Test PB Collection: FTE

When you're rearing monarch caterpillars in an indoor habitat, watch out for the escapees. Monarch 'cats seem to like to wander--and pupate on the most unlikely of places. We have two small butterfly habitats on our kitchen counter.

What are "Bioregions"? Bioregions are an area bounded by natural rather than artificial borders that has characteristic flora and fauna and includes one or more ecosystems. IGIS worked with the the California Naturalist Program to create a simple maps of the bioregion in California.

Of the many known varieties, they fall into three broad categories based on whether they are of the Mexican, Guatemalan or West Indian races of Persea americana, the avocado specie and the crosses that occur between these races.

If you're trying to fuse art with science and want to draw a wasp on a penny-farthing, but the legs are too short to reach the pedals, there's only one thing to do: lengthen the legs! And create a "new species" of wasp in the process.

Research published today in the journal Nature about neonicintoid pesticide exposure and bumble bees is causing quite the buzz, and keeping noted bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp busy fielding phone calls.

Back in October, a Delta farmer presented me with this scenario: The California Division of Boating and Waterways would be clearing water hyacinth from some Delta waterways. They asked the grower to receive some of it onto his land.

It is the time of year when the harvest of our summer crops has concluded. Some growers may be planting small grains, and let us hope that winter rains nourish these crops. I received an inquiry from a grower at the end of harvest regarding nutrient removal with the harvest.

Hot off the presses http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.

If you like to photograph insects, and want to know more about macro photography and entomology, then "BugShot Austin 2016" may be something to consider-- for either yourself or as a gift for someone.

Sex in the afternoon. On the passionflower vine. That's what happened today on the Passiflora (see images below). Coming soon, more Gulf Fritillaries. The Gulf Frit (Agraulis vanillae), an orangish-reddish butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, is as spectacular as it is showy.