Bug Squad
They Spent Their Summer Doing Research in a UC Davis Nematology Lab
It's great to see two high school seniors spend their summer doing research in a UC Davis nematology lab as young scholars in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program (YSP) YSP is a six-week summer residential program that introduces...
Mason Walline won second place in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program "Summer Slam" (Elevator Pitch or short-version), competing with some 35 other students. (Photo by Ching-Jung Lin)
Anderson Van Dang presented his research, "Effects of Bacteria Supernatant on Parasitic Nematodes." (Photo by Ching-Jung Lin)
Wings Up! Let's Go!
Wings up! Let's go! The monarch fall migration is underway. "Unlike most other insects in temperate climates, monarch butterflies cannot survive a long cold winter. Instead, they spend the winter in roosting spots," explains Monarch Watch....
A monarch butterfly gliding over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola on Sept. 17 in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Monarch Kind of Day
What we've been waiting for all season... A migratory monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville garden at noon today (Tuesday, Sept. 17) and nectared on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. Then she treated us to a...
A female monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotunifola, in a Vacaville garden at noon, Sept. 17, 2024. At left is a territorial male longhorned bee, probably Melissodes agilis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female monarch butterfly lifts off the Tithonia. This image was taken with a Nikon D500 with a 200mm macro lens. Settings: 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5.6; ISO 640.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch descends, ready to head to another blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
She lifts up and away she goes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tiny Bug, Big Trouble, Great Science
You may have never seen this tiny bug that's causing big trouble. But agriculturists and scientists have. The spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is an agricultural pest that is super tiny. It's approximately 2 to 4...
Spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzuki, on a raspberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Friday Fly Day: How About a Mexican Cactus Fly?
It's Friday Fly Day, when folks post images of flies. Flies seem to the entomological equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield's "I-don't-get-no-respect" quote. So how about a black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus...
A black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus fly, Copestylum mexicanum, foraging on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)