- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is planning scores of insect-related activities for the 103rd annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 22.
What's new this year in the department's line-up will be an insect scavenger hunt, replacing the Pollinator Pavillion, said Brendon Boudinot of the Phil Ward lab, chair of the department's Picnic Day Committee.
The campuswide Picnic Day gets underway at 9:30 a.m. with an opening ceremony by the grandstands on North Quad Ave., across from Wickson Hall. The parade starts at 10 a.m. from the same site. Announcement locations are at 2nd and D streets in downtown Davis; F Street in front of PDQ Fingerprinting, and 3rd and C streets in downtown Davis. The UC Davis Entomology Club, advised by forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, will enter its popular black widow float.
The Briggs Hall activities will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the cockroach races will close at 2 p.m.
The list of activities at Briggs:
- Honey Tasting (You can sample varietals of honey)
- Bug Doctor (The doctor is in!)
- Cockroach Races (Pick a winner)
- Scavenger Hunt (Do you know your insects?)
- Dr. Death (Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will answer your questions)
- Insect Face Painting (Get a bee, lady beetle or another insect painted on your face)
- Little Swimmers and Fly Tying (Watch and identify aquatic insects, a project from the Sharon Lawler lab, and learn "how to tie a fly" from the Fly Fishers of Davis
- Maggot Art (Dip a maggot into a water-based, non-toxic paint and create a painting suitable for framing)
- UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) (See their many publications and ask questions; youngsters can receive a vial of free lady beetles, aka ladybugs)
- T-shirt sales by the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (popular t-shirts include beetles and honey bees)
- Social insects, insect forestry, medical entomology, and more (See a honey bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and ants from the Phil Ward lab; and also learn about forest insects and mosquitoes. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District will staff a booth)
The Bohart Museum of Entomology in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building will swing open its doors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theme: "Bigger, Better and Buglier: Impressive Science at the Bohart." This will be an opportunity to see some of the nearly eight million specimens, visit the live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and taranatulas) and ask questions of the scientists.
The nematology collection will be on display in the Sciences Laboratory Building, across from Briggs.
Theme of this year's Picnic Day is "Growing Together." The schedule can be downloaded from the campus website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis, is directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis.
The schedule of open houses, with free admission and parking:
Sunday, Sept. 18, 1 to 4 p.m.: “UnBelize-able Expedition: Collccting Tropical Insects”
Saturday, Nov. 19: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Uninvited Guests: Common Pests Found in the Home”
Sunday, Jan. 22: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Parasite Palooza: Botflies, Fleas and Mites, Oh, My”
Saturday, Feb. 18: (varying times throughout campus): Biodiversity Museum Day, an opportunity to explore 11 UC Davis collections
Sunday, March 19: 1 to 4 p.m.: “Eggs to Wings: Backyard Butterfly Gardening”
Saturday, April 22: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: “UC Davis Picnic Day”
Saturday, July 22: Moth Night from 8 to 11 p.m.: Moth Night
Sunday, Aug. 27: Bark Beetles and Trees, Forest Health in California, from 1 to 4 p.m.
The Bohart Museum is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and tarantulas. A gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu. The website is http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Probably not what a group of scientists from the Bohart Museum of Entomology did.
They journeyed to Belize to collect insects for the museum and brought back about 100,000 specimens. Entomologist Fran Keller, a Bohart associate who received her doctorate from UC Davis, co-led the tour. She is now an assistant professor of zoology at Folsom Lake College.
You can learn about their journey, what they collected, and also glean information on how to collect insects if you attend the Bohart Museum's open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 18 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, located on Crocker Lane.
The event, free and open to the public, is the first in a series of weekend open houses at the Bohart Museum during the academic year.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When the 101st annual Picnic Day at the University of California, Davis takes place campuswide on Saturday, April 18, visitors will see plenty of insects and other arthropods from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at two sites: Briggs Hall on Kleiber Hall Drive and the Bohart Museum of Entomology on Crocker Lane.
Ants? Yes. Bees? Sure. Other pollinators? Definitely. The focus is on pollinators.
Theme of the campuswide picnic is “The Heart of Our Community,” but over at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, the theme is “The Good, the Bad and the Bugly.” The museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, will feature pollinators. The museum houses nearly 8 million specimens. It also houses a live “petting zoo,” comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and a rose-haired tarantula named Peaches, a crowd favorite.
Favorite displays or activities returning are the “Bug Doctor” booth, where an entomologist "is in" and will answer questions about insects; American cockroach races, where visitors can cheer their favorite cockroach to victory; maggot art, where participants can dip a maggot into non-toxic water-based paint and let it crawl (or guide it), on a white piece of paper.
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will portray “Dr. Death,” showing methods used in forensic entomology. The Phil Ward lab will assemble a display on the incredible diversity of ants. The Sharon Lawler lab will display aquatic insects and answer any questions about them.
Medical entomology graduate students will set up displays about diseases vectored by mosquitoes and other insects. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District will provide an educational exhibit about mosquito abatement. Exhibits also will include such topics as fly fishing/fly-tying.
The UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) will be giving away lady beetles, aka ladybugs, with the hope that the beneficial insects will land in someone's yard to gobble aphids and other soft-bodied insects. UC IPM also will display pest management control books.
Entomology Club members will offer face-painting. Another popular activity is posing as a bug or flower in a wood cutout.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Fox, a leading evolutionary ecologist, specializes in insect genetiics and behavior and evolutionary ecology. Host is Professor Jay Rosenheim of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
One of Fox's research subjects is a beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus, commonly known as the cowpea weevil or cowpea seed beetle. A member of the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, it is a common pest of stored legumes. The beetle is found every continent except Antaractica.
Fox received his bachelor's degree in zoology in 1987 from UC Davis, and his doctorate in 1993 from UC Berkeley through the Department of Integrative Biology. While in graduate school, he worked at UC Davis for three years (1991-1993) with Hugh Dingle, now emeritus professor of entomology.
Fox joined the University of Kentucky's entomology faculty in 1999. Previously he worked at Fordham University, New York, his first faculty position (1996-1999).
He completed postdoctoral research at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina (1993-1996), working in the laboratory of Timothy Mousseau.
Fox lists his research interests as:
- Ecology and Evolution of Life Histories
- Body Size, Sexual Size Dimorphism
- Egg Size
- Phenotypic Plasticity
- Aging and Senescence
- Maternal Effects
- Inbreeding Depression
- Insect-Plant Interactions
- Diet Evolution
Adaptation to Host Plants - Insect Behavioral Ecology
- Egg Laying Decisions
- Sexual Selection on Body Size / Sexual Dimorphism
Some of his recently published papers on inbreeding depression:
Reed, David H.; Fox, Charles W.; Enders, Laramy S.; et al. 2012. Inbreeding-stress interactions: evolutionary and conservation consequences. Year in Evolutionary Biology, Book Series: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1256:33-48.
Fox, C. W.; Xu, J.; Wallin, W. G.; et al. 2012. Male inbreeding status affects female fitness in a seed-feeding beetle. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 25:29-37.
Fox, Charles W.; Reed, David H. 2011. Inbreeding depression increases with environmental stress: an experimental study and meta-analysis. Evolution 65:246-258.
Fox, Charles W.; Stillwell, R. Craig; Wallin, William G.; et al. 2011. Inbreeding-environment interactions for fitness: complex relationships between inbreeding depression and temperature stress in a seed-feeding beetle. Evolutionary Ecology 25:25-43.
His seminar will be recorded for later viewing on UCTV.
Upcoming seminars:
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Louie Yang
Assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, specializing in ecology
Title: "Pulses, Phenology and Ontogeny: Towards a More Temporally Explicit Framework for Understanding Species Interactions?"
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Ray Hong
Associate professor of biology, California State University, Northridge, specializing in nematology
Title: “A Fatal Attraction: Regulation of Development and Behavior in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus by a Beetle Pheromone”
Host: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Doris Bachtrog, lab
Associate professor of integrative biology, UC Berkeley, specializing in evolutionary and functional genomics
Title: "Numerous Transitions of Sex Chromosomes in Diptera"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Dec. 3
To be announced
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Sawyer Fuller
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
Title: "RoboBee: Using the Engineering Toolbox to Understand the Flight Apparatus of Flying Insects"
Host: James Carey, distinguished professor of entomology
This seminar is being remote broadcast to UC Davis via internet
Plans call for recording the seminars, coordinated by Professor James Carey, for later posting on the web.