Ongoing research

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LARVAE INSIDE WALNUT--This fallen walnut contained three larvae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Aw, Nuts!

January 7, 2009
Walnuts are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, right? Right. And sometimes a little protein. Protein, as in larvae. That's not a welcome sight. Sometimes you'll find two or three navel orangeworm (NOW) larvae inside a single walnut, along with copious amounts of webbing and frass.
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BACK TO UC DAVIS--After receiving his doctorate in population biology at UC Davis in 2006 and then serving as a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara, Louie Yang is back at UC Davis. He joined the Department of Entomology faculty on Jan. 2. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Back to UC Davis

January 6, 2009
DAVISHe's back. Entomology folks at UC Davis remember when Louie Yang was a doctoral candidate, studying population biology with major professor Rick Karban.
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LUCKY BUG--This ladybug soaks up sunshine after being discovered in a garbage can. Her two-legged rescuers saved her from a trip to the landfill.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The L-Bug

January 5, 2009
There she was, snuggled beneath a garbage can lid, seeking warmth as temperatures dipped to freezing levels. She was lucky. It was City Garbage Pick-Up Day. She could have been trucked to the local landfill had we not rescued her. Luck be a lady and she was.
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PISTACHIO LOVER--This navel orangeworm showed a preference for pistachios. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Penchant for Pistachios Leads to Startling Find

January 2, 2009
Chemical ecologists at the University of California, Davis, are changing their navel-orangeworm research direction after an elementary school students science project found that the major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over almonds and walnuts.
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ROCK PURSLANE--The magenta-colored rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) is a favorite of honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Twenty-Nine Days to Go

January 1, 2009
Twenty-nine days to go. If you love bees and know how to design a bee friendly garden, remember Jan. 30. Jan. 30 is the deadline to submit your design for the half-acre bee friendly garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis.
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TURN OVER A NEW LEAF--and there's a praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Turning Over a New Leaf

December 31, 2008
For my New Year's resolution, I resolve to turn over a new leaf. Oh, sure, most folks resolve to eat less, exercise more, drink less, read more, stress less, save more, gripe less, and volunteer more. Not me. I'm turning over a new leaf.
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BLUE BUTTERFLY--This butterfly in the live butterfly display at the Entomological Society of America's recent meeting in Reno prompted photographers to aim, focus and shoot. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Flying Flower

December 30, 2008
Ponce Denis couchard Lebrun compared the butterfly to a flying flower: The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly. At the recent Entomological Society of America meeting in Reno, a blue butterfly drew the attention of lepidopterists and photographers alike.
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GATHERING NECTAR--This honey bee at the University of California, Davis, is gathering nectar on Cenizo (Leucophyllum frutescens). Newly published research from the University of Illinois finds that honey bees on cocaine dance more, and that the bees are motivated by feelings of reward. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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What a Buzz!

December 29, 2008
Right out of Champaign, Ill., comes a research story about honey bees on coke. Cocaine. University of Illinois entomology and neuroscience professor Gene Robinson and his colleagues have found that honey bees on cocaine dance more.
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DEAD BEES--Drones are pushed out of the hive, cold and hungry, as the honey-gathering season ends and the weather turns colder. Some of these bees are drones (males) and some are worker bees (infertile females). This photo was taken Dec. 20, 2008. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not Brotherly Love

December 26, 2008
'Tis the season for brotherly love, but not in the bee hive. As the honey-gathering season ends and the weather turns colder, the worker bees (infertile females) push their brothers--the drones--out of the hive. Drones are of no use to the colony in the winter. They're another mouth to feed.
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BEELINE--A pollen-packed honey bee makes a beeline for a red-hot poker, variety "Christmas Cheer," in the Storer Gardens at UC Davis. The date: Dec. 20, five days before Christmas. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Christmas Cheer

December 25, 2008
I always thought the red-hot poker was primarily red. Not. This one in the Storer Gardens at the University of California, Davis, was mostly yellow. It was Saturday, Dec.
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