- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If want to beautify your yard, attract pollinators, and save money at the same time, then you'll want to attend the UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sale on Saturday, Nov. 5. It's the final clearance sale of the season, and it will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Aboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive, UC Davis campus.
Every plant will be marked down at least 20 percent, officials said. See list of plants here. Members save 10 percent and you can join at the door.
Taylor Lewis, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden nursery manager, says that autumn, with its shorter days and cooler temperatures, is "the best time of year for new planting whether you are renovating a lawn area or adding new plants to a mature landscape."
He and Ellen Zagory, director of public horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, list five reasons why plant establishment is much easier now.
- Less water use – Thanks to recent rains the soil moisture can be kept constant with less irrigation.
- Softer soil – The soil is softer now so it's easier to dig holes!
- Fewer weeds – Unwanted plant life is less prolific thanks to less sun and cooler temperatures.
- Less stress – Cooler temperatures also are less stressful to new plants.
- Hearty roots – When the air temperature is cooler than the soil temperature, plants put more energy into root growth without new top growth, which results in heartier root systems and stronger plants overall.
Zagory points out: “There isn't going to be much growth above ground where you can see it, but just wait . . . come spring your plants will show you how happy they are you planted in fall!”
Many plants at the Nov. 5th sale are geared for pollinators. Some of pollinators' favorite foods include lavender, salvia, catmint, aster, butterfly bush, lantana, borage, salvia, sunflowers, blanket flower, cone flowers, and penstemon. And many more!
Want to attract butterflies? Consider not only the nectar-producing plants but their host plants. For example, monarchs lay their eggs only on their host plant, milkweed (genus Asclepias), the only plant the caterpillars will eat.
A few other host plants of butterflies:
- Gulf Fritillaries: Passion flower vine (genus Passiflora)
- Anise swallowtails: Sweet fennel (genus Foeniculum)
- Checkered skippers: Mallow (genus Malva)
- Western tiger swallowtails: Cottonwood and aspen cottonwood and aspen (Populus), willows (Salix), wild cherry (Prunus), and ash (Fraxinus).
- Pipevine swallowtail: Dutchmen's pipe or pipevine
The website of Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, offers a wealth of information on California butterflies. He's been studying the butterfly populations of Central California for more than four decades.
Calflora is the go-to site for a database of California non-native and native plants, invasive plants and rare plants.
The California Native Plant Society website encourage us to plant native plants.
The UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab website recommends what to plant for native bees.
Books? Yes. Two of the most recently published:
California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists is the work of UC-affiliated authors Gordon Frankie, Robbin Thorp, Barbara Ertter and Rollin Coville.
The Bee-Friendly Garden: Design an Abundant, Flower-Filled Yard that Nurtures Bees and Supports Biodiversity, by award-winning garden designerKate Frey and bee expert Gretchen LeBuhn of San Francisco State University, will guide you in selecting bee plants and designing your garden.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That sign, “I am NOT afraid of spiders,” greeted Louisa Lo, executive administrative assistant for Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, when she arrived to work a week ago at her office on the "garden level" of Briggs Hall.
Her recently retired colleague and good friend, Shirley Gee, principal investigator, lecturer, mentor and the longtime manager of the Hammock research lab, saw the sign in a local store and purchased it for her.
Halloween is gone, but the sign isn't, and the spiders may not be.
And, yes, despite the sign, she says she's still a “little” afraid of spiders. A touch of arachnophobia.
And why does she not like spiders? “Spiders are creepy!” she said, smiling. “Actually it's not only spiders I don't like, but almost all kind of bugs, especially those with multiple legs! THEY CRAWL ALL OVER THE PLACE! And ironically, I am working in the Entomology Department!”
She works for Bruce Hammock, who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Highly recognized by his peers for his research, inventions, teaching and mentoring, Hammock is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. which honors academic invention and encourages translations of inventions to benefit society. His many programs keep her busy.
Louisa is known as a treasure in the office--multi-skilled, personable and always helpful. "Louisa never failed to ask if she could help me," Gee recalled. "I'm going to miss her as a colleague, but mostly as a friend!"
Said Hammock: "Louisa brightened the office since the day she arrived. She somehow accomplishes the hard work of keeping the lab running under an appearance of always being ready to help. She makes new people feel welcome and lets alumni know they are missed. She even reminds me what day it is and when it is time to go home."
Lo considers this her dream job. “I love meeting and working with people with different backgrounds!” The Hammock lab draws scientists from all over the world. The 29-member international Hammock lab currently includes 1 undergraduate student, 1 graduate student, 7 postdoctorates, 7 research scientists, 8 visiting scholars and 3 staff. They represent 13 countries, including the United States, Turkey, Germany, China, France, India, Japan, Ukraine, Korea, Hong Kong, Canada, Brazil and Sweden.
Lo, who joined the Hammock lab on Aug. 17, 2011, will soon be moving to Michigan where her husband, Kin Sing Stephen Lee, a postdoc in the Hammock lab, has accepted a junior faculty position in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University.
Is Lee afraid of spiders? "He better not be afraid of spiders," she said. "He is the one relocating them for me if any are in our house!"
Lo's last day is Dec. 16 at UC Davis. She already has a position awaiting her. “It will be a very similar position as what I am doing right now except it is in a department setting (Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University) rather than working for a single unit,” Lo said. “I will be responsible of managing accounts, helping with grant proposals and providing administrative support to the department. “
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Louisa came to the United States in 2002 to attend college. She received a degree in advertising “so my first job was a copywriter in an advertising firm in Hong Kong. Then I moved back to United States when my husband was finishing up grad school.”
Then the couple moved to Davis in 2010. Louisa worked as a warehouse associate and an office manager in a clinic before accepting her current position with the Hammock lab.
She and her husband are enjoying life with their toddler son, Skyler, who is just learning to walk, run and ride a tricycle.
Odds are Skyler won't be wearing a Spiderman outfit any time soon.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The 21st annual Halloween party at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, drew scores of entomology enthusiasts dressed as caterpillars, dragonflies, butterflies and assorted other critters--chased by the bug catchers.
The event, open to Bohart Museum Society and special guests, was all that it was quacked up to be, thanks in part to forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey. Kimsey arrived dressed in his ghillie suit, and virology major Andrew Poon arrived with his pet duck, Quack. Kimsey and Quack became instant friends (ah, the warmth of a ghillie suit) and quacked up the crowd.
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum, wore her LED tennis shoes hand-painted by entomologists Charlotte Herbert and Nicole Tam with cuckoo wasps (family Chrysididae), the group that she studies. Her shoes lit up the night like the legendary fireflies do. (See previous Bug Squad blog)
Among the other stars:
- Charlotte Herbert, a doctoral candidate in entomology, came dressed as a venomous slug caterpillar (family Limacodidae), much to the delight of bug catchers Wade Spencer and Brennen Dyer, who arrived nets in hand.
- Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator, came dressed as a wet blanket and carried a sign that said “Nope.”
A black widow spider disguised as a pumpkin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) - Dragonfly enthusiasts Jeanette Wrysinski and son, Aren Scardaci, and friend Eva Butler of Sacramento arrived in their matching dragonfly t-shirts. (Dragonfly expert and Bohart Museum associate Greg Kareofelas declared the insect a new species.)
- Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, buzzed in as a yellow-faced bumble bee, complete with a yellow head and face and a yellow abdominal stripe. (The bug catchers gave chase.)
- Graduate student Jessica Gillung padded in as a cat lady, with pinned stuffed animals on her costume. (The bug catchers declared this the wrong species.)
- Fran Keller, assistant professor at Folom Lake College who holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, came dressed as a graduate student. (She carried no net and proved no competition for the bug catchers.)
- Entomologist Joel Hernandez and UC Davis Arboretum outreach coordinator Melissa Cruz paired up as a scarecrow and a pumpkin. Hernandez added a mouse to his pocket--scarecrows, you know, attract mice. Another mouse--and yes, a stuffed one, too--graced the cheese table.
- Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist, wore his sailor outfit and carried a mop. When folks inadvertently spilled chocolate from the chocolate fountain or food from the buffet table (prepared by entomologist Ivana Li), he obliged.
A butterfly disguised as a pumpkin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) - Entomologist Danielle Wishon and her eye-popping, spider-webbed face drew "oohs" and "ahs." (The bug catchers seemed quite interested in the web.)
- Chemical ecologist Steve Seybold, his wife, Julie Tillman, and their daughter, Natalie, came dressed as a Halloween family. Natalie dressed as a black caterpillar. That's the spirit! (Oh, where'd the bug catchers go?)
You could tell it was an entomological party by the games played. For the occasion, Charlotte Herbert and her fiancé, George Alberts, crafted a piñata shaped like a tardigrade, aka water bear, and filled it with candy. Blind-folded participants took turns swatting it. Another popular game: "Pin the Pin on the Beetle." Blind-folded participants attempted to poke a pin in a paper beetle mounted on a wall.
Carved pumpkins with butterfly and spider motifs, all made by the Bohart staff, glowed.
In keeping with the presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Hilllary Clinton appeared to "party hardy" in the form of pumpkins portraying political candidates.
The bug catchers, nets in hand, seemed more interested, however, in the venomous caterpillar.
"The slug caterpillar," said Lynn Kimsey, "is very venomous."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's often mistaken for a honey bee. Hey, isn't every floral visitor a bee? No, not by a long shot. One's a fly and one's a bee.
That came to mind last weekend when we saw a large number of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and drone flies (Eristalis tenax) nectaring on Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia). The feeding frenzy brought back all the Internet images of mistaken identities. And the arguments.
That's a bee!
No, it's not. It's a fly.
That's no fly. That's a bee.
It's a fly. Bee-lieve me!
To the untrained eye, they look alike at first glance. They're both insects, they're about the same size, and they're both pollinators.
The drone fly, though, in its immature stage is a rat-tailed maggot that lives in drainage ditches, hangs out around manure piles and sewage, and its idea of a pool party is water that is badly polluted.
Honey bees gather nectar and pollen (and water and propolis) for their colonies. Nectar is their carbohydrate and pollen is their protein.
Drone flies mimic bees in color, size and nectaring behavior. They're actually hover flies, members of the family Syrphidae. Watch them hover over flowers like a helicopter.
Lately, we've been seeing an influx of drone flies in our little pollinator garden. Look closely at their large eyes and stubby antennae and you can easily distinguish them from honey bees. Then notice the "H" on their abdomen. Maybe that's "H" for hello? Or "H" for Halloween? Or, or "H" as in "Hey, I'm not a bee! I just mimic a bee so you'll think I'll sting you."
They're bluffing. Drone flies don't sting.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It apparently originated during World War II. Remember the 1942 film, "The Flying Tigers," starring John Wayne as Capt. Jim Gordon?
John Wayne, aka Jim Gordon, asks a Rangoon hotel clerk about a missing plane: "Any word on that flight yet?"
The hotel clerk replies that Japanese aircraft attacked the plane, but "She's coming in on one wing and a prayer."
Then there's the 1944 film, "Wing and a Prayer," about "the heroic crew of an American carrier in the desperate early days of World War II in the Pacific theater" (Wikipedia).
Fast forward to today, but this time with migratory monarchs. It seems that, they, too, fly on a "a wing and a prayer."
Over the last two months, we've seen dozens of migratory monarchs-often four or five at a time--stop for flight fuel in our 600-square foot pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. Many arrive in poor condition, their wings gouged, shredded and tattered. Still, they manage to sip nectar from Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia), butterfly bush (Buddleia) and Lantana, and continue their hazardous journey.
Imagine how incredibly difficult it is for these tiny, fluttering insects to weather the elements, not to mention evading birds, praying mantids and other predators.
Not all will make it. But look for some to arrive in the overwintering spots along coastal California "on a wing and a prayer."
