If you have a patch of salvia (sage) growing in your yard, watch for the nectar robbers. Carpenter bees are among the insects that engage in nectar robbing. They drill a hole in the corolla of the flower, circumventing the usual plant-pollinator relationship.
You don't have to be a citizen to be a "citizen scientist," and you don't have to be a scientist to be a citizen. But "citizen scientist" is a catchy term, all the same. Basically, it's the public engagement in scientific research activities.
For years, the diagnostic program for weeds of the western United States was only available on CD format. With many computers moving away from CD drives, fewer people were able to use the identification tool.
Citrus is a messy botany. It loves to cross with anything and in so doing creates very complex ancestry. C-35 rootstock is a citrange and was created for its tolerance to cold, but is also good in Phytophthora situations and creates a slightly smaller tree.
It's all about knowing the biodiversity in Knowland Park. And trying to save it from development. Scientists and citizen-scientists will gather Sunday, June 1 in the western highlands of the Oakland park to conduct a "bioblitz"--or a tally of the biodiversity of animals and plants living there.
Natural enemies play an important role in managing pest populations. Using predatory mites in strawberries against spider mites is a good example where growers take advantage of the potential of the natural enemies.
Don't you just love watching bumble bees? This morning we watched a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) foraging on lavender. It moved quickly from one blossom to another, barely allowing us time for a "bee shoot." It was "bee gone" every time we aimed the camera. Finally, it cooperated.
It was Norm Gary's last bee wrangling stunt. And it was Barbara Allen-Diaz' first close-up encounter with bees. The occasion: Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), was on the UC Davis campus recently to fulfill her UC Promise for Education.
