Posts Tagged: CDFA

Molecular Biologist Michelle Heck: Challenges of Citrus Greening Disease

If you grow citrus, you've no doubt heard of the invasive pest, Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. ACP they call it. A native of southern Asia, it was first detected it in the United States (Florida) in 1998. ACP serves as a vector or...

Asian citrus psyllid nymphs and adults on stem and leaves of a citrus. (USDA-ARS Photo)

Asian citrus psyllid nymphs and adults on stem and leaves of a citrus. (USDA-ARS Photo)

Bohart Museum Receives Collection of More than 50,000 Aculeate Wasp Specimens

If you've ever seen a spider-hunting wasp capture, sting, and paralyze a spider, you know what these wasps can do. Renowned wasp expert Marius Wasbauer (1928-2021) studied them for about six decades. When he died this spring in Brookings,...

Female golden hunting wasp dragging a paralyzed spider to its nest. (Photo by Tony Wills, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Female golden hunting wasp dragging a paralyzed spider to its nest. (Photo by Tony Wills, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey (inside truck) and husband UC Davis forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey unload the U-Haul truck. At right is Bohart research associate Brennen Dyer. Also helping are Kimsey friends, Mike Whitney (retired Placer County sheriff) and his wife, Becky. (Photo by Steve Heydon)

Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey (inside truck) and husband UC Davis forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey unload the U-Haul truck. At right is Bohart research associate Brennen Dyer. Also helping are Kimsey friends, Mike Whitney (retired Placer County sheriff) and his wife, Becky. (Photo by Steve Heydon)

The Marius Wasbauer aculeate (stinging) wasp specimens total more than 50,000. (Photo by Steve Heydon)

The Marius Wasbauer aculeate (stinging) wasp specimens total more than 50,000. (Photo by Steve Heydon)

Behold: A Mexican Cactus Fly on a Mexican Sunflower

It's not often you see a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. At first glance, you may think the insect is a carpenter bee or bumble bee. Then you see it...

"Aah, nectar!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Aah, nectar!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Here's looking at you!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Here's looking at you!" A Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"My territory!" says a dive-bombing male longhorned bee, a Melissodes agilis, as it targets the Mexican cactus fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"My territory!" says a dive-bombing male longhorned bee, a Melissodes agilis, as it targets the Mexican cactus fly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Coming at ya!" A Mexican cactus fly sails over a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Coming at ya!" A Mexican cactus fly sails over a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The wings of the Mexican cactus flower glisten in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The wings of the Mexican cactus flower glisten in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Martin Hauser: 'The Curious Case of the Stingless Bees of Palo Alto'

The title is intriguing: "The Curious Case of the Stingless Bees of Palo Alto." Isn't it illegal to import stingless bees in the United States? It is. So what's going on? Members of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society and guests will find out when...

Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture will speak on stingless bees of Palo Alto at the Pacific Coast Entomological Society meeting on Feb. 27. Here he introduces Madagascar hissing cockroaches to Bohart Museum of Entomology guests on Feb. 15 during the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture will speak on stingless bees of Palo Alto at the Pacific Coast Entomological Society meeting on Feb. 27. Here he introduces Madagascar hissing cockroaches to Bohart Museum of Entomology guests on Feb. 15 during the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Plebeia sp (Images by Martin Hauser, California Department of Food and Agriculture)

Plebeia sp (Images by Martin Hauser, California Department of Food and Agriculture)

Andrew Young: Natural History of Syrphids, from Pollinators to Parasitoids

At first glance, they're often mistaken for bees, but bees they are not. They're flies. You've probably seen them hovering over flowers, which is why syprhids are commonly called "hover flies" or "flower flies." Enter Andrew Young. He's a UC Davis...

A syrphid, also known as a hover fly or flower fly, nectars on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid, also known as a hover fly or flower fly, nectars on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid in flight, heading toward a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid in flight, heading toward a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid tucked inside the petals of a rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid tucked inside the petals of a rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid hovers over Jupiter's Beard, Centranthus ruber. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A syrphid hovers over Jupiter's Beard, Centranthus ruber. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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