Ongoing research

You will not bee-lieve what a group of scientists affiliated with the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, found last summer in Belize. They brought back some 100,000 specimens, ranging from stunning orchid bees to spectacular morpho butterflies, to add to the museum collection.

What are the odds? What are the odds? A monarchthe most special monarch ever--fluttered over our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. on Monday afternoon, Sept. 5 and touched down on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia).

You might see monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries, Western tiger swallowtails, pipevine swallowtails, and skippers. You'll learn about butterflies and their needs. It's a UC Davis Arboretum talk and tour and it's free and open to the public.

Many of the ranchers I've spoken with over the last year and a half have said that tumbleweed, also known as Russian thistle (Salsola sp.), is a big problem in both San Benito and Monterey counties.

Western yellowjackets, nicknamed "meat bees" (as opposed to the "vegetarian honey bees") are often misidentified. A recent visitor at a camp in the Sierra Nevada mountain range witnessed a large number of wasps and stinging behavior.

Are you ready? TOTSOCE is back and this year could be bigger than ever! There's also Science Night with Drones and Ventura County Fair results.

Extra, extra, read all about it! This "extra" has nothing to do with a special edition of a newspaper. This "extra" deals with something that may puzzle you. This "extra" refers to the passionflower vine (Passiflora), the host plant of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly (Agraulis vanillae).

Beauveria bassiana is a naturally occurring fungus that is pathogenic to several groups of arthropods. It is available in different commercial formulations for pest management in agriculture, nurseries, landscape, greenhouse, turf, and home gardens.

You may not like spiders. You may have Arachnophobia, a fear of spiders, or maybe you just dislike all spiders. But still, some spiders are spectacular. Stunning. Striking. Take the redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum.

Please see this article on the UC Rice Blog for an update on armyworm populations. We will continue to monitor traps in the Delta through mid-September, and we will plan to monitor populations next season.