Master Gardeners of Ventura County
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Master Gardeners of Ventura County

Posts Tagged: spring

Take Stock: It's the First Day of Spring

Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring. If Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima, is blooming in your garden now, you'll likely be seeing honey bees,  syrphid flies and other pollinators. M....

It's spring! A honey bee heads toward a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's spring! A honey bee heads toward a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's spring! A honey bee heads toward a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee prepares to land on a   Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee prepares to land on a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee prepares to land on a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bottoms up! The honey bee sips nectar from the fragrant Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up! The honey bee sips nectar from the fragrant Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bottoms up! The honey bee sips nectar from the fragrant Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 5:10 PM

Entomological ABCs: Ants, Bees and Caterpillars

Urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is coordinating the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year and she's just announced the speakers for the spring...

A monarch caterpillar, Danaus plexippus, munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar, Danaus plexippus, munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch caterpillar, Danaus plexippus, munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a honey bee, Apis mellifera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a honey bee, Apis mellifera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a honey bee, Apis mellifera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rainforest ants, Euprenolepis procera feeding on a Pleurotus mushroom. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
Rainforest ants, Euprenolepis procera feeding on a Pleurotus mushroom. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Rainforest ants, Euprenolepis procera feeding on a Pleurotus mushroom. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 5:27 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Economic Development, Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Pest Management

A Very Hungry Bumble Bee

She was all bees-ness, this yellow-faced queen bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. There she was, foraging in a bed of steely blue-purple flowers,  Eryngium amethystinum, a genus that belongs to the carrot...

Can you spot the bumble bee in this bed of Eryngium amethystinum in the Sunset Gardens, Sonoma Cornerstone? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Can you spot the bumble bee in this bed of Eryngium amethystinum in the Sunset Gardens, Sonoma Cornerstone? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Can you spot the bumble bee in this bed of Eryngium amethystinum in the Sunset Gardens, Sonoma Cornerstone? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This image shows the characteristic yellow face and yellow stripe on the abdomen of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. She is nectaring Eryngium amethystinum, in the Sunset Gardens at Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This image shows the characteristic yellow face and yellow stripe on the abdomen of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. She is nectaring Eryngium amethystinum, in the Sunset Gardens at Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This image shows the characteristic yellow face and yellow stripe on the abdomen of a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. She is nectaring Eryngium amethystinum, in the Sunset Gardens at Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With her long proboscis, B. vosnesenskii sips nectar from an Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
With her long proboscis, B. vosnesenskii sips nectar from an Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

With her long proboscis, B. vosnesenskii sips nectar from an Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the yellow face of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the yellow face of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the yellow face of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus vosnesenskii moves around the Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bombus vosnesenskii moves around the Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bombus vosnesenskii moves around the Eryngium amethystinum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bye, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bye, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bye, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 4:46 PM
Focus Area Tags: Economic Development, Environment, Natural Resources, Yard & Garden

Seminar Topics: From Mammoth Wasps to Medflies to Nematodes

Ready to learn about mammoth wasps, medflies, nematodes and pesticide risks to polilnators, or delve into such topics as "Mystery of the Missing Microbes: Why Do Bees Keep Losing...

Bees will be among the spring seminar topics hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. UC Irvine faculty member Tobin Hammer will speak on
Bees will be among the spring seminar topics hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. UC Irvine faculty member Tobin Hammer will speak on "Mystery of the Missing Microbes: Why Do Bees Keep Losing Their Symbionts?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bees will be among the spring seminar topics hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. UC Irvine faculty member Tobin Hammer will speak on "Mystery of the Missing Microbes: Why Do Bees Keep Losing Their Symbionts?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Mediterranean fruit fly will be the topic of UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey's seminar on May 25. (Photo by Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture)
The Mediterranean fruit fly will be the topic of UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey's seminar on May 25. (Photo by Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

The Mediterranean fruit fly will be the topic of UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey's seminar on May 25. (Photo by Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 4:30 PM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Economic Development, Environment, Innovation, Natural Resources, Pest Management, Yard & Garden

A Bee-Line to the Bohart Museum: T-Shirts and Calendars

Folks are making a bee-line to the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, for its spring sale. All proceeds support the insect museum in its educational and outreach activities. The gift shop is offering a selection of...

Bohart associate Fran Keller, an assistant professor at Folsom Lake College and a UC Davis alumnus (she received her doctorate in entomology studying with Lynn Kimsey) holds some of the new dragonfly t-shirts available at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart associate Fran Keller, an assistant professor at Folsom Lake College and a UC Davis alumnus (she received her doctorate in entomology studying with Lynn Kimsey) holds some of the new dragonfly t-shirts available at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart associate Fran Keller, an assistant professor at Folsom Lake College and a UC Davis alumnus (she received her doctorate in entomology studying with Lynn Kimsey) holds some of the new dragonfly t-shirts available at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Brennan Dyer, a research associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, staffing the Bohart Museum's gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Brennan Dyer, a research associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, staffing the Bohart Museum's gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Brennan Dyer, a research associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, staffing the Bohart Museum's gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)


"Normally, locusts are introverted creatures; they do not socialize unless it is for reproduction." This is what one of Lynn Kimsey's students wrote in an exam, and what artist Karissa Merritt interpreted for the Bohart Museum's innovative calendar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Normally, locusts are introverted creatures; they do not socialize unless it is for reproduction." This is what one of Lynn Kimsey's students wrote in an exam, and what artist Karissa Merritt interpreted for the Bohart Museum's innovative calendar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 5:08 PM
Focus Area Tags: Family, Innovation

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