Noted bee scientist Jamie Ellis, a University of Florida professor, will speak on "Understanding the Risks that Pesticides Pose to Honey Bees" at a UC Davis seminar at 4:10 p.m., Monday, April 1. This is a zoom seminar.
Ever seen a lagoon fly? It's a syrphid fly, Eristalinus aeneus, distinguished by small black spots patterning its eyes. Syrphids, also known hoverflies or flower flies, hover over a flower before foraging. They're pollinators.
If you've been pruning bushes or trees, check to see if a praying mantis egg case (ootheca) is attached to a limb. If you do, you're in luck! A mantis deposits her egg case in late summer or fall, and usually on twigs, stems, a wooden stake or fence slat, but sometimes even on a clothespin.
