Can you distinguish a moth from a butterfly?  Ever seen a display of colorful tropical moths? Would you like to observe what species of moths are attracted to light traps?

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is hosting a "Moth Night" from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday,  July 21.   Free and open to the public, this is a "family friendly event all about moths," according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. Events will take place both inside and outside the insect museum.

The Bohart Museum Moth Night is being held in conjunction with National Moth Week, July 21-29, which celebrates the beauty, life cycles and habitats of moths. The UC Davis event is one of only two public events scheduled in California during the week; the other is in San Mateo County on July 28.

Bohart scientists will be on hand to discuss moths and answer questions. They include three Bohart associates:  entomologist Jeff Smith of Rocklin, curator of the the moth and butterfly specimens; and "Moth Man" John DeBenedictis  and naturalist and photographer Greg Kareofelas, both of Davis, who will staff the light traps/blacklighting displays. The best time to see the moths in the light traps is later in the evening, closer to 10.

"We will focus on colorful moths of the night--night rainbows if you will and the biodiversity of tropical moths," Yang said. A family craft activity is planned. Last year the family craft activity featured making moth-shaped window ornaments resembling stained glass.

Free refreshments--cookies and hot chocolate--will be served. Common Grounds, a  Davis coffee shop. will be providing the large containers of hot water for the event.

Last year more than 15 species landed on the blacklighting display. The first moth to arrive was the alfalfa looper moth, Trichopusia ni.  The most striking: the grape leaffolder, Desmia funeralis.

Some facts about moths, from the National Moth Week website:

Why moths?

• Moths are among the most diverse and successful organisms on earth.
• Scientists estimate there are 150,000 to more than 500,000 moth species.
• Their colors and patterns are either dazzling or so cryptic that they define camouflage. Shapes and sizes span the gamut from as small as a pinhead to as large as an adult's hand.
• Most moths are nocturnal, and need to be sought at night to be seen--others fly like butterflies during the day.
• Finding moths can be as simple as leaving a porch light on and checking it after dark. Serious moth aficionados use special lights and baits to attract them.

The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum. It maintains a live "petting zoo," featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas, and praying mantids. The museum's 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. It 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 on the website or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or email bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology won two of the six special exhibit awards given at the 104th annual UC Davis Picnic Day, held April 21.

“Entomology at UC Davis (122 Briggs Hall) swept the category, “One with Nature,” while the Bohart Museum of Entomology won the wildcard award with its “Hidden Insects: Where the Sun DOESN'T Shine.”

The Picnic Day, themed, “Where the Sun Shines,” encompassed more than 200 exhibits or events throughout the campus. Popular vote determined the award recipients.

Other winners were:

Hunger Fix category: “Cool Science of Ice Cream” in the Mondavi Institute South Building Courtyard, where visitors could learn about and taste ice cream made by the UC Davis Pilot Plant

Earth and Engineering category:  “Flight Simulator and Aerospace Displays”, the work of the Center for Human/Robotics/Vehicle Integration and Performance and held in in Academic Surge Building 1113

Taking Center Stage category: “Lord of the Strings,” physics demonstrations in Roessler Hall 66 

Arts and Humanities category: “Musical Expedition” featuring the joy of music and hands-on experiences with musical instruments and jam sessions at a site outside the Music Building.

Coordinating the events at Briggs Hall were forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey and doctoral candidate Brendon Boudinot of the Phil Ward lab and president of the Entomology Graduate Students' Association. Heading the activities at the Bohart Museum were director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, and Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.

Activities within 122 Briggs Hall included Virtual Reality Bugs by UC Davis medical entomologist Geoffrey Attardo; the Dr. Death (forensic) table featuring forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey; entomological forestry displays, medical entomology displays showcasing different species of mosquitoes; ant displays from the Phil Ward lab; a honey bee display providing comparisons of meals with and without the aid of pollinators and tools of the trade, including beekeeping supplies; and nine spectacular or “oh, my” drawers of insect specimens, primarily bees, beetles, butterflies. from the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

Other activities at Briggs Hall, either inside the atrium, in an adjoining room, or fronting the building, included maggot art, cockroach races, honey tasting, Bug Doctor booth, Integrated Pest Management table, Sacramento Yolo-Mosquito and Vector Control district booth, Davis Fly Fishers, scavenger hunt, insect face painting, t-shirt sales and a bake sale.

The Entomology Graduate Students' Association organized and ran most of the displays, while undergraduates in the UC Davis Entomology Club staffed their own displays (sold mantises, carnivorous plants, mealworm cookies) and did face paintings, Boudinot said. Students, faculty, and staff participated.

A performance by the Entomology Band, with three original tunes composed by Michael Bollinger of the Frank Zalom lab, ended the daylong activities at Briggs. The band included Jackson Audley of the Steve Seybold lab, rhythm guitar;  Wei Lin of the Brian Johnson lab, bass guitar; Yao Cai, drums and Christine Tabuloc, vocals, both of the Joanna Chiu lab; and Zachary  keyboards;  Jill Oberski; tenor saxophone; and Brendon Boudinot, bass guitar, all of the Phil Ward lab. Dressed in insect costumes, they performed four tunes

For its open house offerings, "Where the Sun DOESN'T Shine," The Bohart Museum highlighted nocturnal insects, cave dwelling insects, and beaver butt beetles or Platypsyllus castoris, an ectoparasite on beavers. Visitors also held live tarantulas, with entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the butterfly and moth section, engaging the crowd and supervising the activity. The Bohart, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, houses some 8 million insect specimens, plus a live “petting zoo” and a year-around gift shop.

DAVIS--Aerosmith sang about “Livin' on the Edge,” but many species of insects show a definite preference for living on the edges of fields and orchards, and this phenomenon can lead to more accurate monitoring and better pest management tactics, according to a UC Davis student's review published in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

Hoang Danh “Derrick” Nguyen, who is studying for his master's degree in entomology with major professor and agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, says that many species of insect pests, pollinators and natural enemies show distinct preferences for environmental edges, as they transition from one habitat to another.

“Characterization of insect pests' spatial distribution patterns can be used to guide and optimize precision pest management,” concluded Nguyen, the lead author, and Nansen, co-author and associate professor.

The paper, titled “Edge-Biased Distributions of Insects: A Review,” indicates that “the prevalence of such edge-biased distributions has considerable implications for how to sample and monitor insects, and it also suggests that in many cases pest management tactics, such as, releases of natural enemies or insecticide applications can be spatially targeted to field edges.”

In the paper, Nguyen defines “ecological or environmental edge” as “the transition between two landscape elements. It can be permanent, such as a border between two types of vegetation, or it may be temporary, such as a junction between a natural forest and a cultivated farmland.”

Nguyen wrote the paper as an undergraduate student. “He decided to write a review article on a topic related to insect ecology and pest management,” Nansen said. “His main goals were to improve his scientific writing and to get familiar with the process of publishing scientific publications. The end result was an article about a very widespread—but poorly understood phenomenon—insects are often spatially aggregated along environmental edges.”

Nguyen traced the history of edge-based distribution of insects in agricultural systems to a study on black bean aphids led by British entomologist C. G. Johnson and published in 1950 in the Annual of Applied Biology. The aphids, major pests of sugar beet, bean and celery crops, spread from the field edges to within, but the edges remained the areas of highest aphid density.

Nguyen also called attention to scientific studies that found that wild bees in high bush blueberry were more prevalent along the edges of orchards, and that the density of the pest, Asian citrus psyllid, prevailed more at the edges of citrus groves than within.

Nansen praised Nguyen's work as outstanding. “Sometimes we professors are fortunate enough to interact with undergraduate students who – even with English not being their first language – possess keen abilities to describe a scientific problem or phenomenon in clearly articulated scientific writing, and Derrick is a great example of that!”

“He started writing drafts of this review article about six months before he started as a graduate student,” said Nansen, who specializes in applied insect ecology, integrated pest management (IPM) and remote sensing. “This review article is an example of how we can use writing of review papers as a tool to engage with undergraduate students before they start their thesis projects.” Professor Jay Rosenheim of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology also helped with the drafts.

“ We are supposed to focus more and more on ‘diversity' and here we have an undergraduate from Singapore publishing in a very prestigious journal,” he added.

In their paper, the UC Davis scientists suggested that mathematical modeling approaches can partially explain edge-biased distributions but “that abiotic factors, crop vegetation traits, and environmental parameters are factors that are likely responsible for this phenomenon.”

They advocate more research, especially experimental research, “to increase the current understanding of how and why edge-biased distributions of insects are so widespread.”

“In my opinion, discussions about edge-biased distribution of insects tend to be entomocentric; much emphasis is often put on the insects themselves,” Nguyen commented. “However, agricultural insect pests are dependent on their host plants for survival. Interestingly, it has been shown in various systems that agricultural crops also display edge effect as well. Therefore, through my review, I would like to bring attention to this correlation and propose insect-plant interactions as a potential explanation of edge effect and broaden the discussion about this widely observed but insufficiently understood phenomenon.”

Nguyen received a bachelor's degree in plant sciences from UC Davis in December 2017, graduating with highest honors. A high-achieving scholar, he was on the dean's honor list, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, every quarter since the fall of 2015. He enrolled in the UC Davis graduate student program in entomology in January 2018.

“I am interested in IPM, insect behavior and insect ecology, and greenhouse production of leafy vegetables,” he said. “Currently I am working on projects that explore the potentials of hyperspectral imaging technology as early detection tools for pest infestation and insect host selection based on the framework of preference-performance hypothesis. As my research model, I focus on the interactions between vegetables (bok choy and spinach) and their insect pests (leafminers and armyworms).

His projects include researching:

• Hyperspectral imaging of bok choy and spinach in response to leafminer and armyworm infestation
• Diurnal variation in reflectance signature of plants
• Host selection behavior of leafminers and armyworms based on the understanding of "Preference-Performance Hypothesis"
• Behavioral avoidance of armyworms in spinach and its implication in Integrated Pest Management

Nguyen served as an assistant training officer with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from April 2014 to March 2015. For his studies at UC Davis, received a 2015-2019 undergraduate and graduate scholarship sponsored by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

“For my career plan, since I am currently sponsored by AVA, I will be working for them for six years upon my graduation,” Nguyen said. “In the long term, I am interested in doing a Ph.D in imaging technology for pest detection, plant health status analysis and food quality analysis.”

(Editor's Note: The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will showcase three museums or collections on Feb. 17: Bohart Museum of Entomology, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, and the Nematode Collection. In addition, insect specimens from the Bohart are displayed in the Design Museum through April 22.)

DAVIS--Crowds will "explore the diversity of life"  at 13 museums or collections during the seventh annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 17. The event, set from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is free and open to the public.

Displays will range from ancient dinosaur bones to live praying mantises, from hawks to honey bees and from California condor specimens to carnivorous plants. Last year's Biodiversity Museum Day drew more than 4000 visitors to campus.

This is a family friendly, science-based event,  said Biodiversity Museum Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. All 13 museums or collections are within walking distance on campus except for the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road and the Raptor Center on Old Davis Road. Openings vary from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from noon to 4 p.m.

The following will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.:

• Arboretum and Public Garden, Good Life Garden, next to the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science Institute,     392 Old Davis Road, on campus
• Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane
• California Raptor Center, 340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane
• Paleontology Collection, Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road
• Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus
• Viticulture and Enology Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus

 The following will be open from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds
• Design Museum, 124 Cruess Hall, off California Avenue
• Botanical Conservatory, Greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive
• Center for Plant Diversity, Sciences Laboratory Building, off Kleiber Hall Drive
• Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, Bee Biology Road, off Hopkins Road (take West Hutchison Drive to Hopkins)
• Nematode Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building, off Kleiber Hall Drive

All participating museums and collections have active education and outreach programs, Yang said, but the collections are not always accessible to the public.   In the event of rain, alternative locations are planned for the outdoor sites. Maps, signs and guides will be available at all the collections, online, and on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, @BioDivDay.

Capsule information about each museum or collection:

Arboretum and Public Garden
The Arboretum and Public Garden display will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Good Life Garden, next to the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science Institute, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus. It will join two other collections: Phaff Yeast and Viticulture and Enology. The Arboretum activities will be interactive; Learning-by-Leading Students are creating the content that will be featured on the day of Biodiversity Day.  Coordinator: Melissa Cruz, outreach and leadership program coordinator.

Bohart Museum of Entomology
The Bohart Museum of Entomology will be open from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, off LaRue Road. The Bohart is the home of a global collection of nearly 8 million insect specimens. Highlights will include the 500,000-specimen butterfly/moth collection, curated by entomologist Jeff Smith; display of praying mantises, including orchid mantises, by UC Davis entomology student Lohit Garikipati; and a Belize insect collection display by Smith and fellow Bohart Museum associates Fran Keller and Dave Wyatt from their latest expedition. "You'll be able to see the tremendous diversity of butterflies, moths and mantids, and talk to the scientists who have just returned from there," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.  "There will be orchids and orchid bees connecting the Bohart Museum's work with plant biology and science."

California Raptor Center
The California Raptor Center on 1340 Equine Lane, Davis, just off Old Davis Road, will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A living collection of non-releasable raptors will be on exhibit. The center's educational ambassador birds will be out "on the fist" in the fenced yard by the museum, so visitors can get a close look at wild raptors while talking to the volunteers and learning about the magnificent birds of prey that live in this area, said Julie Cotton, volunteer and outreach coordinator. The on-site museum, recently renovated, features redesigned exhibits and a new touch-screen display. Coordinator: Julie Cotton, volunteer and outreach coordinator.

Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
The Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, in Room 1394 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane (off LaRue Road) will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visitors can view the bird and mammal museum specimen taxidermy demonstrations; explore the research collections with museum docents; see the newly acquired California condors on display, and see other specimens on display, including Papua New Guinea birds and mammals, reptiles and amphibians, primates and marine fishes. Note that strollers are not allowed in classroom or museum, they can be parked them under adjacent stairwell. Visitors are also asked to wash their hands before entering museum. Coordinator:  Andrew Engilis Jr., director.

Paleontology Collection
The Paleobiology Collection will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road. Visitors can view fossil specimens dating from as old as 550 million years ago to more recent animal skeletons. Paleontology graduate students in invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology will answer questions and provide interesting factoids.  Coordinator: Mark Deblois, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

 Phaff Yeast Culture Collection and Viticulture and Enology Culture Collection
These collections will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus. Visitors can learn about the importance of microbes in research, biotechnology, and food and beverages, and about the proud history of two of the world's prominent microbe collections. The Phaff Yeast Culture Collection is part of the Department of Food Science and Technology department, and the Viticulture and Enology Culture Collection is part of the Department of Viticulture and Enology. Visitors can see and smell dozens of yeast species, learn how yeasts and bacteria are important for making fermented foods and beverages (even clothes can be made from microbes), taste vegemite, marmite and kombucha tea; learn about cutting edge research using these microbe collections; and tour the UC Davis teaching winery and brewery.

The microbe collection activities will be in the Robert Mondavi Institute Brewery, Winery and Food Processing building, which is in the southwest area of the complex of orange buildings at Old Davis Road and Hilgard Lane. Coordinators:  Kyria Boundy-Mills, Phaff collection curator and specialist, Food Science and Technology,  and Lucy Joseph, Viticulture and Enology collection curator and senior museum scientist.

Anthropology Museum
The Department of Anthropology Museum in 328 Young Hall will be open from noon to 4 p.m. The Anthropology Museum curates collections of archaeological, ethnographic, biological and archival materials. The theme is "Year of the Dog" and there will be a scavenger hunt for kids to find all the hidden dogs in the exhibits, and people can test their skills as an ancient hunter and toss an atlatl dart or learn to make a tool from volcanic stone, says zooarchaeologist Christyann Darwent. The Anthropology Museum curates collections of archaeological, ethnographic, biological and archival materials. The museum maintains a teaching collection that includes casts and reproductions of artifacts from a variety of prehistoric human groups. Coordinator: Christyann Darwent, associate professor.

Design Museum
The Design Museum will be open from noon to 4 p.m. in Room 124 of Cruess Hall. Professor Timothy McNeil and curator Adrienne McGraw will staff the exhibit, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, which explores the connections between people and insects. This is a special opening just for Biodiversity Museum Day. (The exhibit opened Jan. 8 and continues through April 22; regular hours are weekdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m.) "It's Bugged" includes art from hornet nest paper; beetle-gallery sculptures, and insect-themed clothing from the Department of Design faculty and graduate students; and insect specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology and insect photos from UC Davis alumnus Alex Wild, curator of entomology at the University of Texas, Austin.  Coordinators: Timothy McNeil, professor, and Adrienne McGraw, exhibition curator.

The Botanical Conservatory
The Botanical Conservatory, greenhouses on Kleiber Hall Drive, will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors can expect a multi-sensory experience of a plethora of plants primarily from the tropical and subtropical biomes.  Featured plants and displays include the always popular carnivorous plants, fruiting specimens of Chocolate (Theobroma) and Coffee (Coffea), various Amorphophallus species at various stages of leaf and possibly flowering individuals, an assortment of cacti, succulents and other desert dwellers, and finally an assortment of winter blooming South African Bulbs to further entice the senses. Coordinator: Ernesto Sandoval, collections manager.

Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium
The Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium, open from noon to 4 p.m. in Room 1026 of the Sciences Laboratory Building, central campus (off Kleiber Hall Drive), will exhibit Hmong medicinal and culinary herbs. Viewers can view and identify plants under the microscope and watch plant pressing and mounting demonstrations. A kids' area activity will include pressed plants/glue/paper.  Coordinator: Ellen Dean, curator.

Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee demonstration garden next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, Bee Biology Road, will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Activities include catch-and-release bee viewing and making "Feed the Bees" seed cookies. The haven was installed in the fall of 2009. A six-foot-long bee sculpture, Miss Beehaven, by artist Donna Billick, co-founder and co-director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, anchors the haven.  Other art, coordinated by entomology professor Diana Ullman, co-founder and director of the Art/Science Fusion Program, and Billick, also graces the haven. Guests will see bee condos occupied by leafcutter bees and mason bees. Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, has recorded more than 80 different species of bees in the garden. Coordinator: Christine Casey, academic program management officer.

Nematode Collection
The nematode collection will open from noon to 4 p.m. in the Science Laboratory Building, central campus (off Kleiber Hall Drive). Visitors can expect to see live and preserved nematode specimens. Highlights include the huge jars of whale intestinal worms. Nematodes, also called worms, are elongated cylindrical worms parasitic in animals or plants or free-living in soil or water. They exist in almost every known environment. The many different species eat everything from bacteria and fungi to plant and animal tissue. Coordinator: Corwin Parker, nematology doctoral student.

For further information about the Biodiversity Day, access the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day website.