceros beetles. They are also spectacularly beautiful. Besides specimens from around the world, we also be displaying (not selling!) jewelry made from the wings of beetles--this was common practice in South America's indigenous populations."
In addition to displays of beetles, "we will have a fun hands-on craft, something involving sequins and another craft involving 'dung balls,' " Yang said.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis and housing nearly eight million specimens, is the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.
Special attractions at the Bohart include a live "petting zoo," with critters such as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and prayingmantids. Visitors can also shop at the year-around gift shop (or online) for t-shirts, jewelry, insect nets, posters and books, including the newly published children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” written by UC Davis doctoral candidate Fran Keller and illustrated (watercolor and ink) by Laine Bauer, a 2012 graduate of UC Davis. The 35-page book, geared toward kindergarteners through sixth graders, also includes photos by naturalist Greg Kareofelas of Davis, a volunteer at the Bohart.
Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year. Regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free. More information is available from Tabatha Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mohammad-Amir Aghaee, graduate student in the Larry Godfrey lab in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won the first-place President's Prize in his category for his 10-minute talk on a rice water weevil at the Entomological Society of America's 61st annual meeting, being held Nov. 10-13 in Austin, Texas.
Graduate student Rosanna Kwok of the Joanna Chiu lab and the Frank Zalom lab received a second place award in the President's Prize competition for her 10-minute talk on the spotted wing drosophila.
Aghaee's topic was "Exploring the Mechanisms of Winter Flooding as a Cultural Control Against Rice Water Weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus."
His abstract: "Rice water weevils (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel) are the primary insect pest in California rice agriculture. They present a challenge for IPM because of their soil dwelling larvae, which prevents the effective use of parasitoids, nematodes and predators. However a possible cultural control method may present a sustainable solution if its mechanism can be explained. Data from the field experiments in the 1990s showed that winter flooding of rice fields to break down post harvest rice straw would result in reduced larval populations in the spring. Studies from the last two years have been exploring the mechanisms behind this decline. Similar results were shown in a greenhouse study in the summer of 2013, with reduced larval counts in treatments with a winter flood compared to treatments without the flood. As part of this study we also examined the addition of rice straw, which nullified the effects of the winter flood. The evidence suggests that use of winter flooding in California will have benefits for growers against rice water weevil, but the mechanism behind it has yet to be determined."
Kwok, who works closely with integrated pest management specialist/professor Zalom; doctoral candidate Kelly Hamby of the Zalom lab; and molecular geneticist Joanna Chiu, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, discussed "Integrating Circadian Activity and Gene Expression Profiles to Predict Chronotoxicity of Drosophila suzukii Response to Insecticides."
Her abstract:
Native to Southeast Asia, Drosophila suzukii is a recent invader that infests ripe and ripening fruit, leading to significant crop losses. Since current D. suzukii management strategies rely on insecticide usage, and insecticide detoxification gene expression is under circadian regulation in the closely related Drosophila melanogaster, we set out to determine if integrative analysis of daily activity patterns and detoxification gene expression can predict chronotoxicity of D. suzukii to insecticides. Locomotor assays, detoxification gene expression analysis, and acute insecticide contact bioassays were performed under conditions that approximate a typical summer day in Watsonville, California, where D. suzukii was first detected in North America. Summer is also the cropping season, when most insecticide applications occur. We observed that D. suzukii assumed a bimodal activity pattern, with maximum activity occurring at dawn and dusk. Five of the six genes tested exhibited rhythmic expression over a circadian day, with the majority showing peak expression at dawn (ZT0, 6am). We observed significant differences in the chronotoxicity of D. suzukii towards malathion, with highest susceptibility at ZT0 (6am), corresponding to peak expression of cytochrome P450s that may be involved in bioactivation of malathion. High activity levels were not found to consistently correlate with high insecticide susceptibility as initially hypothesized. Chronobiology and chronotoxicity of D. suzukii provide valuable insights for monitoring and control efforts, because insect activity as well as insecticide timing and efficacy are crucial considerations for pest management. However, field research is necessary for extrapolation to agricultural settings.
The first-place President's Prize consists of a one-year free membership in ESA, a $175 cash prize, and a certificate. The second-place winner receives a certificate and a $50 cash prize.
Frank Zalom is the incoming president of the 6500-member ESA and will assume his new duties today (Nov. 13). He will president over the ESA's 62nd annual meeting, to be held next year in Portland, Ore.
Related Link:
UC Davis Pioneering Research on Spotted-Wing Drosophila May Lead to Fewer Insecticide Applications
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminar is set from 6 to 7 p.m. in Memorial Union II. A reception from 5 to 6 p.m. will precede the seminar.
Haynes' Leigh seminar is titled "Life Undercover: Behavioral Characteristics of a Stealthy Blood Feeder." Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the host.
"The recent world-wide resurgence of the bed bugs has prompted my laboratory group to investigate unique aspects of their behavior," Haynes said. "Bed bugs are well adapted to stealthy habits that often lead the host to be unaware of an expanding population. Their activity pattern is governed by a circadian clock that dictates that they primarily feed late at night. Carbon dioxide plays a role in stimulating movement, with heat and perhaps other semiochemicals playing a role in attraction. The early instars are not as effective in finding hosts as the later stages or adults. Signals produced by mature females facilitate host-finding by the first instars, suggesting a parental role. Re-aggregation in cracks and crevices around the bed following foraging bouts is in part mediated by pheromones. The nature of the behavioral responses to host and habitat cues provide leads to pest management."
Haynes, the Bobby C. Pass Professor of Entomology at the University of Kentucky, joined the faculty in 1986. He received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis in 1982, working with Professor Martin C. Birch, now deceased. Haynes went on to conduct postdoctoral research at UC Riverside, working with Professor Thomas C. Baker.
Haynes has a broad interest in behavioral aspects of chemical ecology. "I have been excited to have the opportunity to study diverse taxa including moths, beetles, bed bugs and bolas spiders," he said. Haynes taught insect biology, insect behavior and graduate seminars in behavior and chemical ecology. He authored a book on “Insect Pheromones” with Martin C. Birch, edited two volumes on “Methods in Chemical Ecology” with Professor Jocelyn G. Millar, and has published more than 100 scientific papers and reviews.
Haynes is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the C. V. Riley Award from the North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America, and research recognitions from the University of Kentucky.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis team, captained by Matan Shelomi and coached by Extension research entomologist Larry Godfrey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won a very close game, 50 to 20.
Team members are four doctoral candidates Shelomi, Rei Scampavia, Jenny Carlson and Danica Maxwell. Shelomi studies with major professor Lynn Kimsey; Scampavia with major professors Edwin Lewis and Neal Williams; Carlson with major professors Anthony Cornel and Greg Lanzaro; and Maxwell with major professors Michael Parrella and Edwin Lewis.
“All 50 points were won by Rei, our MVP--most valuable player--for the day,” Shelomi said.
The rounds continue on Tuesday, Nov. 12. (See schedule)
The Linnaean Games are college bowl-style games based on entomological facts and insect trivia.
Shelomi and Carlson represented UC Davis last year at the nationals. Others on last year’s team were doctoral candidates Kelly Hamby, studying major professor Frank Zalom; and Kelly Liebman, studying with major professor Tom Scott.
Some of the sample questions the UC Davis team answered correctly Sunday:
Question:
“According to the recent American Entomologist, two popular insects whose numbers are decline are the boney bee and what?”
Answer:
Monarch butterfly.
Question:
“In a 2011 paper a new species of Halictidae, Lasioglossum gotham, was described. From what city was it discovered and what is its proposed common name?”
Answers:
New York City and the Gotham Bee
Question:
“What is the name of the society devoted solely to the conservation of endangered invertebrates?”
Answer:
The Xerces Society
Question:
“What are the two families of truly eusocial bees?”
Answers: Apidae and Halictidae
The UC Davis Linnaean Team won the right to compete in this year's ESA competition after winning second place at the Linnaean Games hosted by the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA). First-place honors went to UC Riverside team. The UC Davis team that placed in the PBESA included Shelomi and Scampavia; Mohammad-Amir Aghaee, who studies with Larry Godfrey; and Alexander Nguyen, an undergraduate entomology major student who volunteers at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
The UC Davis team has won either first or second place in the PBESA Linnaean Games since 2010. They won the regional championship in 2012 and 2011, and second in 2010.
In last year’s national finals, held in Knoxville, Tenn., UC Davis lost to the University of Wisconsin, which went on to compete in the finals. The University of Georgia took home the trophy.
The Linnaean Games are named for Swedish-born Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), a renowned taxonomist, ecologist and botanist.
Links:
Rules of Linnaean Games
Watch video of 2012 Championship Linnaean Games, Knoxville, Tenn.
You Tube Video Announcing 2013 competition
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Matan Shelomi, who is studying for his doctorate in entomology with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, captains the 2013 UC Davis Linnaean Team. Others on the team are Mohammad-Amir Aghaee, doctoral student of research entomologist Larry Godfrey; Rei Scampavia, doctoral student who studies with major professors Edwin Lewis and Neal Williams; and Danica Maxwell, who is studying for her master's degree with major professors Michael Parrella, chair of the Department of Entomology, and Edwin Lewis, vice chair. Larry Godfrey serves as the coach.
Linnaean Games are college bowl-style games based on entomological facts and insect trivia. Team members respond to the moderator's questions by buzzing in with the answers. The preliminary rounds conclude with the finals, set for Tuesday, Nov. 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The UC Davis Debate team is captained by Aghaee and coached by Parrella. Team members are Shelomi, Danny Klittich, doctoral student of Parrella; and Irina Shapiro, a doctoral student of Lewis. The UC Davis debaters have been assigned the "con" side of the debate, "Using GMOs to Increase Food-Security in Regions Where the Technoogy is Not Universally Accpeted." They will be facing Auburn University, Alabama, which has been assigned the "pro" side. The event takes place at 3:49 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The UC Davis Linnaean Team won the right to compete in the ESA competition after winning second place at the Linnaean Games hosted by the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA). First-place honors went to UC Riverside team. The UC Davis team that placed in the PBESA included Shelomi, Aghaee, Scampavia, and Alexander Nguyen, an undergraduate entomology major student who volunteers at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Shelomi and Aghaee are veteran competitors in the Linnaean Games.
The UC Davis team has won either first or second place in the PBESA Linnaean Games since 2010. They won the regional championship in 2012 and 2011, and second in 2010.
In last year’s national finals, held in Knoxville, Tenn., UC Davis lost to the University of Wisconsin, which went on to compete in the finals. The University of Georgia took home the trophy.
The Linnaean Games are named for Swedish-born Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) a renowned taxonomist, ecologist and botanist.
Also at the ESA meeting, Shelomi will be honored as the recipient of the John Henry Comstock Award from the Pacific Branch of ESA.
Links:
Rules of Linnaean Games
Watch video of 2012 Championship Linnaean Games, Knoxville, Tenn.
You Tube Video Announcing 2013 competition
