Bug Squad

10/13/2026

"The insect female reproductive tract includes the uterus, oviduct, s***m storage organs, and glands, which are essential for fertility but understudied."

So began evolutionary and developmental geneticist Rachel Thayer in her research paper, "Regional Specialization, Polyploidy, and Seminal Fluid Transcripts in the Drosophila Female Reproductive Tract," published in the Oct. 25, 2024 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Rachel Thayer, now a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of UC Davis Distinguished Professor David Begun, Department of Evolution and Ecology, will speak on "Evolutionary Genomics of the Drosophila S***m Storage System" at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set or 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 14 in 122 Briggs Hall.

Her presentation also will be on Zoom. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672

"S*xual selection drives extreme traits and coevolution, especially in reproductive tissues," Thayer writes in her abstract. "Seminal fluid proteins in Drosophila are an iconic case study for post-copulatory s*xual selection. A leading explanation for these s*xually transferred proteins’ rapid adaptation is their potential to manipulate female physiology to advance male fitness, generating long-term s*xual conflict. However, this co-evolutionary model requires counter-evolution in females, which we sought to find by characterizing gene expression evolution in the female tissues that contact seminal fluid (i.e. the uterus, s***m storage organs, female glands). Instead, we found surprises that challenge the prevailing model and highlight the necessity of greater nuance and female inclusion to understand both physiology and molecular evolution."

"First, we found that females themselves express more than 45 percent of the genes previously believed to encode male-limited seminal fluid proteins, primarily inside their s***m storage organs," she noted. "This result immediately complicates the idea that manipulating females is the salient function of SFPs, suggesting instead that females use these proteins in secreted fluids that support s***matozoa, and that selection on these genes may also occur in females. Next, I share progress on re-evaluating the molecular evolution of these proteins by incorporating female variation across the levels of protein sequence, inter-population differences, and macroevolutionary contrasts. Because female s***m storage is pervasive in insects, these co-evolutionary dynamics may be broadly representative."

Thayer is currently studying "functional evolution in the insect female reproductive tract as a National Institutes of Heatlh K99 Pathway to Independence Research Scholar at UC Davis," mentored by David Begun.
https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/targeting-reproductive-system-female-fruit-fly

10/10/2026

All systems are "go" for the "Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock."

It's scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 in the California Hall, UC Davis campus.

There will be tears, laughter, and a room filled with cherished memories of the legendary UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock (1947-2026). His passing on Jan. 5, 2026 was a huge loss for our Department of Entomology and Nematology, the UC system, the country, and the world.

As Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the department said: "We lost a legend."

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May will deliver the opening remarks, and Ashley Stokes, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will present "a dean's reflections."

A 2024 gathering of UC Davis faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences

10/09/2026

It all began when UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock, then a UC Berkeley graduate student, wondered how a caterpillar could turn into a butterfly.

His research led to the co-discovery of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH)--an enzyme in the human body that breaks down regulatory fatty acids--and 50 years of research on sEH inhibitors that led to therapeutic drug discoveries targeting such diseases as pain, eye and kidney disease, traumatic brain injury and stroke, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's disease.

"Life is full of surprises," he often commented.

Hammock, an internationally renowned scientist, died Jan. 5, 2026 at age 78.

But his research that he began half-a-century ago continues.

The Nature Neuroscience journal published Hammock-linked research led by his collaborator, Feixiong Cheng, director of the Genome Center at the Cleveland Clinic, that tackles Alzheimer’s disease.

Monarch butterfly on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola.

10/08/2026

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular recently released a tribute video congratulating all UC Davis faculty who transitioned to emeriti during the 2025-26 academic year.

Leal spotlighted 22 retirees, including UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Steve Nadler of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, as representatives of the group. This is the fourth video in Leal's series of annual emeriti tributes, and the one with the largest number of participants (22). His tribute videos date back to the 2021-22 academic year.

Leal dedicated the 2025-26 video to emeritus H. Rao Unnava, former dean of the Graduate School of Management, who with his wife, Vasu, adjunct associate professor at the Graduate School of Management, were enroute to Tibet on Aug. 26 when catastrophic flash floods swept through the Nepal-China border region. They are among hundreds missing.

Leal also paid tribute to "two colleagues who passed away in 2026 before they had the opportunity to retire": UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock (Aug. 13, 1947 to Jan. 5, 2026), who held a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Professor Mariel Vázquez (Feb. 24, 1971 to July 5, 2026), who held joint appointments with the Departments of Mathematics, and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

See more at

October 7, 2026By Kathy Keatley Garvey Print UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular recently released a tribute video congratulating all UC Davis faculty who transitioned to emeriti during the 2025-26 academic year. Leal spotlighted 22 retirees,  i...

10/07/2026

Bang! Pow! Zap! The super power of bugs!

Youngsters and adults alike delighted in listening to "Dr. Beetlelady" Stephanie Dole discuss “Bug Power” at a recent Bohart Museum of Entomology open house.

Dole, a UC Davis alumna, entomologist, science communicator, photographer and author of the newly published children's book, Bug Power, fielded scores of questions at the three-hour open house.

"It was just a wonderful event," she said.

The 350 attendees learned about the super powers of specific bugs, such as “walking on water, reflective color, invisibility, super strength, zombie sting, super vision, explosions, stunt lying and retractable wings."

And "breathing underwater, secret messages, glowing, body armory, disguises, poisonous blood and transformation."
https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/bang-pow-zap-super-power-bugs

10/06/2026

Registration is underway for an all-day UC Davis class for those who want to learn "the fascinating world of beeswax, from how honey bees produce it to how beekeepers can collect, process, and transform it into beautiful and useful products."

The California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) class, "Wax Working, Honey and Hive Products," is set from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7 in the E. L. Niño Bee Lab at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, located at 1 Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. Space is limited; registration is advised by Oct. 23.

"It promises to be a full day of hands-on learning, creativity, and discovery," said Wendy Mather, co-program manager of CAMBP. Catherine Hounshell, certified California master beekeeper and educator, will facilitate the class along with bee scientist Elina Niño and her lab team "to bring and blend the best in science-based information and creativity."

Niño, founder and director of CAMBP, is the professor of UC Cooperation Extension, apiculture; a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and director of the UC Davis Bee Haven.

"This class is perfect for the hobby and sideline beekeeper interested in learning the basics of working with wax," Mather said. "Throughout the day, participants will learn how bees make wax and how it functions within the colony, how beekeepers collect wax from the hive, how to safely clean and process beeswax, and how to turn beeswax into handcrafted products that one can make again at home."
See more on Bug Squad blog at https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/beeswax-candles-cambp-class

10/03/2026

About those mosquito s*x steroid hormones...
Mackenzie Yedlin, a doctoral candidate at The Rockefeller University, will discuss "Choreographing Reproduction: Redefining S*x Steroid Hormone Mechanisms in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes" at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
She will speak at 12:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. Her seminar also will be on Zoom. The link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
"Ecdysone, a steroid hormone derived from cholesterol, is essential for mosquito reproduction, namely blood meal-induced oogenesis in Aedes aegypti," Yedlin writes in her abstract. "The current model posits that a vertebrate blood meal stimulates ovarian ecdysone synthesis, followed by free diffusion of ecdysone through the hemolymph. Transporters take up ecdysone into the fat body, where its hydroxylation into 20E enables transcription of yolk proteins."
"However, in the absence of a blood meal, the amount of exogenous 20E required to induce egg development exceeds its physiological concentration by up to five orders of magnitude," she points out. "This discrepancy forms the basis of our scientific question, leading to two potentially interconnected hypotheses to explain how steroid hormones regulate mosquito reproductive biology. The first is that an unidentified, chemically modified ecdysteroid acts as the physiological substrate for uptake into fat cells during Aedes aegypti reproduction. The second is that additional blood meal-induced transcriptional changes, possibly related to hormone transport, are required for mosquito egg development. Our work aims to tease apart this foundational s*x hormone chemistry and form a more complete understanding of ecdysteroid transport into fat cells during mosquito reproduction."

https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/targeting-s*x-steroid-hormones-mosquitoes

10/02/2026

The E.L. Niño Bee Lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, today launched a UC Davis Crowdfund effort to fund The Great Native Bee Count: Mapping California’s Bee and Plant Connections, a project to begin next spring that would "engage Californians of all ages as community scientists documenting the relationships between bees and the flowering plants that sustain them."
The crowdfunding ends Oct. 31. The link to donate to the Bee Research Fund to make this all happen is https://giveto.ucdavis.edu/schools/UniversityofCaliforniaDavis/crowdfund-uc-davis-october-2026/pages/bees/?a=13784076.

See more on Bug Squad blog at https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/mapping-great-native-bee-count-california

10/01/2026

It's so sad to lose Hugh Di**le, a longtime member of our UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.

He was short in stature, but tall in research.

In fact, UC Davis Professor Emeritus Richard Douglas Hugh Di**le, was considered “the world’s eminent scholar on animal migration,” a brilliant scientific collaborator, dedicated mentor, and selfless philanthropist. He died Sunday, Sept. 27, while receiving hospice care in Davis. His family attributed his death to congestive heart failure.

A resident of Larkspur, Marin County, Hugh was 89, and looking forward to his 90th birthday on Nov. 4.

He served on our faculty from 1982 to 2002 and then devoted his "retired" years to more research, gaining and sharing new knowlege, answering questions, and bolstering the Sean and Anne Duffey and Hugh and Geraldine Di**le Graduate Research Fellowship that he launched in 2014.

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09/30/2026

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal, who is organizing the "Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock," today announced that the event will be broadcast live on YouTube. Registration is underway at
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RyjTos_HTQyBVtqBTZ7SMg

The public memorial will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 in the California Hall, UC Davis campus. Pre-registration is underway at https://forms.gle/eRssVnZyVZBV6is9A. UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and Ashley Stokes, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be among those paying tribute. The event is expected to draw a large global presence of friends, researchers and collaborators.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Dupree Hammock, 1947-2026 a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1980, died Monday, Jan. 5, in Davis, at age 78. He was renowned for his chemistry, toxicology, biochemistry, entomology and human health research that led to elected membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors; scores of professional honors and awards; and accolades from administrators, colleagues, researchers, alumni and students.

See more at https://ucanr.edu/blog/bug-squad/article/webinar-announced-memorial-tribute-bruce-hammock

September 29, 2026By Kathy Keatley Garvey Print UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock in his Briggs Hall office on Feb. 24, 2009. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal, who is organizing the "Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock," today a...