So here's this male monarch nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. The nectar is rich and he is as hungry as a migrant butterfly seeking flight fuel for the long journey ahead.
Seen any tagged monarchs lately? If you live in California, tagged monarchs from the migratory research project of entomologist David James of Washington State University may be heading your way. One tagged monarch, a male, fluttered into our Vacaville pollinator garden on Sept. 5, 2016.
When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal created a video tribute honoring the UC Davis faculty who recently transitioned to emeriti, he singled out one very special emeriti as an example of tremendous community, academic and scientific engagement: Robbin Thorp (1933-2019), distinguished eme...
A monarch on the move... When you see a monarch foraging on a flower, have you ever seen them--or photographed them--taking flight? It's not your iconic image of monarch, but a few twists and turns, jumble of colors and jagged lines, and the monarch takes flight.
Back in July 2023, we wrote a Bug Squad blog about a feral bee colony inside a cavity of a sycamore tree on the UC Davis campus. The triple-digit temperatures resulted in bee bearding.
