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Tiptoeing Through the Tidy Tips
It's not spring until you see honey bees, carpenter bees and butterflies on Tidy Tips.
That would be Layia platyglossa, a wildflower native to southern California. Its common name is "Tidy Tips" or "Coastal Tidy Tips." It's a daisylike flower with yellow petals tipped in white, thus the name. It's a member of the aster family.
A flower bed in the center of the UC Davis campus (near the Science LaboratoriesBuilding) boasts an intermingling of the yellow-and-white Tidy Tips and sky-blue Desert Blue Bells (Phacelia campanularia).
Gorgeous!
Insects think so, too. On any given day you'll see honey bees, carpenter bees, butterflies and lacewings holding family reunions.
Honey Bee
Carpenter Bee
Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)
Big, Bold and Beleagured
They’re big, bold and beleaguered.
And now, they’re big, bold and finely detailed.
Western Hercules beetles became a part of the Bohart Museum of Entomology’s educational and outreach program this month through a T-shirt design that’s drawing raves.
Courtney Lambert, an undergraduate student in entomology at the
Lynn Kimsey, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and director of the
“Courtney is an incredible artist,” said Fran Keller, who designed the shirt, along with other shirts and posters available at the Bohart.
One of the largest beetles in the
Lambert’s illustration shows the male and female on a limb.
Keller remembers collecting the beetles in
Business owners spray them with pesticides at night and hose the dead insects into the sewers, she said. “They are pests for just a brief time.”
“And unfortunately, they are also poached, and illegal collecting has made this and other monsoon emerging beetles, Chrysina sp. for example, rarer every season. It is important for collectors to know the status of an insect before they collect it, and to make sure they have valid collecting permits issued by the state they’re collecting in. Hopefully, we can educate with this beetle T-shirt."
American physician-entomologist George Henry Horn (1840) 1897) first described the species in 1870. It has a blue and gray body with spots on the hardened forewings. It’s also nicknamed Grant’s Hercules Beetle, honoring Ullysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the American Civil War general who went on to become the 18th president of the United States.
Funds generated from these beetle T-shirts will help provide continuing undergraduate support and training at the
The shirts are available in olive and brown with natural ink; black with white ink, and natural color with black ink. A coupon on the Bohart Web site offers 20 percent off with orders over $15 until April 15
Founded in 1946, the
Western Hercules Beetles
Painted Ladies Are Back
The painted ladies are back.
No, not the Victorian and Edwardian homes painted in three colors. No, not women wearing excessive amounts of makeup and pounding the sidewalk with their stiletto heels.
These are BUTTERFLIES.
"Another Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) migration is occurring in north-central
Why hints of overwintering and breeding? Because the insects "were in good condition and did not appear to have migrated long distances," Shapiro says. "They also did not show the usual color-and-pattern signs of having been generated in the desert, but they were not produced locally in the Davis-Sacramento region and were seemingly confined to the west side of the Valley."
Shapiro reports that the
We saw them last weekend passing through parts of Solano and Yolo counties. They were moving fast and flying low.
"These butterflies are powered by yellow fat carried over from the caterpillar stage and fly like 'bats out of hell' from the Southeast to the Northwest a few feet off the ground, not stopping for food or sex until their fat reserves become depleted," Shaparo. He spotted a few feeding and one female was laying eggs.
Shapiro is updating the migration on the home page of his Web site. It's a must-read. You can learn more about Painted Ladies inside his Web site. See also pages 48-51 and 195-200 of his Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions (
Got a migration report or a video to offer him for his Web site? You can email him at amshapiro@ucdavis.edu.
Meanwhile, those Painted Ladies are absolutely gorgeous. We've heard far too much about ballistic bailouts, burgeoning bonuses and mortage meltdowns--and not enough about the Painted Ladies.
Bring 'em on!
Painted Lady
Bugs in My Alibi
Remember the landmark "insects-on-the-radiator" trial that led to a murder conviction?
Animal Witness, part of Animal Planet, will soon be showcasing the work that UC Davis insect identification expert Lynn Kimsey did as an expert witness in the trial.
The documentary, "Bugs in My Alibi," is scheduled to air at 11:30 a.m. April 6 and again at 11 a.m. April 10. Check local listings.
For Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor and chair of the Department of Entomology, her involvement in the case began in the summer of 2003 when FBI agents and the
Much later she learned that the rental car was driven by murder suspect Vincent Brothers, accused of killing five members of his family in
Brothers, a former vice principal of a
Kimsey, one of 137 witnesses called to testify in the internationally publicized case, told the court that several insect species picked from the car parts are found only in the West and one was abundant in
The grasshopper is found in the Great Plains and the eastern slope of the
The Bakersfield trial began Feb. 22, 2007 and ended May 15, 2007 with the jury convicting the 44-year-old defendant of five counts of first-degree murder in the shooting and stabbing deaths of his estranged wife, three children (ages 4, 2 and 6 weeks) and mother-in-law. The court on Sept. 27, 2007 imposed the death penalty.
Kern County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green, who prosecuted the case, described Kimsey as “an excellent witness and extremely knowledgeable.”
“From the prosecution’s point of view, half of the battle is being able to have witnesses knowledgeable in their field and the ability to explain that knowledge,” Green said in a telephone conversation following the trial. She noted that Kimsey is not only an expert in her field, but a teacher.
“She taught me about the insects so I could understand the field and feel familiar enough to cross-examine their (defense) witnesses. Her help was invaluable.”
When Kimsey and senior museum scientist Steve Heydon picked off the insects from the car parts (it took them seven or eight hours), “we found no butterflies--no painted ladies, no sulphur butterflies. That indicated to us that the car wasn’t driven during the day, but at night.”
“The insects we found were consistent with two major routes to get to
During her five-hour testimony, illustrated with a slide show, the UC Davis entomologist showed the distribution of the insects on a
Kimsey identified the large grasshopper by its leg, comparing the size, coloration and markings to a specimen at the museum. She testified that the hind legs of the grasshopper “help us identify” the species. The size of the large leg (red with black markings) indicated that the grasshopper measured “close to two inches long.”
The insect evidence corroborated with the mileage on the vehicle, which had to have been driven west,” Green said in the telephone interview. “The defendant said he was in
“Dr. Kimsey’s testimony, combined with the mileage, strongly suggested this was not true,” Green said.
The insects that Kimsey singled out in her court testimony, as being west of the
- Xanthippus corallipes pantherinus: large grasshopper, found west of the Rockies and eastern slope of the
- Neacoryphus rubicollis: true bug, found in
- Genus Piesma (family Piesmatidae): true bug found in
- Polistes aurifer: paper wasp, found in
Kimsey, director of one of the country’s largest insect museums, and considered one of the country's foremost insect identification experts, has identified insects for more than three decades. She manages the insect diagnostic service on the UC Davis campus (through the Department of Entomology).
The author of some 90 publications, Kimsey focuses her research on the biology and evolution of insects; biogeography of insects; functional morphology, dealing with the form and structure of insects; and systematics, or the science of classification.
Kimsey was trained by world-renowned entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) of UC Davis, who founded the
Documentary
Re-enactment
Excellence in Lab, Field and Classroom
Today we salute Andrea Lucky.
To be perfectly frank, anyone who takes a class from her is a lucky person indeed.
For excellence in teaching in the lab, field and classroom, UC Davis entomology doctoral candidate Andrea Lucky has won a 2009 UC Davis Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award.
Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef will present the award--one of 12--at a ceremony on Monday, April 6 in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors' Center.
Her major professor, Phil Ward, who nominated her for the award, praised her “stellar teaching assistance” and her “exceptional commitment to science teaching and outreach in general.”
Lucky, who joined the Ward lab four years ago, served as his teaching assistant in a five-week field taxonomy and ecology course last summer at the Sagehen Creek Field Station, northern Sierra Nevada. The course, Entomology 109 and also known as "Bug Boot Camp," introduces students to the diversity of California insects in natural habitats.
Lucky interacted with the students 12 to 14 hours a day, from dawn at the breakfast table to late at night in the lab, six days a week, Ward said. “Entomology 109 is a demanding course for both students and teachers, yet Andrea was unfailingly upbeat, engaging and responsive to students. She was willing to assist in the lab, the field and even the kitchen when the situation demanded.”
Kitchen, too! Now, that's dedication!
“Andrea’s enthusiasm for the subject and her knowledge of the subject matter are a rare combination,” Ward said. “She is dedicated to encouraging student participation and attentive to individual student learning styles, and as a result she is very effective in establishing a creative, hands-on, interactive learning environment. She is notable for her ability to engage students while encouraging a high level of intellectual rigor.”
Lucky uses novel, creative techniques to help students learn. She designed a freshman seminar course on “Insects and Media” and taught it for four years. The seminar uses science, and especially insects, as portrayed by modern media as the basis for discussions about the facts behind the fiction and how audiences distinguish information vs. entertainment.
A native of Chicago, Andrea Lucky grew up in Cincinnati, graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and then spent two years as a Fulbright scholar studying insects in Ecuador.
We're often asked "Where are the women in science who are making a difference?" Well, one of them is right here at the University of California, Davis.
Andrea Lucky.
Andrea Lucky
Bug Boot Camp
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