A few weeks ago, Rose De Clerke-Floate wrote a post about her experiences as the Chair of the ESC Achievement Awards Committee and announced the recipients of the Gold Medal and the C. Gordon Hewitt Award. Today, she announces additional honours bestowed upon more of our valued members.
_________________________________________
We applaud the following worthy members of the Entomological Society of Canada (ESC) whom are to be made Fellows of our Society in recognition of their major contributions to entomology.
Dr. Robb Bennett
Dr Robb Bennett is exemplary in his scientific contributions and dedicated service to entomology in Canada. As an entomologist with the British Columbia (B.C.) Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (1992-2010), he created and expanded a major research program in cone and seed pest management that had international collaborative spread and influence. His successful lobbying for provincial support garnered $400,000 in annual funding and the establishment of the Pest Management Technical Advisory Committee of the B.C. Forest Genetics Council, which he initially chaired (2003-2010). During this period, his participation was critical for ground-breaking research that produced the first ever description of a cecidomyiid fly pheromone (named “Bennettin” in recognition of his work), and the use of infrared radiation by a herbivore in host-finding (Leptoglossus occidentalis). Dr Bennett also is highly respected as one of Canada’s leading spider systematists, and has shared this expertise through volunteer curation of the spider collections at the Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria), where he is a Research Associate, and the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes (Ottawa) (CNC). The results of his scientific efforts are 45 peer-reviewed papers, 44 technical publications, 3 on-line arthropod identification guides, and the mentoring of many undergraduate and graduate students. He also has been an active advocate in conservation entomology where he has volunteered on various committees as a Specialist, Member or Chair: for example, B.C. Ministry of Environment Invertebrates-at-Risk Team (2001-06), Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Arthropods Specialists Subcommittee (2006-present). Of particular note have been his contributions to the ESC, for which he has served on several committees starting in 1998 and as Editor-in-Chief of The Canadian Entomologist (TCE) (2007-11). In the latter role, he is to be commended especially for elevating the quality of the journal, thereby setting a solid stage for its move to electronic publication and a new publisher.
Dr. Gary Gibson
Dr Gary Gibson is internationally respected for his research contributions in the taxonomy and systematics of the Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera), contributing significantly to our understanding of the evolution, morphology and systematics of this group of parasitoid wasps for over 30 years. During his productive career as a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, the taxonomy of numerous chalcidoid taxa has been stabilized and unified for use by others, particularly those involved in pest management research. He has long been committed to providing taxonomic support in the identification of parasitoids for use as biological control agents against insect pests affecting some of Canada’s major agricultural industries (e.g., canola, dairy and beef). His publication record of 59 refereed papers, 19 books and book chapters, and numerous technology transfer articles, including on the internet, has allowed a broad outreach of his valuable research. Particularly notable is his leadership in being one of the first to develop web-based insect identification services.
Dr Gibson also is being recognized for his long-time dedicated service to entomology within AAFC and the ESC. He has served in various capacities to enhance the CNC and the CanaColl Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports visits by experts to curate portions of the CNC. In his 30+ years as an active member of the ESC, he has also served in a number of societal roles, including as Associate Editor of TCE (1990-95), Chair of the Finance Committee (1992-95), and Treasurer (1996-2004).
Dr. Neil Holliday
During his 35 year career as a faculty entomologist at the University of Manitoba (U of M), where he is currently an emeritus professor, Dr Neil Holliday has contributed significantly in the areas of crop protection and forest entomology research, entomology education, student mentorship and departmental and societal administration. His research interests and internationally-recognized contributions range from the population biology and ecology of carabid beetles and geometrid moths, the biodiversity of arthropods in natural and managed ecosystems, to the more applied studies of biological and cultural control of insect pests of forests and crops. The tangible output of his efforts has been 60 peer-reviewed papers and 82 other publications providing extension of his work to the scientific community, agricultural industry and public. He is particularly respected as a dedicated and hard-working educator, who has taught in 24 different university courses mostly in agricultural science and entomology, supervised or co-supervised 34 graduate students and 20 undergraduate student projects, and has earned 2 teaching awards (U of M; 1991, 2009). He has excelled at administrative tasks and his service on several ESC committees over the years has been greatly appreciated. He also served for 15 years at the U of M as Head of the only remaining Department of Entomology in Canada, during which time he led its rescue from near extinction. The Department has recently hired three entomology faculty members and an instructor, thereby adding new blood and a sense of optimism to the Canadian entomological community at large. In recognition of his many outstanding contributions to Canadian entomology, Dr Holliday received the ESC’s Gold Medal in 2009.
https://esc-sec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/all-three.jpg6641800Crystal Ernsthttp://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ESC_logo-300x352.pngCrystal Ernst2012-08-10 08:00:162019-11-14 20:22:13Fellows of the Entomological Society of Canada, 2012
By Paul Manning, B.Sc. student at Nova Scotia Agricultural College
_______________
As an undergraduate student, I’ve been working diligently on the final hurrah of my four year career; the undergraduate thesis. I’ve been fortunate to work under the supervision of Dr. Chris Cutler for the past two summers, learning about the ecology and roles of insects within wild blueberry production. Though I’ve worked on a wide variety of projects within the lab, I’ve realized quickly that pollination was the aspect of entomology that I found to be particularly intriguing.
Blossoms of wild blueberry May, 23rd, 2012 (Photo by P. Manning)
One of the projects that caught my eye was as a continuation of a trial that our lab did in the summer of 2011. By sanctioning off areas of wild blueberries with cages that prevented pollinators from accessing the flowers, the team discovered that approximately a third of pollination events may be attributed to nocturnal insect activity, as well as weight of ripe berries being insignificant between nocturnal, and diurnal pollinated treatments. Though a number of insects were collected using Malaise traps in this study, it was not possible to conclude captured insects were responsible for vectoring the pollen.
Lo and behold, there was a great opportunity for my thesis; to discover the identities of nocturnal pollinators within wild blueberry production. Armed with a sweep net, kill jars, a mercury-vapour lamp, tissue and enough ethyl-acetate to open my own nail salon we began to hit the field. Our sampling periods happened at two different times during the night; an early shift that started as soon as the sun went down, and a shift that started at 12:00 AM. Each sampling session lasted for two hours in length.
We implemented an interesting capture method, which worked extremely effectively. Under the glow of the mercury-vapor lamp, we placed a large 8×4 plywood board against the fence, making an 80° angle with the ground. When the insect landed upon the board, a quick capture could be made by placing the kill-jar against the board, and giving the board a small tap. This caused the insect to fly up into the kill-jar.
Screen illuminated by the mercury-vapour lamp (Photo by P. Manning)
June beetle captured with light trapping (Photo by P. Manning)
As the mercury vapor lamp began to buzz, insects began to make their way out of the dark and against our screen. The diversity was stunningly interesting, quite surprising. Tiny midges, large scarab beetles, hawk moths, and nocturnal icheumonids were included amongst our varied group of visitors.
Sweep samples were also taken in an area of darkness within the field. We used ethyl-acetate fumigated from a ventilated jar, within a larger Tupperware container to effectively kill the insects without struggle. The diversity from these samples was very different; being attributed mostly to beetles and small flies.
Insects were analyzed to find whether or not they carried pollen using methods. By swabbing the eyes, head, and mouthparts with a small cube of fuchsin gel. By sealing these slides with the aid of a Bunsen burner, blueberry pollen was easily detected through its distinctive tetrad shape using a light microscope.
As the samples have been analyzed, the diversity of insects that may represent the nocturnal pollinators of wild blueberry is staggering. Though the work has been challenging and sometimes very tedious (have you ever attempted removing pollen off the head of a thrips?). I’ve learned a great diversity of things, including: an incredibly simple way to differentiate between icheumonids and brachonids; that there are an incredible number of fly families that vaguely-resemble a typical housefly; and that iced-cappuccinos do contain caffeine (after finally drifting off to sleep at 4:30 AM on a Sunday morning).
A small moth visits the light screen after sampling finishes (Photo by P. Manning)
This project has been a great way to open my eyes to the diversity of insects responsible for ecological functions. When prompted with the cue ‘pollination’ – my mind has been switched over from the typical image of a honey-bee – to a myriad of insect visitors among flowers. This is a vision of pollination which to me is something more; diverse, representative, and inclusive of this invaluable ecological service.
_____
References:
Beattie, A. J. 1971. A technique for the study of insect-borne pollen. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 47:82.
Cutler, C. G., Reeh, K. W., Sproule, J. M., & Ramanaidu, K. (July 01, 2012). Berry unexpected: Nocturnal pollination of lowbush blueberry. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 92, 4, 707-711.
https://esc-sec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/image_3_esc-2.jpg720960Crystal Ernsthttp://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ESC_logo-300x352.pngCrystal Ernst2012-08-06 08:00:152019-11-14 20:22:06Luminous impressions of nocturnal pollinator research
By Dr. Terry Wheeler, Director of the Lyman Entomological Museum, McGill University
_________________________________
Warning: the following post contains content that makes a university professor and museum director look a bit ridiculous. Readers who wish to cling to the fiction that University Professors are smart, infallible and wise may find this post unsettling.
“Do you have everything?” A logical and reasonable question from The Students as The Professor exits his hotel room in the morning, several bags in hand. Some Students may consider such a question presumptuous, but it’s good to run through these little mental checklists.
Lesson #1 (for Students and Assistants): “Do you have everything?” may be a little too broad a question. A series of questions identifying particular individual items of necessary field equipment might be better. In this case, for example, a question along the lines of “Do you have the sweep net handles?” might have saved much subsequent humiliation and hilarity.
Lesson #2 (for Professors): Pack the gear the night before AND get enough sleep!
We jumped in The Vehicle and headed south for a long day of collecting in the dry prairies of southeastern Alberta. We had our sights set on a few promising collecting spots and it was a sunny day. After an hour or so of driving we arrived at the first site and The Professor disgorged the contents of the several bags as The Students waited to begin doing science. “Where are the net handles?” asked both Students, almost simultaneously. “Well,” replied The Professor “obviously they’re in the $#%#$ hotel in my &#@% red duffel bag.”
Lesson #3 (for Students and Assistants): Do not be afraid to laugh at a Professor, especially when they deserve it.
Lesson #4 (for Professors and Aspiring Professors): You can’t afford to take yourself too seriously. Things happen and people will laugh at you. Pretend you’ve just told a wickedly funny joke. I find that helps.
So, not relishing a long drive back to the hotel in the prairie heat, The Professor was forced to improvise, which he did in a rather unspectacular way, and the Short-Handled Shortgrass-Prairie Sweep Net (SHSPSN) was born.
The short-handled shortgrass-prairie sweep-net, ready for deployment. (Photo by T. Wheeler)
Some readers will recognize the SHSPSN as reminiscent of a short-handled folding insect net commonly referred to as a “National Park Special”, a net that folds up compactly and is easily concealed in a pocket for . . . well . . . ummm . . . inclement weather and increased mobility and the like. In our case (we were not in a National Park or other similarly protected area), the short handle worked quite well to keep us low and out of the high wind blowing across the site. Of course, the actual process of sweeping required a slightly modified stance compared to regular sweeping.
Anna demonstrating excellent SHSPSN technique. Her back will be fine. (Photo by T. Wheeler)
In the end, we collected (very successfully!) at four good sites that day with our lightweight, compact SHSPSN’s. Fortunately, we encountered no other Entomologists (especially Lepidopterists, with their penchant for freakishly long-handled nets) who could have taken advantage of our predicament and heaped ridicule upon us, especially The Professor.
And the next morning, when The Professor emerged from his room, well-rested and laden with several bags, The Students greeted him with a hearty “Do you have the net handles?” and it didn’t sound sarcastic AT ALL.
Lesson #5 (for Students and Assistants): Sooner or later, every Professor is going to do something dumb. Take joy in such magical moments. They are the times that make The Professor appear slightly less than superhuman. It helps to have a camera handy for the more spectacular times. Such photos make great content for retirement celebrations or department Christmas parties.
Lesson #6 (for Professors): The great thing about tenure is that you can actually get away with a lot of really dumb stuff. Just don’t lose any Students in the field – there’s a lot of paperwork involved. I find keeping the numbers low and giving each of them a distinct name helps. Take attendance a lot. Especially at airports.
And if anyone would like plans for making their very own SHSPSN, please contact The Professor.
https://esc-sec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/tw2.jpg426640Crystal Ernsthttp://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ESC_logo-300x352.pngCrystal Ernst2012-08-03 08:00:532019-11-14 20:22:02Stupidity is the mother of invention
By Sheila Dumesh, entomology research assistant at York University.
——————————–
My interest in bees was ignited in 2007, when I took a biodiversity course in my last year as an undergraduate student at York University in Toronto. The course instructor was the well-known melittologist, Laurence Packer, and, although I had not met him before, I had heard many good things. Laurence’s affection for bees was inspiring, not only to me, but to others in the past and many more to come. He was so fascinated by these cute and fuzzy insects (at the time, I did not see myself describing them as such). Even though he had been studying bees for decades, the look of excitement on his face never faded when collected and examined them. Back then, my knowledge of bees was very limited. I was unaware of their diversity, importance, and great beauty!
I began with an Honours thesis under Laurence’s supervision in the “bee lab” at York University. I was keen on taxonomy and began a systematic study on a Central American bee genus, Mexalictus. For my Master’s thesis, I chose to continue that work and complete a revision of Mexalictus, which included descriptions for 20 new species, an illustrated key, and a phylogenetic analysis. I conducted my field work in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, where I sampled in high elevation cloud forests (the known habitat of Mexalictus). As these species are quite rare, I did not always have the pleasure of finding them; although this was somewhat upsetting, I was amazed by the bee (and general insect) diversity in that part of the world. I was aware of it, but being out in the field in those countries was a truly amazing experience. Just the change in habitat and species make-up along a small sector of the elevation gradient was incredible to witness!
Dufourea sp. – Photo by Sheila Dumesh
Throughout my time as a Master’s student, I studied other groups of bees and collaborated with others in our lab. One such project is the revision of the Canadian species in the genus Dufourea (Apoidea: Halictidae), which I undertook with Cory Sheffield and recently published in the Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. There are eight species in Canada, but some were described from only one sex, the descriptions were written by several authors in different publications, and a key to identify these species was previously unavailable! These bees are also floral specialists, meaning they visit specific flowers (usually a genus or family). Cory and I set out to revise this group and provide all of this information in one paper. The identification key is user-friendly and illustrates the characters mentioned in the key couplets to aid the user. We also constructed species pages, which include full descriptions, important features, distribution maps, and images of each species.
We are striving towards creating many more illustrated (and web-based) keys to facilitate bee identification. I am very excited to have this work freely available and hope that it is found useful by others in the community!
———–
Dumesh, S. & Sheffield, C.S. (2012). Bees of the Genus Dufourea Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Rophitinae) of Canada, Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, 20 DOI: 10.3752/cjai.2012.20
Honey bee flying with pollen – Photo by Alex Wild, used with permission
Honeybee colonies are famous for their orderly divisions of labour. As worker bees grow up, they transition from housekeepers (cleaning the colony) to nurse bees (feeding young bees), to finally switching to foragers who go out and collect nectar and pollen for the rest of the colony. To maintain a healthy colony, bees need to decide how many foragers and how many nurse bees are needed, and control of these numbers is accomplished by pheromone levels within the colony.
In honeybee colonies, there are pheromones like the alarm pheromone that cause immediate behavioural responses (called releaser pheromones) and others that trigger physiological changes like hormones do (called primer pheromone). From previous work, it seemed that ethyl oleate functions as a primer pheromone, produced by foragers, that delays the maturation of nurse bees into foragers.
“Ethyl oleate does not elicit any noticeable behavourial responses in recipient workers,” says Dr. Erika Plettner, who supervised a recent study on the synthesis of ethyl oleate at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. “Yet it has a profound physiological effect”.
To understand how this chemical is produced in the individual bee and then distributed in the colony, Carlos Castillo and colleagues from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and the Laboratoire Biologie et protection de L’Abeillie in France looked at several ways to identify the source and synthesis of ethyl oleate. This chemical can be produced by a reaction between oleic acid (a common fatty acid in insects) and ethanol. While you might not think of honeybees as heavy drinkers, it turns out that yeasts in flower nectar ferment the sugars present into ethanol, and so the forager bees have much higher exposure to ethanol than nurse bees.
To figure out if ethanol and oleic acid can be made into ethyl oleate by honeybees, the researchers incubated different honeybee body parts from forager and nurse bees with these precursors. They found highest production of ethyl oleate in the head tissues, and that both nurses and foragers could produce ethyl oleate when given ethanol. In addition, in whole bees, they found that the ethyl oleate migrated from the gut to the exoskeleton of the bees where it would exude into the colony.
Taken together, these results suggest that making ethyl oleate, while it is useful for colony control, might also be a way to deal with the occupational hazard of consuming toxic ethanol. “Foragers have much higher occupational exposure to ethanol than nurses do,” says Dr. Plettner. “This is why they make ethyl oleate in nature”.
Ethyl oleate
To track down where exactly the ethyl oleate was synthesized, they coupled oleic acid to a chemical that would produce fluorescence when the oleic acid was combined with ethanol to produce ethyl oleate. Under the microscope, areas that fluoresced showed where ethyl oleate was being made. They found that ethyl oleate was made in the esophagus, honey crop and stomach.
The authors were also able to identify the genes responsible for the synthesis of ethyl oleate in the honeybee and the resulting enzymes that catalyze the reaction between oleic acid and ethanol. These enzymes are then secreted into the gut fluid, where they produce ethyl oleate, which is then transported to the cuticle.
The biosynthesis of ethyl oleate then can be thought of a way of providing updates to the colony about the availability of flower nectar in nature. “EO might be some kind of ‘resource meter’ that tells the nurses in the colony how many nectar and pollen resources are coming in,” says Dr. Plettner. “If lots of food is coming in, then it makes sense to inhibit nurse to forager transition, as the nurses would be more needed in the brood chamber than as foragers. Conversely, if few resources and/or foragers are coming in, then it makes sense to speed up development of nurses so that they can forage and fill the need.”
Castillo, C., Chen, H., Graves, C., Maisonnasse, A., Le Conte, Y. & Plettner, E. (2012). Biosynthesis of ethyl oleate, a primer pheromone, in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 42 (6) 416. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.02.002
Castillo, C., Maisonnasse, A., Conte, Y.L. & Plettner, E. (2012). Seasonal variation in the titers and biosynthesis of the primer pheromone ethyl oleate in honey bees, Journal of Insect Physiology, 58 (8) 1121. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.05.010
http://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ESC_logo-300x352.png00kbuggirlmarshallhttp://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ESC_logo-300x352.pngkbuggirlmarshall2012-07-27 06:00:412019-11-14 20:21:51Physiology Fridays: From boozy breath to colony control: ethyl oleate production in honeybees
Fellows of the Entomological Society of Canada, 2012
A few weeks ago, Rose De Clerke-Floate wrote a post about her experiences as the Chair of the ESC Achievement Awards Committee and announced the recipients of the Gold Medal and the C. Gordon Hewitt Award. Today, she announces additional honours bestowed upon more of our valued members.
_________________________________________
We applaud the following worthy members of the Entomological Society of Canada (ESC) whom are to be made Fellows of our Society in recognition of their major contributions to entomology.
Dr. Robb Bennett
Dr. Gary Gibson
Dr Gibson also is being recognized for his long-time dedicated service to entomology within AAFC and the ESC. He has served in various capacities to enhance the CNC and the CanaColl Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports visits by experts to curate portions of the CNC. In his 30+ years as an active member of the ESC, he has also served in a number of societal roles, including as Associate Editor of TCE (1990-95), Chair of the Finance Committee (1992-95), and Treasurer (1996-2004).
Dr. Neil Holliday
Luminous impressions of nocturnal pollinator research
By Paul Manning, B.Sc. student at Nova Scotia Agricultural College
_______________
As an undergraduate student, I’ve been working diligently on the final hurrah of my four year career; the undergraduate thesis. I’ve been fortunate to work under the supervision of Dr. Chris Cutler for the past two summers, learning about the ecology and roles of insects within wild blueberry production. Though I’ve worked on a wide variety of projects within the lab, I’ve realized quickly that pollination was the aspect of entomology that I found to be particularly intriguing.
Blossoms of wild blueberry May, 23rd, 2012 (Photo by P. Manning)
One of the projects that caught my eye was as a continuation of a trial that our lab did in the summer of 2011. By sanctioning off areas of wild blueberries with cages that prevented pollinators from accessing the flowers, the team discovered that approximately a third of pollination events may be attributed to nocturnal insect activity, as well as weight of ripe berries being insignificant between nocturnal, and diurnal pollinated treatments. Though a number of insects were collected using Malaise traps in this study, it was not possible to conclude captured insects were responsible for vectoring the pollen.
Lo and behold, there was a great opportunity for my thesis; to discover the identities of nocturnal pollinators within wild blueberry production. Armed with a sweep net, kill jars, a mercury-vapour lamp, tissue and enough ethyl-acetate to open my own nail salon we began to hit the field. Our sampling periods happened at two different times during the night; an early shift that started as soon as the sun went down, and a shift that started at 12:00 AM. Each sampling session lasted for two hours in length.
We implemented an interesting capture method, which worked extremely effectively. Under the glow of the mercury-vapor lamp, we placed a large 8×4 plywood board against the fence, making an 80° angle with the ground. When the insect landed upon the board, a quick capture could be made by placing the kill-jar against the board, and giving the board a small tap. This caused the insect to fly up into the kill-jar.
Screen illuminated by the mercury-vapour lamp (Photo by P. Manning)
June beetle captured with light trapping (Photo by P. Manning)
As the mercury vapor lamp began to buzz, insects began to make their way out of the dark and against our screen. The diversity was stunningly interesting, quite surprising. Tiny midges, large scarab beetles, hawk moths, and nocturnal icheumonids were included amongst our varied group of visitors.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJNKIzoC-yE]
Sweep samples were also taken in an area of darkness within the field. We used ethyl-acetate fumigated from a ventilated jar, within a larger Tupperware container to effectively kill the insects without struggle. The diversity from these samples was very different; being attributed mostly to beetles and small flies.
Insects were analyzed to find whether or not they carried pollen using methods. By swabbing the eyes, head, and mouthparts with a small cube of fuchsin gel. By sealing these slides with the aid of a Bunsen burner, blueberry pollen was easily detected through its distinctive tetrad shape using a light microscope.
As the samples have been analyzed, the diversity of insects that may represent the nocturnal pollinators of wild blueberry is staggering. Though the work has been challenging and sometimes very tedious (have you ever attempted removing pollen off the head of a thrips?). I’ve learned a great diversity of things, including: an incredibly simple way to differentiate between icheumonids and brachonids; that there are an incredible number of fly families that vaguely-resemble a typical housefly; and that iced-cappuccinos do contain caffeine (after finally drifting off to sleep at 4:30 AM on a Sunday morning).
A small moth visits the light screen after sampling finishes (Photo by P. Manning)
This project has been a great way to open my eyes to the diversity of insects responsible for ecological functions. When prompted with the cue ‘pollination’ – my mind has been switched over from the typical image of a honey-bee – to a myriad of insect visitors among flowers. This is a vision of pollination which to me is something more; diverse, representative, and inclusive of this invaluable ecological service.
_____
References:
Beattie, A. J. 1971. A technique for the study of insect-borne pollen. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 47:82.
Cutler, C. G., Reeh, K. W., Sproule, J. M., & Ramanaidu, K. (July 01, 2012). Berry unexpected: Nocturnal pollination of lowbush blueberry. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 92, 4, 707-711.
Stupidity is the mother of invention
By Dr. Terry Wheeler, Director of the Lyman Entomological Museum, McGill University
_________________________________
Warning: the following post contains content that makes a university professor and museum director look a bit ridiculous. Readers who wish to cling to the fiction that University Professors are smart, infallible and wise may find this post unsettling.
“Do you have everything?” A logical and reasonable question from The Students as The Professor exits his hotel room in the morning, several bags in hand. Some Students may consider such a question presumptuous, but it’s good to run through these little mental checklists.
Lesson #1 (for Students and Assistants): “Do you have everything?” may be a little too broad a question. A series of questions identifying particular individual items of necessary field equipment might be better. In this case, for example, a question along the lines of “Do you have the sweep net handles?” might have saved much subsequent humiliation and hilarity.
Lesson #2 (for Professors): Pack the gear the night before AND get enough sleep!
We jumped in The Vehicle and headed south for a long day of collecting in the dry prairies of southeastern Alberta. We had our sights set on a few promising collecting spots and it was a sunny day. After an hour or so of driving we arrived at the first site and The Professor disgorged the contents of the several bags as The Students waited to begin doing science. “Where are the net handles?” asked both Students, almost simultaneously. “Well,” replied The Professor “obviously they’re in the $#%#$ hotel in my &#@% red duffel bag.”
Lesson #3 (for Students and Assistants): Do not be afraid to laugh at a Professor, especially when they deserve it.
Lesson #4 (for Professors and Aspiring Professors): You can’t afford to take yourself too seriously. Things happen and people will laugh at you. Pretend you’ve just told a wickedly funny joke. I find that helps.
So, not relishing a long drive back to the hotel in the prairie heat, The Professor was forced to improvise, which he did in a rather unspectacular way, and the Short-Handled Shortgrass-Prairie Sweep Net (SHSPSN) was born.
The short-handled shortgrass-prairie sweep-net, ready for deployment. (Photo by T. Wheeler)
Some readers will recognize the SHSPSN as reminiscent of a short-handled folding insect net commonly referred to as a “National Park Special”, a net that folds up compactly and is easily concealed in a pocket for . . . well . . . ummm . . . inclement weather and increased mobility and the like. In our case (we were not in a National Park or other similarly protected area), the short handle worked quite well to keep us low and out of the high wind blowing across the site. Of course, the actual process of sweeping required a slightly modified stance compared to regular sweeping.
Anna demonstrating excellent SHSPSN technique. Her back will be fine. (Photo by T. Wheeler)
In the end, we collected (very successfully!) at four good sites that day with our lightweight, compact SHSPSN’s. Fortunately, we encountered no other Entomologists (especially Lepidopterists, with their penchant for freakishly long-handled nets) who could have taken advantage of our predicament and heaped ridicule upon us, especially The Professor.
And the next morning, when The Professor emerged from his room, well-rested and laden with several bags, The Students greeted him with a hearty “Do you have the net handles?” and it didn’t sound sarcastic AT ALL.
Lesson #5 (for Students and Assistants): Sooner or later, every Professor is going to do something dumb. Take joy in such magical moments. They are the times that make The Professor appear slightly less than superhuman. It helps to have a camera handy for the more spectacular times. Such photos make great content for retirement celebrations or department Christmas parties.
Lesson #6 (for Professors): The great thing about tenure is that you can actually get away with a lot of really dumb stuff. Just don’t lose any Students in the field – there’s a lot of paperwork involved. I find keeping the numbers low and giving each of them a distinct name helps. Take attendance a lot. Especially at airports.
And if anyone would like plans for making their very own SHSPSN, please contact The Professor.
_________________________
The original post can be found on Dr. Wheeler’s blog, here: http://lymanmuseum.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/stupidity-is-the-mother-of-invention/
We’d love to hear about other people’s (mis-)adventures in the field! Please feel free to send your stories and pictures to EntSocCanada@gmail.com
CJAI #20 – Dufourea (Apoidea: Halictidae) of Canada
By Sheila Dumesh, entomology research assistant at York University.
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My interest in bees was ignited in 2007, when I took a biodiversity course in my last year as an undergraduate student at York University in Toronto. The course instructor was the well-known melittologist, Laurence Packer, and, although I had not met him before, I had heard many good things. Laurence’s affection for bees was inspiring, not only to me, but to others in the past and many more to come. He was so fascinated by these cute and fuzzy insects (at the time, I did not see myself describing them as such). Even though he had been studying bees for decades, the look of excitement on his face never faded when collected and examined them. Back then, my knowledge of bees was very limited. I was unaware of their diversity, importance, and great beauty!
I began with an Honours thesis under Laurence’s supervision in the “bee lab” at York University. I was keen on taxonomy and began a systematic study on a Central American bee genus, Mexalictus. For my Master’s thesis, I chose to continue that work and complete a revision of Mexalictus, which included descriptions for 20 new species, an illustrated key, and a phylogenetic analysis. I conducted my field work in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, where I sampled in high elevation cloud forests (the known habitat of Mexalictus). As these species are quite rare, I did not always have the pleasure of finding them; although this was somewhat upsetting, I was amazed by the bee (and general insect) diversity in that part of the world. I was aware of it, but being out in the field in those countries was a truly amazing experience. Just the change in habitat and species make-up along a small sector of the elevation gradient was incredible to witness!
Dufourea sp. – Photo by Sheila Dumesh
Throughout my time as a Master’s student, I studied other groups of bees and collaborated with others in our lab. One such project is the revision of the Canadian species in the genus Dufourea (Apoidea: Halictidae), which I undertook with Cory Sheffield and recently published in the Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. There are eight species in Canada, but some were described from only one sex, the descriptions were written by several authors in different publications, and a key to identify these species was previously unavailable! These bees are also floral specialists, meaning they visit specific flowers (usually a genus or family). Cory and I set out to revise this group and provide all of this information in one paper. The identification key is user-friendly and illustrates the characters mentioned in the key couplets to aid the user. We also constructed species pages, which include full descriptions, important features, distribution maps, and images of each species.
We are striving towards creating many more illustrated (and web-based) keys to facilitate bee identification. I am very excited to have this work freely available and hope that it is found useful by others in the community!
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Dumesh, S. & Sheffield, C.S. (2012). Bees of the Genus Dufourea Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Rophitinae) of Canada, Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, 20 DOI: 10.3752/cjai.2012.20
Physiology Fridays: From boozy breath to colony control: ethyl oleate production in honeybees
Honey bee flying with pollen – Photo by Alex Wild, used with permission
Honeybee colonies are famous for their orderly divisions of labour. As worker bees grow up, they transition from housekeepers (cleaning the colony) to nurse bees (feeding young bees), to finally switching to foragers who go out and collect nectar and pollen for the rest of the colony. To maintain a healthy colony, bees need to decide how many foragers and how many nurse bees are needed, and control of these numbers is accomplished by pheromone levels within the colony.
In honeybee colonies, there are pheromones like the alarm pheromone that cause immediate behavioural responses (called releaser pheromones) and others that trigger physiological changes like hormones do (called primer pheromone). From previous work, it seemed that ethyl oleate functions as a primer pheromone, produced by foragers, that delays the maturation of nurse bees into foragers.
“Ethyl oleate does not elicit any noticeable behavourial responses in recipient workers,” says Dr. Erika Plettner, who supervised a recent study on the synthesis of ethyl oleate at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. “Yet it has a profound physiological effect”.
To understand how this chemical is produced in the individual bee and then distributed in the colony, Carlos Castillo and colleagues from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and the Laboratoire Biologie et protection de L’Abeillie in France looked at several ways to identify the source and synthesis of ethyl oleate. This chemical can be produced by a reaction between oleic acid (a common fatty acid in insects) and ethanol. While you might not think of honeybees as heavy drinkers, it turns out that yeasts in flower nectar ferment the sugars present into ethanol, and so the forager bees have much higher exposure to ethanol than nurse bees.
To figure out if ethanol and oleic acid can be made into ethyl oleate by honeybees, the researchers incubated different honeybee body parts from forager and nurse bees with these precursors. They found highest production of ethyl oleate in the head tissues, and that both nurses and foragers could produce ethyl oleate when given ethanol. In addition, in whole bees, they found that the ethyl oleate migrated from the gut to the exoskeleton of the bees where it would exude into the colony.
Taken together, these results suggest that making ethyl oleate, while it is useful for colony control, might also be a way to deal with the occupational hazard of consuming toxic ethanol. “Foragers have much higher occupational exposure to ethanol than nurses do,” says Dr. Plettner. “This is why they make ethyl oleate in nature”.
Ethyl oleate
To track down where exactly the ethyl oleate was synthesized, they coupled oleic acid to a chemical that would produce fluorescence when the oleic acid was combined with ethanol to produce ethyl oleate. Under the microscope, areas that fluoresced showed where ethyl oleate was being made. They found that ethyl oleate was made in the esophagus, honey crop and stomach.
The authors were also able to identify the genes responsible for the synthesis of ethyl oleate in the honeybee and the resulting enzymes that catalyze the reaction between oleic acid and ethanol. These enzymes are then secreted into the gut fluid, where they produce ethyl oleate, which is then transported to the cuticle.
The biosynthesis of ethyl oleate then can be thought of a way of providing updates to the colony about the availability of flower nectar in nature. “EO might be some kind of ‘resource meter’ that tells the nurses in the colony how many nectar and pollen resources are coming in,” says Dr. Plettner. “If lots of food is coming in, then it makes sense to inhibit nurse to forager transition, as the nurses would be more needed in the brood chamber than as foragers. Conversely, if few resources and/or foragers are coming in, then it makes sense to speed up development of nurses so that they can forage and fill the need.”
Castillo, C., Chen, H., Graves, C., Maisonnasse, A., Le Conte, Y. & Plettner, E. (2012). Biosynthesis of ethyl oleate, a primer pheromone, in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 42 (6) 416. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2012.02.002
Corresponding author: Erika Plettner (plettner@sfu.ca)
Further reading:
Castillo, C., Maisonnasse, A., Conte, Y.L. & Plettner, E. (2012). Seasonal variation in the titers and biosynthesis of the primer pheromone ethyl oleate in honey bees, Journal of Insect Physiology, 58 (8) 1121. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.05.010