DAVIS--Gerben Messelink, a research entomologist at the Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture in The Netherlands, will speak on "Generalist Predators and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops" at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

His seminar is from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs. Host is Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the department.

“There has been a long-standing debate whether biological control is promoted by specialist rather than generalist predators,” Messelink said. “Generalist predators are thought to be less suitable because of their interference with other natural enemies through intraguild predation or hyperpredation, switching behavior between prey and often relatively slow growth rate. Moreover, exotic generalist predators are often considered as an environmental risk because of their potential effects on non-target species.”

“In contrast, specialist natural enemies are well-adapted to their prey and often show higher growth rates,” Messelink said. “Yet, biological control programs in greenhouse crops are increasingly based on releases of generalist predators and they appear to be successful. In this presentation, I will show some of the recent successes that have been achieved with generalist predator in greenhouse crops, but I will also discuss some potential risks. Finally, I will show some current methods that are used to promote the establishment and persistence of natural enemies in greenhouse crops.”

Messelink has worked at the institute, dedicated to applied research for the greenhouse industry, since 1999. Much of his past research was aimed at biological control of thrips, spider mites and whiteflies with generalist predatory mites in several greenhouse cropping systems. His research was also the basis for his PhD thesis, which he completed during his work at the institute in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam.

Messelink’s current research on generalist predators includes anthocorid and mirid predatory bugs and food web complexities among species. “I am now involved in several research projects which in general, are about the evaluation of new natural enemies and developing systems that enhance establishment and persistence of natural enemies for control of thrips, spider mites whiteflies, aphids and mealy bugs.”

Messelink is a council member of the West Palearctic Regional Section of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC).

Some key publications:

Messelink, G. J., C. M. J. Bloemhard, M. W. Sabelis, and A. Janssen. 2013. Biological control of aphids in the presence of thrips and their enemies. BioControl 58:45-55.

Messelink, G. J., M. W. Sabelis, and A. Janssen. 2012. Generalist predators, food web complexities and biological pest control in greenhouse crops. Pages 191-214 in M. L. Larramendy and S. Soloneski, editors. Integrated pest management and pest control - current and future tactics. InTech, Rijeka.

Van Maanen, R., G. J. Messelink, R. Van Holstein-Saj, M. W. Sabelis, and A. Janssen. 2012. Prey temporarily escape from predation in the presence of a second prey species. Ecological Entomology 37:529-535.

Huang, N. X., A. Enkegaard, L. S. Osborne, P. M. J. Ramakers, G. J. Messelink, J. Pijnakker, and G. Murphy. 2011. The banker plant method in biological control. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 30:259-278.

Pilkington, L. J., G. Messelink, J. C. van Lenteren, and K. Le Mottee. 2010. "Protected Biological Control" - Biological pest management in the greenhouse industry. Biological Control 52:216-220.

Messelink, G. J., C. M. J. Bloemhard, J. A. Cortes, M. W. Sabelis, and A. Janssen. 2011. Hyperpredation by generalist predatory mites disrupts biological control of aphids by the aphidophagous gall midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza. Biological Control 57:246-252.

Messelink, G. J., R. van Maanen, S. E. F. van Steenpaal, and A. Janssen. 2008. Biological control of thrips and whiteflies by a shared predator: Two pests are better than one. Biological Control 44:372-379.

Messelink, G. J., S. E. F. Van Steenpaal, and P. M. J. Ramakers. 2006. Evaluation of phytoseiid predators for control of western flower thrips on greenhouse cucumber. Biocontrol 51:753-768.

DAV9S--The Department of Entomology and Nematology will host its fall seminars from 12:10 to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays from Oct. 2 through Dec. 11 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, located on Kleiber Hall Drive.

They are coordinated by assistant professors Brian Johnson and Joanna Chiu.

Wednesday, Oct. 2 (cancelled, due to government shutdown)
Jay Evans
Research entomologist, USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Title of talk: "Bee Disease Resistance and Colony Health"

Wednesday, Oct. 9
Rob DeSalle
Curator of entomology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Affiliated with AMNH Division of Invertebrate Zoology and leads a group of researchers at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics,
Title of talk: “The Tree of Life is Dead, Long Live the Tree of Life”
Host: Joanna Chiu, assistant professor

Wednesday, Oct. 16
Sandra Gillespie
Postdoctoral researcher
Neal Williams lab
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title of talk: "Parasites and Pesticides: Indirect Effects on Pollination Service"

Wednesday, Oct. 23
Ivan Schwab
Director of Cornea and External Disease Service
Professor of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
UC Davis Health System, Sacramento
Title of talk: "Vision from Trilobites to Trichogammatids: How the Arthropods See"

Wednesday, Oct. 30
Robert Reiner
Post-doctoral research fellow
Thomas Scott lab and Fogarty International Center
UC Davis
Title of talk: “A Quantitative Method for Estimating Spatio-Temporal Mosquito Abundance”
Host: Thomas Scott

Wednesday, Nov. 6
Patrick Abbot
Associate professor
Department of Biological Sciences Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tenn.
Title of talk: “Cooperation and Conflict at the Plant/Insect Interface”
Host: Brian Johnson, assistant professor

Wednesday, Nov. 13
Gregory Lanzaro
Professor
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Title of talk: "Anthropogenic Forces Drive the Breakdown of Reproductive Isolation between Incipient Species of the African Malaria Mosquito."

Wednesday, Nov. 20
Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Lecture
6 to 7 p.m. in Memorial Union II. A reception from 5 to 6 p.m. will precede the seminar.
All About Thomas Leigh
Kenneth Haynes
Professor
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Title of talk: "Life Undercover: Behavioral Characteristics of a Stealthy Blood Feeder"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday,  Nov. 27
No speaker (Thanksgiving Week)

Wednesday, Dec. 4 (Due to midwest storms and a flight delay, his seminar will be from 4:10 to 5 p.m. instead of at 12:10)
George Heimpel
Professor and director of Graduate Studies
Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Title of talk: "Specificity and the Process of Biological Control Using Aphid Parasitoids"
Host: Jay Rosenheim, professor

Wednesday, Dec. 11
Gerben Messelink
Entomologist at Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, Rotterdam Area, Netherlands
Title of talk: "Generalist Predators and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

The seminars are scheduled to be video-recorded and posted on a later date on UCTV in a project coordinated by professor James R. Carey.

Wednesday, Oct. 2 (cancelled due to government shutdown)
Jay Evans
Research entomologist, USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Title of talk: "Bee Disease Resistance and Colony Health"

Wednesday, Oct. 9
Rob DeSalle
Curator of entomology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Affiliated with AMNH Division of Invertebrate Zoology and leads a group of researchers at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics,
Title of talk: “The Tree of Life is Dead, Long Live the Tree of Life”

Wednesday, Oct. 16
Sandra Gillespie
Postdoctoral researcher
Neal Williams lab
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title of talk: "Parasites and Pesticides: Indirect Effects on Pollination Service"

Wednesday, Oct. 23
Ivan Schwab
Director of Cornea and External Disease Service
Professor of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
UC Davis Health System, Sacramento
Title of talk: "Vision from Trilobites to Trichogammatids: How the Arthropods See"

Wednesday, Oct. 30
Robert Reiner
Post-doctoral research fellow
Thomas Scott lab and Fogarty International Center
UC Davis
Title of talk: to be announced

Wednesday, Nov. 6
Patrick Abbot
Associate professor
Department of Biological Sciences Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tenn.
Title of talk: “Cooperation and Conflict at the Plant/Insect Interface”

Wednesday, Nov. 13
Gregory Lanzaro
Professor
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Title of talk: to be announced

Wednesday, Nov. 20
Kenneth Haynes
Professor
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Title of talk: to be announced

Wednesday,  Nov. 27
No speaker (Thanksgiving Week)

Wednesday, Dec. 4
George Heimpel
Professor and director of Graduate Studies
Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Title of talk: "Specificity and the Process of Biological Control Using Aphid Parasitoids"

Wednesday, Dec. 11
Gerben Messelink
Entomologist at Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, Rotterdam Area, Netherlands
Title of talk: "Generalist Predators and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops"

The seminars are scheduled to be video-recorded and posted on a later date on UCTV in a project coordinated by professor James R. Carey.

 

Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp is a distinguished professor emeritus of entomology at the University of California, Davis.

He is the co-author of Bumble Bees of California: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press)  and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (2014, Heyday Books).

 Of the 20,000 bee species identified worldwide, some 4000 are found in the United States, and 1600 in California.

He continues to conduct research on bees because he enjoys it.  He monitors the bee population at the half-acre bee friendly garden, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. He began collecting baseline data in the field before the garden was installed in the fall of 2009. To date, has collected more than 80 species of bees "and counting."

Robbin has long-term projects on the status of western bumble bees, on the diversity of bees on Santa Cruz Island, Calif., and on native pollen specialist bees in vernal pool ecosystems.  He provides identification services for collaborators studying native bees as crop pollinators, habitat restoration for pollinators on farms, and urban gardens as bee habitat.

Brief Bio
Professor Thorp received his bachelor and master's degrees in zoology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his doctorate degree in entomology from the University of California, Berkeley. 

In 1964, Robbin joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty and conducted research on pollination of crops pollinated by honey bees, especially almond.  His research also included the use of other bee species in crop pollination, the roles of native bees in pollination of flowers in natural ecosystems such as vernal pools, and on the ecology and systematics of native bees.  He taught courses in General Entomology, Natural History of Insects, Insect Classification, Field Entomology, California Insect Diversity, and Pollination Ecology.  He served as major professor for 9 MS and 11 PhD students.  He served on numerous other thesis and graduate exam committees at UC Davis and other institutions.  He took two sabbatical leaves in Australia.  He was elected a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco in 1986. He is a longtime associate of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. He was honored for his work with bees when the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America chose the team of Eric Mussen, Robbin Thorp, Neal Williams, Brian Johnson and Lynn Kimsey for its distinguished team award in 2013. They were honored for their collaborative work specializing in honey bees, wild bees and pollination issues through research, education and outreach. Their service to UC Davis spans 116 years.

Robbin retired in 1994, but continues to serve on graduate student thesis committees and gives guest lectures.  Since 2002, he has participated as an instructor in The Bee Course offered annually through the American Museum of Natural History, New York at its Southwest Research Station, Portal, Ariz.   He is also involved with the management of the Jepson Prairie Reserve, a vernal pool ecosystem, and serves as chair of its Advisory Committee for the UC Natural Reserve System.  He continues his research on ecology, systematics, biodiversity, and conservation of bees including pollen specialist bees in vernal pool ecosystems.  He also is involved in research on the role of native bees in crop pollination, the role of urban gardens as bee habitat, and declines in native bumble bee populations. 

See more about Robbin Thorp (recipient of the distinguished emeritus award) on this web page

Information on native bees, vernal pools, bumble bees, and urban bee gardens:

Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens (California Agriculture)

Vernal pool flowers and their specialist bee pollinators (California Vernal Pools)

Bumble bees in decline (Xerces Society)

Bumble bees in Caifornia (UC Berkeley)

Urban bee gardens (UC Berkeley)

Curriculum vitae

UC Davis Bee Team Wins Special Award

Robbin Thorp Research Wins Dickson Award

Robbin Thorp Part of Team Award, Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America

Robbin Thorp's Mission: Saving Franklin's Bumble Bee

Co-Author of Bumble Bees of North America

Robbin Thorp: Presentation on Buzzed for Bees

Robbin Thorp and Xerces Society: Saving a Bumble Bee

More (Watch his Webinar on bumble bees)

Contact:
Robbin Thorp
Professor emeritus, native pollinator specialist
Email: rwthorp@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-0482