Posts Tagged: Department of Entomology and Nematology

No Labor Day Holiday for the Honey Bees

Holiday? What holiday? It's Labor Day, but honey bees aren't relaxing. They're out in force collecting nectar, pollen, water and propolis. Ever seen them weighted down with huge pollen loads? They seem to have "Herculean strength," don't you...

A honey bee packing a huge load of orange pollen from zinnias as it heads for another blossom in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee packing a huge load of orange pollen from zinnias as it heads for another blossom in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, its wings a'buzzing, slips through the petals of a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee, its wings a'buzzing, slips through the petals of a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All finished here. Next zinnia here I come! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All finished here. Next zinnia here I come! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

RJ Millena: from Entomology-Focused Kindergartener to Scoring Cover of Journal With Her Research

Remember Rebecca Jean "RJ" Millena? She's the little Concord, Calif., kindergarten student who declared--on the very first day of class-- "When I grow up, I want to be an entomologist!"  And she did. RJ received her bachelor's degree in...

RJ Millena, a doctoral candidate of comparative biology in the lab of Professor Jessica Ware, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) holds a copy of the journal "Environmental Entomology." Her research is the cover story. (Photo by UC Davis alumnus Lohit Garikipati, now a doctoral student at AMNH)

RJ Millena, a doctoral candidate of comparative biology in the lab of Professor Jessica Ware, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) holds a copy of the journal "Environmental Entomology." Her research is the cover story. (Photo by UC Davis alumnus Lohit Garikipati, now a doctoral student at AMNH)

This image shows a twisted-wing insect (Xenos peckii) male pupae in dark paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus) (Abbott Nature Photography)

This image shows a twisted-wing insect (Xenos peckii) male pupae in dark paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus) (Abbott Nature Photography)

This image of UC Davis entomology graduate RJ Millena shows her jumping for joy while wielding an insect net. (Photo taken in 2021 by Kaylee Fagan)

This image of UC Davis entomology graduate RJ Millena shows her jumping for joy while wielding an insect net. (Photo taken in 2021 by Kaylee Fagan)

'Nearly Wild' and 'In the Pink'

Talk about flower power.  When you walk through the UC Davis Bee Haven, a half-acre garden on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, you'll see bees and other pollinators foraging on a pink floribunda rose cultivar, “Nearly Wild."...

A pink floribunda rose cultivar, "Nearly Wild," draws honey bees and native bees in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pink floribunda rose cultivar, "Nearly Wild," draws honey bees and native bees in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A native bee seeks to join two honey bees in gathering nectar and pollen from a floribunda rose cultivar, "Nearly Wild," in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A native bee seeks to join two honey bees in gathering nectar and pollen from a floribunda rose cultivar, "Nearly Wild," in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of a honey bee foraging on a "Nearly Wild" rose cultivar in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Side view of a honey bee foraging on a "Nearly Wild" rose cultivar in the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee foraging on "Nearly Wild" looks at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee foraging on "Nearly Wild" looks at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Svastra: the Sunflower Bee

It's nicknamed "the sunflower bee" for good reason. It forages on sunflowers. We recently spotted a longhorned bee,  Svastra obliqua, also called "the sunflower bee," on Gaillardia, aka blanket flower, a member of the sunflower...

Svastra obliqua, "the sunflower bee," foraging on a blanketflower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Svastra obliqua, "the sunflower bee," foraging on a blanketflower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why These Moths Are Unwanted

As we gather to celebrate moths during National Moth Week (traditionally held the last full week in July and to be observed areawide on Saturday night, July 20 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis), folks single out their favorites...

Close-up of the larvae of the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), pests of honey bee colonies. Also shown is another bee colony pest, a hive beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the larvae of the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella), pests of honey bee colonies. Also shown is another bee colony pest, a hive beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) from the Bohart Museum of Entomology Lepidoptera collection. (Photo by Jeff Smith)

This is the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) from the Bohart Museum of Entomology Lepidoptera collection. (Photo by Jeff Smith)

This is the lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, from the Bohart Museum of Entomology Lepidoptera collection. (Photo by Jeff Smith)

This is the lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, from the Bohart Museum of Entomology Lepidoptera collection. (Photo by Jeff Smith)

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