Posts Tagged: Zain Syed

On the Trail of a Better Insect Repellent

Researchers in the Walter Leal lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology, are engaging in some exciting research. They just discovered a "generic insect repellent detector" in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)--research published today (March 16) in PloS One (Public Library of Science). What's...

Chemical ecologists

CHEMICAL ECOLOGISTS Walter Leal (foreground) and Zain Syed at work in the Leal lab in the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Leal is a professor and former chair of the department, and Syed is a postdoctoral researcher and the primary author of a paper published March 16 in PLoS One. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fruit Fly

Maximillary palps (left) and antenna of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). (Image Courtesy of Zain Syed)

Not a Failure to Communicate

The female silkworm moth releases a sex pheromone, bombykol, that's very enticing to the male. He can detect it from miles away. Now researchers in the UC Davis Department of Entomology have discovered that the fruit fly has a native odorant receptor that detects the silkworm moth’s sex...

Mulberry Tree

CHEMICAL ECOLOGISTS professor Walter Leal (left) and postdoctoral scholar Zain Syed inspect a mulberry tree, planted on the Briggs Hall lawn, UC Davis, in memory of professor Susumu Maeda. The scientists use the tree to rear silkworm moths for their studies on insect olfaction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Drosophila Head

DROSOPHILA HEAD--A scanning electronic micrograph (SEM) of the fruit fly head, highlighting a pair of antennae endowed with highly sensitive sensilla for the detection of bombykol, a sex pheromone identified from the silkworm more than 50 years ago. (SEM Courtesy of Walter Leal lab)

Scent of a Female

A FEMALE SILKWORM (left) releases a sex pheromone from an extruded gland in the abdominal tip. A male moth (right) detects the pheromone (bombykol) remotely with neurons housed in antennal sensilla. He responds immediately by wing fanning and moving in a zigzag pattern toward the calling female. (Photo by Samuel Woo, UC Davis).

The SWAT Team

Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and his postdoctoral researcher Zain Syed have done it again.In August of 2008, they discovered the secret mode of the insect repellent, DEET. In groundbreaking research published in the Proceedings...

Walter Leal and Zain Syed

CHEMICAL ECOLOGISTS Walter Leal (left), professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and postdoctoral researcher Zain Syed, at work in the Walter Leal lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Culex Mosquito

CULEX MOSQUITO (Culex quinquefasciatus) transmits West Nile virus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mosquito Heaven

Chemical ecologist Zain Syed of the Walter Leal lab, University of California, Davis, knows just where to find mosquitoes for his research. Rice fields. He's been collecting up to 3000 mosquitoes a night along the Yolo Causeway, located on Interstate 80 between Davis and West Sacramento. The Yolo...

Zain Syed

ZAIN SYED, chemical ecologist at UC Davis, holds a bag of 2000 Culex mosquitoes he trapped between Davis and West Sacramento. He is using them for his research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-Up

CLOSE-UP photo of a mesh bag of 2000 Culex mosquitoes shows them drawn to his hand below. He trapped the 2000 all in one night at the Yolo Causeway and has trapped as many as 3000 there in a single night. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Skeeter Season

Camping season is upon us, and with it came the news of California's first confirmed human case of West Nile virus (WNV).The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced today that a 76-year-old man contracted WNV, but "he did not acquire the virus locally." The HHSA,...

Blood-Fed Mosquito

BLOOD-FED MOSQUITO--Culex quinquefasicatus after feeding on a non-treated DEET arm in the lab of chemical ecologist Walter Leal, UC Davis Department of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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