Ongoing research

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There's something about maggots that non-forensic entomologists don't like. "Those are the larvae of a fly," a mother told her inquiring daughter last Saturday at the Maggot Art table at Briggs Hall, UC Davis campus. The occasion: the 97th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.

Yesterday, I attended the Southern San Joaquin Valley Olive Day organized by UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems farm advisor, Elizabeth Fichtner (UCCE Tulare Co).

If you visit the Jepson Prairie Reserve near Vacaville-Dixon in Solano County, keep your eyes out for Andrena (mining) bees on the meadowfoam (Limnanthes). We were out there Monday morning and saw a mining bee nestled inside a white flower cup.

Released April 18, 2011, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture...

It's not just high temperatures that play a significant role in the transmission of dengue, a deadly mosquito-borne disease that strikes millions of people in tropical and subtropical countries.

If you're looking for something to do tomorrow (Saturday, April 16), it's UC Davis Picnic Day, a campuswide annual event. Over at Briggs Hall, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology Department faculty will be offering a taste of honey to visitors.

I visited a couple of almond orchard trials this week and thought I'd share a few photos. First, I ran across a weed that I haven't encountered before - alkali mallow (Malvella leprosa).

The Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven is not only a haven for honey bees; it's a haven for bumble bees and other native pollinators. A yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) buzzed around in the Bee Bliss salvia today, sharing the blossoms with honey bees.

"You can never be too rich, too young, too blonde or too thin," a quote often attributed to Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. Well, you can never have too many ladybugs, aka lady beetles, in your garden. These colorful beetles devour aphids and other soft-bodied insects.