- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
One of the first butterflies we see in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden in midwinter is the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta.
Yes, this butterfly overwinters as an adult. It's picture-perfect with black wings, red bands and white spots. And on a picture-perfect day in midwinter, you may see it.
Or as butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, says on his Art's Butterfly World website: "One of the most frequently seen butterflies in midwinter at low elevation, and often very common in the urban Bay Area, the Red Admiral occurs all around the Northern Hemisphere. It is multiple-brooded, overwinters as an adult, and may undergo altitudinal migration in the Sierra (where it is generally uncommon)."
"The larval hosts are all members of the Nettle family, Urticaceae, including not only the familiar Stinging Nettles (Urtica holosericea and U. urens) but the tiny-leaved ground cover Baby's Tears (Helxine or Soleirolia) in moist, shaded gardens and the climbing urban weed Pellitory (Parietaria) in the Bay Area. The larva is solitary, in a rolled-leaf shelter."
Shapiro has been monitoring butterfly populations in Central California since 1972. And the Red Admiral is just one of them.
If you visit the UC Davis Arboretum a picture-perfect day, you must may get the opportunity to admire the Red Admiral...This one was on a Roldana aschenborniana (Golden Light Senecio).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis third-year entomology student Sol Wantz, an intern at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, president of the UC Davis Entomology Club, and an undergraduate researcher in the Neal Williams' lab, shed light on "Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids" when she delivered a presentation at a recent Bohart Museum open house.
Jerusalem crickets, aka "potato bugs," drew the most interest.
The wingless insects, members of the family, Stenopelmatidae, are omniverous, feeding on both plants and animals, Wantz told the crowd. They are ground-dwelling insects found "mostly in North America, some in Asia and Africa," she said, and they include 7 genera and 67 species.
"They have a unique method of sound production," Wantz said. "They thump their abdomen against the ground to produce a surprisingly loud noise. Their thumping patterns can be used to identify their species."
Sol, who grew up in the Bay Area community of Belmont, is the first entomologist in her family. "My parents and brother all love insects, but I am the only one hoping to make a career out of entomology."
Jerusalem Cricket T-Shirt. The Bohart Museum sells a Jerusalem cricket t-shirt in its gift shop, the result of so many queries beginning with "What is that thing?" Kimsey's humorous answer, "basically Vienna sausages with bitey jaws," appears on the shirt. The art is the work of UC Davis student and Bohart volunteer Allen Chew, and the design by UC Davis doctoral alumnus Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a Bohart Museum scientist.
Wantz also discussed grasshoppers and katydids. "The katydid genus Supersonus produces the highest frequency sound of any known animal, up to 150 kHz!" she said. "For reference, humans can only hear between 0 and 20 kHz."
Wantz grew up in the Bay Area community of Belmont. "My parents and brother all love insects, but I am the only one hoping to make a career out of entomology." Her parents, Adam Wantz and Patti Leggett-Wantz, were among those attending the seminar.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Bulding, 455 Crocker Lane, is directed by Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Two-Week Public Closure. Due to staff shortage, spring break, and winter quarter finals, the Bohart Museum will be closed to the public (walk-ins) for the next two weeks, Monday, March 18 through Friday, March 29. Previously scheduled group tours will continue to take place those two weeks. For more information, access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
I did not save a spider today. I did not save one yesterday, either. Or the day before.
That's because I did not see any that needed saving. I frequently see them in our pollinator garden, however, and I always stop to take their image.
Nationaltoday.com tells us: "Save a Spider Day is celebrated on March 14 annually in the U.S. in part to reduce arachnophobia, a fear of spiders, and to conserve spiders. People are usually afraid of spiders, mostly due to their bites which are considered deadly. Although most of the fear is largely unfounded and exaggerated, spiders are incredibly useful to humans as they work as effective pest control among other things. On this day, we look at the many reasons why we should rather trap a spider in a jar and take it outside than kill it. Let us spin webs about spiders and why they should be saved." (See more.)
Did you know that arachnologist Jason Bond of UC Davis is the president-elect of the American Arachnological Society? Professor Bond is the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and the newly announced director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, succeeding UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey.
I remember asking Professor Bond to provide five good reasons why we should love spiders. (He didn't need to convince me!)
He listed these reasons:
- Spiders consume 400-800 million tons of prey, mostly insects, each year. Humans consume somewhere around 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.
- Spider silk is one of the strongest naturally occurring materials. Spider silk is stronger than steel, stronger and more stretchy than Kevlar; a pencil thick strand of spider silk could be used to stop a Boeing 747 in flight.
- Some spiders are incredibly fast – able to run up to 70 body lengths per second (10X faster than Usain Bolt).
- Although nearly all 47,000-plus spider species have venom used to kill their insect prey, very few actually have venom that is harmful to humans.
- Some spiders are really good parents--wolf spider moms carry their young on their backs until they are ready to strike out on their own; female trapdoor spiders keep their broods safe inside their burrows often longer than one year, and some female jumping spiders even nurse their spiderlings with a protein rich substance comparable to milk.
Another good reason is that spiders are...well...beautiful. Check out this gorgeous redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum, or this eye-popping jumping spider from our pollinator garden. It's their garden, too, and I am just a visitor in their habitat.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology organized and hosted an emeriti celebration honoring professors who recently transitioned to emeriti, he didn't stop when the presentations ended.
Leal invited his biochemistry students that he's teaching this quarter to summarize, in a short video, one of the emerti lectures. "I let them decide which one," he said. "They submitted 45 videos and covered all the speakers." The event, held in the International Center, celebrated 73 faculty who retired in the 2022-2023 cohort. Chancellor Gary May welcomed the crowd, and paid tribute to the new retirees and their accomplishments.
Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, who has monitored butterfly populations in Central California since 1972, spoke on "Using Butterflies to Understand Biotic Responses to Climate Change." He recently retired from the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology faculty, but continues his research with his former doctoral student, Professor Matt Forister of the University of Nevada. Shapiro maintains a research website at https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu. (Read his emeriti presentation on the March 11th Bug Squad blog)
So which student chose to comment on Shapiro's presentation? A butterfly enthusiast: Elly Fry-Ross, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major with a minor in psychology.
And butterflies? "I've always loved butterflies ever since I was little," Elly said, adding that the colors fascinate her. "My parents used to take me to the rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences to see the butterflies and hopefully have one land on me!"
And every year on campus, Elly attends the butterfly and moth exhibit at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day and during the campuswide Picnic Day, which this year is Saturday, April 20.
Elly's career plans? To enroll in a medical school and become a physician.
See the student videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1LZbErkx28
Emeriti Celebration Links
00:00 Getting ready to start 00:15 Opening remarks, Walter Leal 03:26 Land Acknowledgment 06:35 Chancellor Gary May 8:50 Cal Qualset 11:40 Paul Gepts presentation 42:37 Robert Szabo's impromptu remarks 45:40 Bruce Hammock 47:45 Isaac Pessah 1:15:40 Congratulations on your retirement, Jay Lund! 1:18:12 William (Bill) Lacy 1:22:05 Ines Hernandez-Avila 1:52:59 Ken Burtis 1:57:10 Art Shapiro 2:20:50 Q&A 2:28:50 Art Shapiro's additional remarks 2:29:44 Emeriti Napkin 2:29:57 UCDEA Video Recording Interview
Afternoon Session
https://youtu.be/AMs2Q1bimxA
00:00 Highlights of the luncheon 01:20 Suad Joseph, UCDEA 13:16 Mont Hubbard 16:40 Simon Cherry 51:44 Jeffery Gibeling 56:52 Subhash Risbud 1:23:25 Snapshot with undergraduate students 1:23:48 Clark Lagarias 1:26:19 Anne Britt 2:00:30 Sascha Nicklisch 2:03:53 Ron Tjeerdema 2:36:30 Edward Callahan 2:40:45 Andres Sciolla 3:09:41 Mary Croughan 3:18:10 Walter Leal 3:18:55 After the event
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Registration is underway at https://tinyurl.com/bdhrhurh. You also can access the QR code on the flyer below.
The goal is "to advance the land management aims of local tribal communities and provide a platform to educate about the importance of maintaining wetland biology for climate change, ecological and human health, and vector control,” announced medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The symposium is sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, which aims to “strengthen the capacity to prevent and respond to emerging vector-borne diseases in the southwestern United States and Pacific Islands.”
His collaborator is Diana Almendariz, a traditional ecological knowledge specialist and a cultural practitioner of Maidu/Wintun,Hupa/Yurok traditions, heritage, and experiences. She will discuss the precolonial relationships between native peoples and wetlands in Northern California, the impacts of colonization on those relationships, and the application of traditional ecological knowledge practices to restore damaged wetland ecosystems. (See video of her talking about her goals at https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Agenda (The symposium will start promptly at 1 p.m. so attendees are asked to arrive early).
Snacks and drinks will be provided.
1 to 2:30 p.m.: Presentation by Diana Almendariz: "Cultural History and Traditional Ecological Management of Wetlands." She'll be exploring the deep connection between indigenous history and wetland ecosystems.
2:30 to 2:35 p.m.: Break
2:35 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.: Presentation by Geoff Attardo: "Wetland Biology and its Importance for Ecological and Human Health." He'll be discussing wetland biology's significance in climate change, ecology, and vector-borne disease.
3:15 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.: Break
3:20 p.m.– 3:50 p.m.: Tule Weaving Demonstration: Participants will learn traditional Tule weaving techniques, connecting with the material culture of wetland management.
3:50 p.m. – 4 p.m. Break
4 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Question and Answer Session: Attendees can engage with the speakers and delve deeper into the topics discussed.
(For more information, contact Geoffrey Attardo at gmattardo@ucdavis.edu)
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