- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"I have decided I do not want to be the queen bee because she never ever gets to smell the flowers!" the Petaluma resident said. "I would much rather be a worker bee! The queen bee has a short life which I have already avoided, of course, and plan on many more years in the garden."
Ettamarie, in her eighth decade, is a retired teacher who taught school for 37 years, has kept bees for 30 years, and has volunteered as the leader of a 4-H beekeeping project for the past 25 years.
A worker bee, she is!
The Vacaville Museum Children's Party, open to Vacaville children between the ages of 3 and 9, will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the museum courtyard at 213 Buck Ave., Vacaville. Tickets, limited to 250, are $3 for children (same price for adults accompanying them). Tickets must be purchased at the museum on Thursdays through Saturdays between 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Coordinators Pamela King and Diana McLaughlin said the event, themed "Fun on the Farm," will include Grange animals (including goats, rabbits, chickens and a donkey), a walk-around Mother Goose, face-painting, and a ring toss with a hobby horse named Trigger (the work of Peter Shull and Georganne Gebers), Among the many other activities, the youngsters will create sand art jars, craft paper crowns, plant seeds in a take-home container, and pose for photos behind a Bohart Museum of Entomology dogface butterfly cutout banner. Lunch, on the house, will include hog dogs, popcorn, chips, cookies and water.
But back to Ettamarie Peterson.
“I started beekeeping before I retired in 1998 from 37 years of teaching,” she said. “My teaching career was mostly in special education, following a few years teaching second and first grade. I became one of the first resource teachers in California back in 1980 after getting my master's degree in special education."
Active in the beekeeping industry, Ettamarie has served as president and treasurer of Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association (SCBA) "for many years" and edits the SCBA newsletter, The Monthly Extractor.
She loves "talking bees." She shows her glassed-in bee observation hive at schools and other venues. She collects swarms for her Liberty 4-H Club beekeepers. "I got involved in 4-H when my son wanted his daughters to learn how to keep bees,” she recalled. “They are both parents now so I am hoping to teach the three great-grandsons, too!"
Her interests also include bee photography, raising chickens, growing vegetables. and planting flowers “for the bees and butterflies. My granddaughter and I have a special garden in front of my house for bees and butterflies."
Ettamarie is also a longtime friend and supporter of UC Davis. She delivered a tribute to the late Eric Mussen (1946-2022), a 38-year California Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty.
She and her husband, Ray (a non-beekeeper), enjoy life on the Peterson Ranch. "We've been married for 65 years and have 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren! What a wonderful life I have!”
Just don't call her a queen bee, please. She'd rather be a worker bee!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
One potato, two potato, three potato, four...
You never know what will pop up in a pollinator garden.
Meet Mr. Potato Capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, often found on nettle, potato, clover and cannabis.
We spotted him (or her) in a Vacaville pollinator garden, where there is no nettle, potato, clover or cannabis. But it also feeds on chrysanthemum, carrots and members of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
It popped up on a chrysanthemum blossom. The insect is green and probably a nymph as the color changes, when it's an adult, to reddish brown.
It belongs to the family Miridae. Entomologists point out that this family is the largest of true bugs belonging to the suborder Heteroptera.
At first we thought it was a lygus bug, which is also a myrid and a serious pest of cotton, strawberry and alfalfa.
But no, a potato capsid, an insect originating in the Mediterranean region. It prefers to feed on flowers, buds and unripe fruit.
Same family, though.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's the Fourth of July and what better time to post images of the aptly name "soldier beetles" than today.
These insects (family Cantharidae) resemble the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution, which is apparently how their name originated. They're also called "leatherwings" in reference to their soft, leatherylike wing covers.
Like lady beetles, aka ladybugs, these soldier beetles make short work of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. We've seen them devour so many aphids on our plants that they should be awarded the Aphid Belt, similar to Joey Chestnut's famed Mustard Belt.
Indeed, soldier beetles are eating machines, just like Joey.
Wikipedia describes Joey Chestnut (who, by the way, grew up in Vallejo, Solano County), as an "American competitive eater" ranked No. 1 in the world by Major League Eating. In addition to hot dog-eating contests, Chestnut has won contests devouring pizza, wontons, chicken wings, and corned beef sandwiches. And even poutine (french fries and cheese curds, topped with brown gravy).
No aphids, yet, though. Not even sprinkled on pizza slices.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
247 years!
The seven faculty members honored at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's recent retirement luncheon amassed an amazing 247 years of service:
- UC Davis distinguished professor James Carey, 44 years, faculty member since 1980. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor Richard Karban, 42 years, faculty member since 1982. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, 35 years, faculty member since 1989. She retired Feb. 1, 2024.
- Robert Kimsey, adjunct professor, 35 years, faculty member since 1989. He retired in June
- UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim, 34 years, faculty member since 1990. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor Diane Ullman, 29 years, faculty member since 1995. She retired in June.
- Sharon Lawler, professor emerita, 28 years, faculty member since 1995. She retired in January 2023.
Read about them on our UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website, with links to individual stories. You may have interacted with one or more of them through their research, teaching or public service.
As molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the department, said prior to the retirement luncheon: “Our retiring faculty will leave behind some very big shoes to fill. “They have set the bar very high for all of us with their passion to lifelong scientific exploration, perseverance to achieve intellectual and mentoring excellence, and dedication to the department, UC Davis, and external stakeholders. We are so proud to call them colleagues and mentors and they will no doubt continue to inspire us to carry on their legacy. It is with our most sincere appreciation that we wish all of them the best in their new endeavors and adventures in this next chapter of their lives."
247 years of service!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If Cinderella were a butterfly, she'd probably be a white cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae.
The butterfly--in its larval stage it's a pest of cucurbits--is stunning as an adult. Just think of a flowing white gown, exquisite pirouettes, and a flutter like no other.
If you've ever tried to photograph a white cabbage butterfly, it's not all that easy. They are fast and fleeting. One minute they're on the lavender and the next minute they're not. One minute they're on the catmint and then...
Where did they go?
With a fast shutter speed, though, you can sometimes catch them in flight.
When Cinderella left the ballroom at the stroke of midnight (she should listened to her Fairy Godmother and kept better track of her time!) her carriage turned back into a pumpkin, the footmen into lizards, the coachman into a rat, and her dress turned back into rags.
Just as her Fairy Godmother warned.
But the finely, timely P. rapae just flutters away--white flowing gown intact...unless snagged by a predator.