What did you do on your vacation?

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, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly 8 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.

Noted insect physiologist Charles L. Judson, a UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology widely recognized for his work on the feeding and oviposition behavior of mosquitoes, died July 26 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 88.

A resident of Davis, Judson served as a faculty member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) for 30 years, from 1961 until his retirement in 1991.

"The Department of Entomology and Nematology lost one of its pillars with the passing of Dr. Judson," said Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the department. "Although the department's national and international reputation is based on the work of current faculty, it cannot be denied the prestige of the department can also be attributed to our retired faculty. It sounds clichéd, but we are standing on the shoulders of giants and Dr. Judson was one of these. Dr. Judson continued to be an active member of the department -- coming regularly to our seminars and participating in social events. Up until a few years ago, he helped teach our core course in Insect Physiology. Charlie Judson's contributions to the science of entomology and to the department will never be forgotten." 

Born Oct 21, 1926 in Lodi, Calif., Charles grew up on a ranch in Riverside, where he developed and nurtured his passion for the outdoors, nature, science and animals. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving on the USS Wichita.

He received his bachelor of science degree in zoology from UC Santa Barbara in 1950, and his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley in 1954. He and his wife, Marilyn, and family moved to Davis in 1958 when he accepted a position with the California Department of Public Health. He joined the UC Davis faculty in 1961 as an insect physiologist professor. He was a 35-year member of the Entomological Society of America.

The couple raised three children: Todd, now a pilot who lives in Sacramento; Bruce, an engineer living in San Luis Obispo, and Jan, a nurse practitioner at the UC Davis Student Health Center. They provided them with four grandchildren, Nik and Karli, children of Jan and Larry; Andie, daughter of Bruce and Joan; and Leah, daughter of Todd and Kay. They shared his love of the outdoors and his sense of humor.

“Our family quickly learned not to be afraid of insects, but to respect them in our environment,” recalled Jan. “We don't squish most bugs, but put them outside.”

“Charles enjoyed his work as a researcher and student advisor and often would invite students to his home, maintaining lifelong relationships,” Marilyn said.

Professor Judson launched the career of many PhD students; he inspired them to better understand insect behavior by investigating insect physiological control mechanisms

Emeritus entomology professor Robert Washino, former department chair and former associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, recalled that “Charles Judson was one of the newcomers who among others--Professors Norman Gary, George McClelland, Donald McLean-- joined the department in the early sixties and introduced greater emphases on physiology and behavior into the teaching and research program that previously stressed taxonomy and regulatory entomology.”

“Charles was one of the first faculty members in the department to be awarded a National Institutes of Health grant for his work on mosquito egg physiology,” Washino said. “I believe Charlie's calm and deliberate manner of successfully carrying out his teaching, research and public service made him a most valuable member of the department. One of Charlie's most productive graduate students, Henry Hagedorn, went on to make major contributions in mosquito reproductive physiology at the University of Arizona at Tucson.”

Hagedorn completed a Ph.D. with Professor Judson in 1970 and then went on to become internationally recognized for his research that led to the development of a model for understanding the multiple roles of hormones in the development of mosquito eggs.

Many of Professor Judson's colleagues praised him as an excellent scientist and wonderful friend. Said distinguished professor of entomology James R. Carey: "Charlie Judson radiated graciousness, trust and respect, and personified everything good in a university scientist, mentor, and teacher. He not only helped shape our department in its early days, but also set a very high bar for personal decency and professional integrity. Colleagues like Charlie are hard to find, difficult to lose, and impossible to forget."

Albert Grigarick, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology, said “Charlie was a friend, colleague, and neighbor for nearly 50 years. He was always willing to help you in your academic endeavors or backyard projects.  He will be missed by the many students that sought his scientific knowledge and friendly advice.”

Former graduate student Tom Batchelor. who focused his research on the nature of physiological lesions in insects caused by radiation, was Professor Judson's last graduate student. “Gaining control of mosquitoes to reduce their impact on human health has been at the heart of many research programs for decades,” said Batchelor, who now lives in New Zealand. “Professor Judson's research contributed to a better understanding of specific aspects of their feeding and oviposition behavior, and the physiological control mechanisms underpinning this behavior.”

Throughout his academic career, Professor Judson focused his research on the stimuli that caused mosquito eggs to hatch. “Using the eggs of Aedes aegypti and A. nicromaculis, he found that mosquito eggs in water under low oxygen conditions hatched readily,” Batchelor said. “Just the act of decreasing the oxygen concentration, and not just a low oxygen concentration itself, proved to be a powerful hatching stimulus. He also examined the ability of various compounds to penetrate the egg of the mosquito, since mosquito eggs are rather impermeable to water and several chemicals. His research on the ovicidal qualities of these compounds led to further research on better ways to control mosquitoes at the egg stage.”

Another aspect of his research explored the physiological basis underlying a mated female's predisposition to oviposit. Professor Judson showed oviposition was stimulated by a “biochemical signal” emitted by the accessory gland of the male mosquito, Batchelor pointed out. “Virgin females tend to retain their eggs and not oviposit, but they will oviposit if a male accessory gland is implanted into them. Similarly, Professor Judson showed that mosquito biting behavior coincided with the terminal phases of each egg cycle, and that fewer mated females fed at these times than virgin females.”

As an aside, Batchelor said he sometimes saw Professor Judson feeding his laboratory mosquitoes by putting his whole arm in their cage—“when the hamster was having a day off.” Professor Judson commented that feeding the mosquitoes this way was not putting his health at risk, “but rather the health of the mosquitoes exposed to low levels of nicotine and alcohol residues in his blood!” Batchelor recalled.

Entomologist Fran Keller, who served as Professor Judson's teaching assistant for his insect physiology class while working toward her doctorate in entomology, recalled that “Charlie was always happy to see students. At the Department of Entomology's barbecues, I remember how he would make the rounds and make sure he talked with all the students. My interactions with him as a TA for insect physiology were always informative, relaxed and positive. He enjoyed teaching and sharing his knowledge with students. He was a thoughtful, caring and compassionate mentor.”

“Charlie also served on my oral exam committee,” Keller said. “He had a way of confronting you with questions that made you think. As a mentor, that is what you are supposed to do. As a physiologist, he asked me, ‘Why do you want to work so hard on beetles doing a revision when somebody is just going to come along and change it all around in 50 years? You taxonomists always seem to be changing names,' and as a taxonomist I answered, ‘Well, if I do it correctly, then changes will be made when there are new discoveries, so I am providing a foundation for future work.' And he replied, 'Okay that makes sense.'  He wanted students to think about their future and what they were doing. To say Charlie was concerned for and kind to his students would be an understatement. I am very saddened by his passing and I will miss his presence as a friend and mentor.”

In addition to his teaching and research, Professor Judson was actively involved in the community, working with Habitat for Humanity, Yolo County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Yolo County Grand Jury, Yolo Family Service Agency, Sierra Club, Short-Term Emergency Aid Committee (STEAC), Senior Learning Unlimited and All Things Right and Relevant. 

His other interests included politics, gardening, photography, woodworking and the building of wooden boats. He and his family spent many hours on Loon Lake, the Sierras, in his hand-built vessels, including kayaks, canoes and dinghies. His involvement with the Traditional Small Craft Association, his family said, “led to wonderful friendships, as well as involvement in Seeds of Learning, through which he spent several summers in El Salvador.”

His parents met on the UC Davis campus when both were students at UC Berkeley and were required to spend a year at “The Farm” because of their major. His father help plant the black walnuts on Russell Boulevard.

At his request, no memorial service will be held. The family will gather during the holidays to scatter his ashes in Monterey Dunes, sharing fond memories of beachcombing, digging holes in the sand, and just being together as a close-knit family.

Professor Judson was a strong believer in “walking the walk” by acting on his integrity and beliefs, his family said. In lieu of flowers, he would ask that people “pay it forward” by reaching out to another person or group.

UC Davis entomologist Fran Keller thinks everyone ought to appreciate beetles.

Now, students who enroll in UC Davis biological sciences classes can come face to face with one of them every day.

Keller’s photo of a darkling beetle, Stenomorpha lecontei, graces the cover of the UC Davis edition of Life: The Science of Biology, by David Sadava, David Hillis, H. Craig Heller and May Berenbaum.

Keller captured the image of the beetle laying eggs in a vernal pool at the Carizzo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, Calif., while it was also eating pygmy weed, Crassula aquatic.  

The book, published by Freeman Custom Publishing, New York City, and Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Mass. is customized for use by UC Davis instructors.

"Beetles are awe inspiring because they are so different,” said Keller,  who is completing her requirements this year for a doctorate in entomology this year. She studies with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology.

“As a human, I and the 7 billion people on the planet are only one species, Homo sapiens," Keller said. "But the insect Order Coleoptera, or beetles, has more than 360,000 species. “Beetles have the greatest diversity of all the insects. Butterflies are big and showy, but beetles can be. too. On a ladybug, which is really a beetle and not a bug, those red and black spotted front wings are called elytra. Beetle elytra are not used for flying so beetles actually fly with one pair of wings. But those elytra help protect them because they can be very tough and sometimes incredibly flashy to warn off predators.”

Keller  said that “If you can think of an ecological  niche there is probably a beetle there taking advantage of the resources. Believe it or not, there is a beetle that is a parasite and lives in the butt of a beaver. Beetles are truly amazing and although I am partial to the flightless, black tenebrionids, I do collect and appreciate the beauty of all beetles. Okay, maybe I don't collect the beaver butt parasite beetle but wow, who would have thought beetles would be there!”

Keller, who noted that Darwin was an avid beetle collector and enthusiast, acknowledged that she has many "favorite groups of beetles," but "one of my favorites has to be the jewel beetles. Most of them are pests but they are very stunning, hence the name jewel beetle. There are so many different types of beetles that we know of or that have been described but there are still so many that await discovery."

Keller is a researcher, college instructor, mentor, artist, photographer, and author. She recently authored a 35-page children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” available in the the Bohart Museum gift shop and online at http://www.bohartmuseum.com/the-story-of-the-dogface-butterfly.html

The book, being used in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, and in private and public collections throughout the country, tells the untold story of the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), and how a classroom successfully mounted a campaign to name it the California state insect. Illustrations by artist Laine Bauer, a UC Davis graduate, and photographs by naturalist Greg Kareofelas, a Bohart Museum volunteer, depict the life cycle of this butterfly and show the host plant, false indigo (Amorpha californica).

Net proceeds from the sale of this book are earmarked for the education, outreach and research programs at the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building, Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.

DAVIS--Mary Frances “Fran” Keller, doctoral candidate in entomology and an expert on darkling beetles, will present her exit seminar on the taxonomic revision of Stenomorpha Solier from 12:05 to 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 29 in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Addition, located on the corner of Hutchison and Kleiber Hall drives. 

Her seminar title is "Taxonomy of Stenomorpha Solier, 1836 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Asidini." Her major professor, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology, will host her. 

“My research focuses on a very large genus which historically had 88 species and no modern species level work for several taxa for nearly 175 years,” Keller said. “Part of my research focuses on a group of flightless species restricted to the Sierra Transvolcanica or southern Transverse range in Mexico.  Using biogeography, morphological analyses and the examination of over 10,500 specimens, I recognize 51 valid species of Stenomorpha Solier, 1836, with seven newly recognized subgenera, while 37 formerly recognized species are synonymized or newly combined."

 One of the species that she studies is Stenomorpha costata, which occurs in Mexico and is flightless.

 “Certain Stenomorpha species occur in California vernal pools but are not listed as vernal  pool species,” she said.  She also will discuss the importance of taxonomy in conservation.

 If time allows, Keller will discuss her other projects, working in the Bahamas and mentoring students, as well as her recent research on morphology and developmental patterns of gene expression.

Keller received her associate science degree in biology and chemistry, with highest honors from Sacramento City College in 2001 and then transferred to UC Davis where she received her bachelor’s degree in evolution and ecology (2004), and her master’s degree in entomology (2007).  She was selected student commencement speaker at her 2004 graduation.

She served as a teaching assistant for a number of courses at UC Davis and has also presented guest lectures, including “Insect Sex and Mating Systems” and “Insects and the Environment—Ecological Physiology.”

 As an outreach education project, she authored a children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” about the California state insect. The book is available at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Among her many awards at UC Davis:

• Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award, May 2008
• Division of Biological Sciences (DBS) Commencement Speaker, June 2004
• DBS Departmental Citation for Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Research in Evolution and Ecology, Spring 2004
• Outstanding Senior 2004
• Undergraduate Research Conference, Oral Presentation, April 2004
• President’s Undergraduate Fellowship, Spring 2003

 Keller has given scores of talks at entomological society meetings, including “Richard M. Bohart: One Hundred Years of Entomologists in the Pacific Northwest,” at the March 2007 meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (ESA). She organized and chaired or co-chaired three section symposia (2006-2008) at the ESA annual meetings. One of these was on “Systematics and Diversity of Coleoptera” at the ESA meeting in 2008 in Reno.