Posts Tagged: silkworm moths

Silkworm Moths Draw Widespread Interest at Bohart Museum of Entomology Open House

Interest in silkworm moths soared high at the recent UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on “Arthropod Husbandry: Raising Insects for Research and Fun.” Silkworm moth expert Ismail Seker, a Turkish medical doctor and author of a book showcasing his hobby,  displayed...

Silkworm moth expert, İsmail Şeker, a Turkish medical doctor and author of a silkworm moth book, answers questions from the crowd at the Bohart Museum open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Silkworm moth expert, İsmail Şeker, a Turkish medical doctor and author of a silkworm moth book, answers questions from the crowd at the Bohart Museum open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The adult silkmoth cannot fly, İsmail Şeker tells the Bohart Museum of Entomology visitors. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The adult silkmoth cannot fly, İsmail Şeker tells the Bohart Museum of Entomology visitors. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

İsmail Şeker with his book containing his macrophotographs.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

İsmail Şeker with his book containing his macrophotographs.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The silkworm moth display included eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The silkworm moth display included eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cora Tatum, 3, of Davis, checks out her newly created finger puppet--a silkworm cocoon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cora Tatum, 3, of Davis, checks out her newly created finger puppet--a silkworm cocoon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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).

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