Posts Tagged: Lynn Kimsey

New Headgear

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said it best.

"Headgear."

The "headgear" was actually a Giant New Guinea Walking Stick crawling up the face of Eric San Gregorio, an undergraduate student majoring in entomology at UC Davis.

The occasion: the Bohart Museum's "Happy Halloween" open house on Thursday, Oct. 23.

See, the Bohart Musuem at 1124 Academic Surge, UC Davis, not only houses seven million specimens (it's the seventh largest insect museum in North America) but it also showcases live critters--like Madagascar hissing cockroaches, giant spiders and walking sticks.

About the Giant New Guinea Walking Stick (Eurycantha calcarata): it's from the order Phasmatodea and is native to New Guinea. It can grow up to six inches long. It's covered in spines. The males have large spikes on their back femurs while females have a larger abdomen ending in an oviposter, or egg-laying organ.

The walking stick dines on bramble, rose and guava.

It does not dine on little children.

Janice Calvento, 7, of Sacramento loved the honey bees, the honey tasting, the bee observation hive and just about everything else at the open house.

She did not like the walking stick walking up Eric's face.

(Note: an article on the Bohart Museum open house, with photos, will appear in the next edition of the Bohart Museum Society newsletter)

Eric's New Headgear

NEW HEADGEAR--Eric San Gregorio, an undergraduate student majoring in entomology at UC Davis, has new headgear: a Giant New Guinea Walking Stick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

I'd Rather Not Look At It, Thank You

I'D RATHER NOT LOOK AT IT, THANK YOU--Bohart Museum visitor Janice Calvento wasn't all that fond of the Giant New Guinea Walking Stick climbing the face of UC Davis entomology student Eric San Gregorio. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee and the Fly

UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey is a genius, to be sure. Show him a fly and he'll tell you exactly what it is and what it's all about.

I shot this photo at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. The honey bee looked huge and the fly, tiny. There they were together. (Ah, if you let your imagination run wild, there's a children's book there! Once upon a time, a bee and a fly...)

The fly is a minute black scavenger fly (Scatopsidae). You see these flies around decomposing matter (in this case, dead bees). After all, worker bees live only four to six weeks in the summer. During that time, they encounter all sorts of killers, such as diseases, pesticides, parasites, stress, climate change, intruders, and the mysterious colony collapse disorder).

Kimsey, an adjunct professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is known for not only his expertise on flies and his courtroom testimony, but his award-winning teaching.  I'm not sure which is the most popular: the CSI television series or Kimsey's classes. (My bet: his classes!)

Wife Lynn Kimsey, a  fellow entomologist, chairs the UC Davis Department of Entomology and directs the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

When I visited a local farmers' market in late September, a UC Davis animal science major mentioned how much she enjoyed his class. "Kimsey, that's it!" she said. "Dr. Kimsey. He's really good."

He is, and he's a genius, too!

A bee meets a fly

A honey bee checks out a minute black scavenger fly at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Behold the Dragonfly

Some folks wear their heart on their sleeve.  

Others wear a dragonfly on their chest.

As part of its public outreach education program and to showcase the world of insects, the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, has created t-shirts featuring a California dragonfly.

The t-shirt, designed by entomology doctoral candidate Fran Keller, features the white-belted ringtail, also known as a gomphid dragonfly, from the family Gomphidae.

UC Davis undergraduate student William Yuen, a part-time employee at the Bohart, traced the insect from a photo taken by Davis nature photographer Greg Kareofelas.

The dragonfly also appears on the Bohart’s “California Dragonfly Poster,” the work of Keller and Kareofelas. 

“William is an excellent artist, a brilliant student, a hard worker and has worked in the museum for two years,” said Keller. “I wanted to immortalize him and his talent and for his contributions to the museum.”  

 “This drawing is so precise you could identify this dragonfly by its wing venation,” Keller said.  The insect order (Odonata), family, species name and common name appear beneath the wing.  

Keller said more than 5000 species of dragonflies exist worldwide.  “Dragonflies don’t harm people; they don’t bite or sting,” she said.   

What else about dragonflies?

• Female dragonflies lay their eggs in or near water.
• They beat their wings about 30 beats per second (bps), compared to a honey bee’s 300 bps
• In both their larval and adult stages, dragonflies eat mosquitoes.  The larvae eat mosquito nymphs and other insects. As adults, they grab mosquitoes and other insects in mid-air.

The Bohart Museum is offering both short-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts in various colors online and at the museum, 1124 Academic Surge.  Prices range from $18 to $20.  

Proceeds will benefit the Bohart’s insect outreach education program. The museum, directed by entomologist Lynn Kimsey, chair of the Department of Entomology, is home to more than seven million specimens.   

Education coordinator Brian Turner and senior museum scientist Steve Heydon offer tours throughout the year, including the campuswide Picnic Day in the spring. Turner delivers presentations to schools, public libraries, fairs, garden clubs and others as part of the Bohart’s outreach efforts.

For more information, see http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/ or contact the museum at (530) 752-0493.

William Yuen wearing dragonfly t-shirt

UC Davis undergraduate student William Yuen wearing his dragonfly t-shirt. He has worked part-time in the Bohart Museum of Entomology for two years. (Photo by Fran Keller)

White-belted ringtail dragonfly

This is the white-belted ringtail dragonfly from the Bohart Museum of Entomology poster. The poster and dragonfly t-shirts are available at the Bohart Museum, 1124 Academic Surge, UC Davis, or at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu.

Sympetrum by Fran Keller

This spectacular dragonfly photo, taken by UC Davis entomology doctoral candidate Fran Keller, is a Sympetrum sp. that she took in her back yard on July 28, 2007, in North Davis. This is one of her favorite photos. "This picture," she says, "shows how incredibly delicate they are and their legs so slim and yet grasping on the edge of this twig they maintain balance. The eye color reminds me of a watercolor painting and the red on the abdomen is such a contrast to the yellow spots on the thorax."

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