Rangelands

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A bindweed turret bee, Diadasia bituberculata, foraging for pollen on bindweed, aka morning glory. (Photo by Rachel Vannette)
Bug Squad: Article

The Glory of the Bindweed Turret Bees

August 11, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've ever seen the nests of the bindweed turret bees, Diadasia bituberculata, and if you've ever tried to photograph these fast-flying bees, you know how speedy they are and how difficult they are to photograph.
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A female monarch flutters into a Vacaville garden on Aug. 10 and checks out the narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

And Just Like That, A Monarch Fluttered into Our Garden

August 10, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
And just like that, a female monarch butterfly fluttered into our Vacaville pollinator garden this morning, Aug. 10, and left a dozen or so calling cards: precious eggs. We earlier saw a male monarch patrolling the garden on the morning of July 23, but he left to go find the girls.
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Fifth-year doctoral student Shawn Christensen of the Rachel Vannette lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

UC Davis Scientists Collaborate With 'Deep Look' on Bindweed Turret Bees

August 10, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Microbiologist Shawn Christensen, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Rachel Vannette laboratory, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Vannette, his major professor, were among those collaborating with the producers of KQED Science's Deep Look for its wildlife video on bindweed t...
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A tattered Gulf Fritillary sipping nectar from a zinnia in a Vacaville, Calif., garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

What Good Is a Butterfly?

August 8, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In his fascinating book, "Life on a Little-Known Planet: A Biologist's View of Insects and Their World," Connecticut-born biologist/entomologist Howard Ensign Evans (1919-2002) asks "What good is a butterfly?" "To the farmer, it is an adult cabbage worm or carrot caterpillar, and better off dead.
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A fiery skipper, Hylephila phyleus, takes flight. The flower is the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

The Fiery Skipper Likes 'Places Where People Mow Lawns'

August 7, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ah, the fiery skipper, Hylephila phyleus! They are, as UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro says, "California's most urban butterfly." Shapiro, who has monitored the butterfly populations of Calfornia since 1972 and maintains a research website at https://butterfly.ucdavis.
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A healthy sycamore tree next to a dead sycamore tree with no leaves.
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Invasive shothole borers: tiny but deadly

August 7, 2023
By Lauren Fordyce
They may seem too tiny to do much damage to a mature, healthy tree, but invasive shothole borers (ISHB) are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of trees in Southern California. These beetles bore into trees and infect them with Fusarium dieback, a fungal disease that kills the trees.
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A green bottle fly feasts on a cockroach, thought to be a Turkestan cockroach, a newer species in California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

It's Friday Fly Day!

August 4, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Friday Fly Day! Time to post an image of a fly. Or two flies. On a cockroach. The scenario: a large cockroach drowned in a small water trough located near downtown Vacaville, Calif., and when the water drained, the roach slid out. It proved to be a feast for green bottle flies.
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A male Melissodes agilis dives toward the female of his species, but she's not interested. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Defensive Measures: Leave Me Alone!

August 3, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen the defensive antics of a female longhorned bee, sometimes called a sunflower bee, as she's trying to forage on flowers while a suitor is trying to get her attention?
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