Professor emerita Sharon Lawler of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is quoted in a Pest Gnome study titled "2023's Most Vulnerable Counties for Mosquito-Borne Diseases," published Aug. 9.

The article, noting that World Mosquito Day is Aug. 20, ranks 2023's Most Vulnerable Counties to Mosquito-Borne Diseases.

"We compared nearly 800 counties based on four categories. We looked at the number of mosquito species in each state, recent cases of diseases like West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses, and mosquito-friendly climate, among 12 total metrics," author Sav Maive wrote.

The 10 most vulnerable: 

• Pitt County, N.C.
• Maricopa County, Arizona
• Buncombe County, N.C.
• Brazonia County, Texas
• Liberty County, Ga.
• Jefferson County, Texas
• Knox County, Tenn.
• Cameron County, Texas
• Galveston County, Texas
• Camden County, Ga.

The group gathered data on 772 U.S.counties that reported human cases of mosquito-borne diseases from 2020 to 2022.  Then they interviewed three university faculty members from California, Florida and Texas. In addition to Lawler, they were Eva Buckner of the University of Florida and Patricia Pietrantonio of Texas A&M.

Lawler's responses:

Mosquitoes are deemed the world's deadliest animal. How concerned should Americans be about the West Nile Virus, locally transmitted malaria, or other mosquito-borne diseases?

"Americans should be moderately concerned about mosquito-borne illness, to the extent of protecting themselves from bites and preventing accumulation of stagnant water where mosquitoes breed (other than natural wetlands and ponds, which will support beneficial predators). Serious mosquito-borne illness is rare in the Continental U.S.A., thanks to public and private Mosquito Abatement organizations, and certain environmental factors. However, some warm, humid regions, like Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands are prone to outbreaks of mosquito-transmitted pathogens, such as Dengue viruses. West Nile Virus is widespread and can be harmful to those with weak immune systems. Other encephalitis-causing viruses may be more localized, but can occasionally be serious, such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Malaria is only found in few places in the South, but it has some capacity to spread if mosquitoes are not controlled."

What types of environments attract mosquitoes into people's homes, and how can they be avoided?

"Puddles and other wet areas that hold water for five or more days can let mosquitoes breed, because their larvae are aquatic. Avoid over-watering such that water accumulates in ditches, empty plant saucers and anything else that collects water (old tires and similar), and drain unused pools. Treehole water can support the mosquitoes that carry heartworm to pets. A hole drilled into the base of the treehole can drain it, while still leaving habitat for nesting birds. Maintain good screens on the house."

What are your top three mosquito repellent recommendations?

"I really only have two: repellents based on DEET, and lemon-eucalyptus oil. Some botanicals other than lemon eucalyptus also work, such as geraniol, but might need to be applied more often."

What are your top three tips for managing itchiness or pain from mosquito bites?

"Prevention:  First, wear light-colored, long-sleeved shirts and long pants if you can, and use repellent. If bitten, you can use a topical antihistamine, or witch hazel. A band-aid can be helpful for compulsive scratchers."

What are the most concerning symptoms from mosquito bites?

"I am not a medical doctor, so the following is not official medical advice, and should not be presented as such in any context. Most of the mosquito-borne diseases take a couple of days or more to incubate. They can cause headaches and fever. Consider consulting a medical doctor if these symptoms arise in the days after bites occur. Secondary infections caused by scratching are also concerning. These are frequently indicated by discharge, excessive swelling and pain, and sometimes red streaks near the bite."

Which animal species are most vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases? Should pet owners be worried?

"I am also not a veterinarian, so the following is not comprehensive. Owners of some kinds of pets need to be concerned about pet exposure to mosquitoes. Heartworm is carried by mosquitoes. This can affect dogs and sometimes cats. These should be vaccinated, especially where heartworm is common (most of the USA). Horses are quite vulnerable to some of the encephalitis viruses, such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and should be vaccinated. Pet birds can contract West Nile virus and some of the other viruses. This often isn't serious, but young birds should be protected as they may have less immunity, and outdoor aviaries should be screened."

Lawler joined the then UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1995, retiring in January 2023.  She taught aquatic entomology and community entomology. Her research interests: Aquatic ecology, especially mosquitoes, other aquatic insects and amphibians; experimental studies of food webs and population dynamics; and ecosystem subsidy. 

Lawler chaired the Entomology and Nematology Curriculum Committee from 2017 to 2022, and served as the lead faculty advisor of the department from 2003 to 2022.  On campus, she chaired the Designated Emphasis in Biology of Vector Borne Disease (DEBVBD) from 2017 to 2020, and served on the DEBVBD Executive Committee from 2021-2022. 

Lawler holds a doctorate in ecology and evolution (1992) from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. and did postdoctoral research at the Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot, UK, and at the University of Kentucky, Lexington.

(Read the entire article here.)

Senior entomology major Annaliese Wargin is the newly selected recipient of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's “Citation for Outstanding Performance,” as well as a “Department Citation” for her stellar achievements in academics and research.

Wargin, to receive her bachelor's degree in entomology in June (she is minoring in ecology and comparative literature), holds a near straight-A grade point average. Plans to present the awards are pending due to coronavirus pandemic precautions.

Wargin is a member of the highly competitive Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB), founded and co-directed by faculty members Jay Rosenheim, Joanna Chiu and Louie Yang of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. As part of RSPIB, Wargin joined the lab of Stacey Combes, associate professor, Department of Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior, to research the biomechanics and behavioral ecology of flying insects.

Combes described her as “one of the most promising undergraduates I have ever worked with in terms of her potential for research and a career in academia.”

Academic advisor Sharon Lawler, professor of entomology, praised Wargin's academic record, zeal and communication skills. “She is an extraordinarily talented and hard-working scholar. Her achievements and clear research focus promise early and extended success.”

For the past year, Wargin has been working on an experiment investigating the effects of changing barometric pressure on bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) foraging behavior. She presented the preliminary results at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in January.

“Barometric pressure, also known as atmospheric pressure, has been known to fluctuate in response to certain weather patterns; for example, before a rainstorm, barometric pressure will decrease rapidly,” Wargin said. “Past studies (Pellegrino et al. 2013 PLOS One, Fournier et al. 2005 Environmental Entomology) have discovered that multiple species of insects across taxa can detect and behaviorally respond to this pressure drop, so I was interested in what potential effects pressure change would have on a social insect, specifically bumble bees.”

As part of her research, Wargin built a device to “experimentally control pressure using a plexiglass box, which could hold an entire hive of bees and a nectar source, a solenoid valve system connected to an air source and vacuum, and a variety of cameras to record behavior.”

“I subjected the hive inside the box to two pressure regimes in my preliminary trial: increasing pressure and decreasing pressure,” Wargin said. “With the cameras, I captured images of individually tagged worker bees leaving and returning to the hive during foraging, as well as videos of the inside of the nest to observe overall activity.”

“Currently, I have completed a preliminary trial of this experiment,” the UC Davis senior said. “I am now refining the methodology and working out a few issues I had with data collection in order to streamline future trials and improve the scope of the data I collect. While I don't have enough data for publishable results, I have discovered from my preliminary trial that pressure does appear to have some effect on bumble bee foraging behavior. Specifically, when the pressure is decreasing, the bees tend to be more active; they go on more foraging trips and are slightly busier inside the nest. When the pandemic has calmed down a bit and I am able to return to lab, I hope to complete a few more trials and publish the results.”

Combes praised her creativity and her ability to “plan and organize a novel project from the ground up.”

“Last spring, Annaliese and I began discussing ideas for an independent research project for her to conduct during her senior year,” Combes said. “She became excited about the idea of experimentally testing the effects of barometric pressure changes (which often precede storms and other changes in weather) on bumble bee foraging and nest care behavior. Anecdotal accounts of the effects of pressure changes on bees and other animals abound, but experiments have rarely been performed on this topic in a controlled setting – partly because it's not entirely straightforward how to design a system that allows one to control and alter barometric pressure. “

“However, Annaliese dove right into this challenge and set about designing a custom-built, air-tight enclosure to house a colony of bees and their foraging chamber,” Combes said. “She spent several months constructing this system--researching and ordering proportional solenoid valves to precisely control inflow and outflow from the chamber (to alter pressure) and designing camera systems to automatically capture videos of in-hive behavior as well as motion-activated photographs of individual foragers that she marked with QR-code tags. Annaliese succeeded in producing a system to test her questions and conducted a preliminary experiment over several weeks on one hive this summer. The results are very promising, and we plan to follow up with several more experiments on additional hives this year.

Said Combes: “Annaliese's creativity in research questions and approaches, her determination in designing and trouble-shooting a very difficult technical set-up, and her diligence in collecting rigorous data for hours on end have resulted in what I think will be some novel and very important findings about how a ubiquitous environmental variable affects the behavior of key pollinators. I anticipate this research resulting in a high-impact publication over the next year, with Annaliese as the lead author.”

In addition, she has “devoted herself to outreach and to sharing her extraordinary passion for insects with the general public, and especially with girls and women,” Combes said. “She has always loved insects and was initially mystified when many of her classmates (especially girls) seemed scared of these creatures.”   

A native of Rancho Palos Verdes, a suburb in Los Angeles County, Annaliese developed her interest in insects in early childhood. “I spent the early years of my life in Chicago, where I had a few encounters with insects like cicadas, mantises and bees,” she related. “These experiences sparked my interest and inspired me to pursue a career that was closely connected to the natural world. I went through a few different phases when I was a teenager when it came to what I wanted to do in college, but all of them were related to the biological sciences, and I eventually decided to do what I always did--spend a lot of time looking at and learning about insects. That initial fascination with insects has since developed into a broad interest in the fields of insect behavior and insect ecology.”

As a teen-ager, Annaliese won the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest Girl Scout honor, for her 80-hour self-led service project focused on insect outreach. She delivered several presentations to children in her community about insects and their importance to the natural world. The award honors the “dreamers and the doers who take ‘make the world a better place' to the next level, according to the Girl Scout Association.

An active member of the Entomology Club, Wargin worked with advisor Bob Kimsey and fellow members in 2018 to collect data on Alcatraz Island for the National Park Service. They surveyed old buildings for beetle damage and set up experimental trials for future data collection. In addition, Wargin served as a student researcher in the Department of Evolution and Ecology in 2019, and worked on a native pollinator project in the summer of 2017 at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy.

Wargin's seven academic scholarships include the UC Davis McBeth Memorial Scholarship, given to entomology students who plan to further their education in the field.

Her future plans? “I plan to attend graduate school and earn a PhD in insect ecology,” Wargin said. “I feel drawn to research and am excited about what I'll study in the future. “

Who won the Department of Entomology and Nematology's cookie contest?

A nematologist, an aquatic entomologist and a community ecologist.

The event, which took place at the department's recent holiday luncheon in the International House, drew nine contestants. They competed in one of three categories: best chocolate cookie, best non-chocolate cookie and best decorated cookie, announced coordinator William "Bill" Tuck, academic personnel specialist in the Phoenix Cluster, serving the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the Department of Plant Pathology.

And the winners...drum roll...are:

• Best chocolate cookie: Aquatic entomologist Sharon Lawler, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for her recipe, "Dirty Drunk Snowballs"
• Best non-chocolate cookie: Nematologist Steve Nadler, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for his Internet-modified recipe, "Cranberry Orange Cookies"
• Best decorated cookie: Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for her "Stamped Citrus Shortbread" recipe from the New York Times

Each of the winners, determined by popular vote, received a $25 Amazon gift card.

Dirty Drunk Snowballs
By Sharon Lawler

Ingredients:

1 box Trader Joe's Mini Dark Chocolate Mint Stars
1/4 cup dark rum (white rum or bourbon will also work)
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Method:

Grind up the cookies in a food processor or blender until pretty fine but with some texture left. Stir enough dark rum so that the crumbs hold together well, but stop before it gets soggy. Let the mix sit for 15 minutes or so. Sift the confectioner's sugar into a bowl. Roll the mix into small balls, and then roll them in the confectioner's sugar.

Cranberry Orange Cookies
By Steve Nadler
Internet-modified recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granular white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
5 tablespoons orange juice
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups orange-flavored dried cranberries (Trader Joe's)
1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

 Method:

1. Use a food processor to chop the dried cranberries
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, blend together the butter, white granular sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
4. Whisk the egg in a small bowl, then mix into the large bowl.
5. Add 1 teaspoon of orange zest and 2 tablespoons of orange juice into the large bowl and mix.
6. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
7. Stir the flour mixture from step 6 into the large bowl.
8. Mix in the chopped cranberries, working to distribute them evenly.
9. Drop cookie dough mixture (rounded tablespoon) on ungreased cookie sheets. Space them 2 inches apart.
10. Bake for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven (375 F). The edges will begin to turn golden brown when ready.
11. Remove cookies from sheets and cool on wire racks.
12. In bowl, mix 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, and the confectioner's sugar until smooth. Brush on the tops of the cooled cookies. Let dry.

Stamped Citrus Shortbread
By Rachel Vannette
Recipe from New York Times

For the Cookies

• 2 cups/255 grams all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• ⅓ cup/45 grams cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
• 1 orange (preferably tangelo)
• 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• ¾ cup/75 grams sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, plus more as needed

For the Glaze:

• 3/4 cup/75 grams sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, plus more as needed

Preparation

1. Prepare the cookies: Add flour, cornstarch and salt to a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
2. Combine butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Zest half the orange and half the lemon directly into the bowl. Reserve the lemon and orange for the glaze. Cream the butter mixture on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add vanilla and lemon extracts and beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping the bowl a few times as needed.
3. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and fold a few times to make sure everything is well combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut dough in half and let one piece warm up for 30 minutes if it has chilled longer than an hour. Return the other half to the refrigerator. Portion the dough into pieces roughly the size of walnuts (a scant 2 tablespoons/about 35 grams), then roll each piece into a ball between your hands. One at a time, dip a ball of dough into flour and set on work surface. If dough balls soften too much, return them to the refrigerator to firm up for a few minutes. You want it cool, but malleable. Dip cookie stamp in flour, and press down on the ball of dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Remove stamp. (If dough sticks to stamp, carefully peel it off. Don't worry about excess flour as you will brush it off after chilling.) Trim the edges using a 2-inch cookie cutter, and transfer dough rounds to 2 parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Once you have stamped out all the cookies, knead together the scraps to make a few more. Chill in the freezer until very firm, about 10 minutes. When cold, brush off any excess flour with a dry pastry brush.
6. Bake until cookies just start to turn golden underneath, 12 to 14 minutes, switching the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time.
7. Make the glaze while the cookies bake: Zest the remaining skin from the reserved lemon and orange into a small bowl. Add the confectioners' sugar, butter and orange juice and whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add more orange juice. If it is too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. It should be the consistency of thin custard.
8. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, and transfer to a wire rack set over a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet. Pick up a cookie, and using the back of a small spoon, spread a generous teaspoon of glaze on a cookie, letting any excess drip onto the next cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are glazed. Cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

 Proof of how delicious the winning cookies were? Empty containers.

Hats off to the 12 members of the Graduating Class of 2019, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

They received their degrees at an afternoon ceremony on Sunday, June 16 in The Pavilion, sharing the ceremony with other graduating students from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). CA&ES held two commencement ceremonies; one in the morning at 9 and one in the afternoon at 2.

Dean Helene Dillard and Chancellor Gary May both delivered speeches. It was a day "filled with commencement regalia, beaming smiles and other memories that will last a lifetime," May recalled on a UC Davis website.

The entomology graduates (UC Davis does not offer a major in nematology  but does offer a minor) are:

• Darian Buckman
• Abram Estrada
• Lohitashwa Garikipati
• Rayanh Gutierrez
• Jo Hsuan Kao
• Eliza Litsey
• Jessica Nguyen
• Dingyuan Peng
• Jesus Martinez Rodriguez
• Matthew Salvador
• Michelle Tam
• Seiji Yokota

 CA&ES was the only college or school holding two ceremonies to accommodate the graduating students.  The others ceremonies:

• School of Medicine — 10 a.m. Friday, May 17, Mondavi Center
• School of Law — 11 a.m. Saturday, May 18, Mondavi Center
• School of Veterinary Medicine — 3:30 p.m Friday, May 24, Mondavi Center
• School of Education — 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, Mondavi Center
• Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing — 10 a.m. Thursday, June 13, Mondavi Center
• Graduate Studies — 3 p.m. Thursday, June 13, The Pavilion
• College of Biological Sciences — 9 a.m. Friday, June 14, The Pavilion
• College of Engineering — 2 p.m. Friday, June 14, The Pavilion
• College of Letters and Science — 9 a.m., and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, June 15, The Pavilion
• Graduate School of Management — 10 a.m. Saturday, June 15, Mondavi Center