Posts Tagged: Vacaville

Does Life Imitate Art, or Does Art Imitate Life?

Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life? In his essay, The Decay of Lying (1889), Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) wrote: “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life,” adding  “the...

Virginia-based artist Cheyenne Renee Marcus painted this mural at the corner of Main and Elizabeth streets, Vacaville, in 2022. It's a main attraction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Virginia-based artist Cheyenne Renee Marcus painted this mural at the corner of Main and Elizabeth streets, Vacaville, in 2022. It's a main attraction. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of an artist rendition (by Cheyenne Renee Marcus) of a flameskimmer dragonfly in downtown Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of an artist rendition (by Cheyenne Renee Marcus) of a flameskimmer dragonfly in downtown Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'This Hanging Pot Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us!'

"This hanging potted plant ain't big enough for both of us!" That's what a female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, seemed to be warning when she encountered another female on "her" hanging potted plant. So, how do you beat the competition?...

Two female praying mantes, Stagmomantis limbata, encounter one another on a potted plant in Vacaville. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

Two female praying mantes, Stagmomantis limbata, encounter one another on a potted plant in Vacaville. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

The praying mantis battle turns vicious, as a battle royale begins. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

The praying mantis battle turns vicious, as a battle royale begins. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

One praying mantis dominates her competitor. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

One praying mantis dominates her competitor. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

The winning mantis eating the loser's head. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

The winning mantis eating the loser's head. (Cell phone image by Mike Castro)

Booking Insects at Vacaville Public Library: Bring 'em On!

It's so quiet at times that you can almost hear a bee buzz or a walking stick walk or a Madagascar hissing cockroach hiss.  The audience, ranging from toddlers to teens to senior citizens, are inside the the Vacaville Public Library. Some...

The Bohart Museum of Entomology insect presentation fascinates these youngsters at the Vacaville Public Library. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bohart Museum of Entomology insect presentation fascinates these youngsters at the Vacaville Public Library. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How many of you like insects? Hands shoot up at the Bohart Museum presentation at the Vacaville Public Library. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How many of you like insects? Hands shoot up at the Bohart Museum presentation at the Vacaville Public Library. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum of Entomology's education and outreach coordinator, discusses the diversity of insects to a diverse crowd. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum of Entomology's education and outreach coordinator, discusses the diversity of insects to a diverse crowd. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tabatha Yang hands out insects from the Bohart Museum of Entomology's petting zoo to eager youngsters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tabatha Yang hands out insects from the Bohart Museum of Entomology's petting zoo to eager youngsters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Madagascar hissing cockroach draws attention. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Madagascar hissing cockroach draws attention. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One of the most popular insects: a Great Thin Stick Insect (Ramulus nenatodes). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One of the most popular insects: a Great Thin Stick Insect (Ramulus nenatodes). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Eager hands await their turn. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Eager hands await their turn. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pre-schooler takes an image of an insect with a borrowed cell phone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pre-schooler takes an image of an insect with a borrowed cell phone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A line of viewers at the display of the Bohart Museum's pinned specimens, gathered from all over the world. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A line of viewers at the display of the Bohart Museum's pinned specimens, gathered from all over the world. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Grace Murray, 13, relaxing with a stick insect. Her mother, Kristen Murray, is a children's librarian. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Grace Murray, 13, relaxing with a stick insect. Her mother, Kristen Murray, is a children's librarian. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ready for the 7th Annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz?

Save the dates! The seventh annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz will take place Friday, July 28 through Sunday, Aug. 6.  That's when community scientists from across North America--United States, Canada and Mexico--will "come...

A monarch lifts off from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch lifts off from a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the monarch that citizen scientist Steven Johnson of Ashland, Ore., tagged Aug. 28, 2016. It arrived in Vacaville, 285 miles away, on Sept. 5, 2016. This was part of a migratory monarch project headed by David James, a Washington State University entomologist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the monarch that citizen scientist Steven Johnson of Ashland, Ore., tagged Aug. 28, 2016. It arrived in Vacaville, 285 miles away, on Sept. 5, 2016. This was part of a migratory monarch project headed by David James, a Washington State University entomologist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Squirrel Vs. Bees: Sorry, No Vacancy!

Call it “The Battle Over a Tree Hollow." Feral bees have occupied—and abandoned—a sycamore tree cavity in a Vacaville neighborhood for at least two decades. They occupy it in the spring, summer and fall, and then the colony either...

Look closely and you can see a squirrel occupying a small hollow or cavity in a sycamore tree. The cavity has been home to feral bees for at least two decades. (Image taken in Vacaville by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Look closely and you can see a squirrel occupying a small hollow or cavity in a sycamore tree. The cavity has been home to feral bees for at least two decades. (Image taken in Vacaville by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's all that noise about? Can't a squirrel get some sleep? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's all that noise about? Can't a squirrel get some sleep? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The squirrel pokes his head out of his home, his sleepy hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The squirrel pokes his head out of his home, his sleepy hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Occupied! No vacancy! The squirrel is aware that bees are circling, trying to move into "his" hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Occupied! No vacancy! The squirrel is aware that bees are circling, trying to move into "his" hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With the squirrel gone, honey bees quickly move into the hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With the squirrel gone, honey bees quickly move into the hollow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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