Ongoing research

Nice to see you! That's how we greeted our very last bumble bee of 2016. The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, apparently came out of hibernation and started nectaring on mallow Nov. 14 at the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz.

[News release from the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program] An intensive risk survey in Cerritos, Los Angeles County, resulted in the discovery of Huanglongbing in a single orange tree.

Out of 3,600 samples of 145 fresh fruits and vegetables tested in California in 2015, just 43 had pesticide residue over legal limits, and 113 contained residue of a pesticide not approved for that commodity.

Let's face it--some folks are not fond of carpenter bees. Honey bees, yes! Bumble bees, yes! Carpenter bees, uhh, not so much.

WHERE & WHEN Richvale: Thursday, Jan. 26, 8:30 am, Evangelical Church, 5219 Church St., Richvale Glenn: Thursday, Jan. 26, 1:30 pm, Glenn County Office of Education, 311 South Villa Avenue, Willows Colusa: Friday, Jan. 27, 8:30 am, Colusa Casino Resort, 3770 Hwy 45, Colusa Yuba City: Friday, Jan.

From the UC Weed Science Blog http://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCDWeedScience/ A repost and link today to a recent Weed Science Society of America press release entitled: "About Weed Seeds and Their Longevity" Click the link to go to the full article.

What a marvelous year! Looking back at 2016, monarch butterflies reigned supreme--or at least they did in this Bug Squad blog! Finding--and photographing--a tagged monarch butterfly (monarch@wsu.edu A6083) in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. on Labor Day, Sept. 5, highlighted the year.

Controlling invasive aquatic plants such as waterhyacinth, South American spongeplant, and waterprimrose in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is no easy task.

This is a story about how eight monarch butterflies escaped the freezing temperatures of Vacaville, Calif., and hitchhiked to sunny Santa Cruz, thanks to Good Samaritans (Good Monarcharians?) Rita LeRoy and Walter Rockholt of Vallejo.

It's almost that time againtime for the annual Beer for a Butterfly contest or Suds for a Bug. If you're out and about on Jan. 1, start looking for that cabbage white butterfly.