Rangelands

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Ranching in the Sierra Foothills: Article

What's this Wet Stuff?!

January 3, 2023
By Daniel K Macon
After several multi-year droughts over the last decade, I find myself puzzled by the moisture that's been falling from the sky here in Auburn this winter! I find myself even more puzzled by the saturated state of our foothill soils! Over the last several weeks, as I've driven Highway 49 between Aubu...
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This is the tick buried in the skin of Winters' resident Joe Nazarius. It's black-legged nymph tick, Ixodes pacificus, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. (Photo by Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo)
Bug Squad: Article

It Started Out as a Quiet, End-of-the-Year Hike Near Lake Berryessa...

January 2, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was a good day for a hike. So Joe Nazarius of Winters embarked on a Dec. 30th hike in the Knoxville Road area, west of Lake Berryessa, when the unexpected happened. "What is this bug buried in Joe's skin?" That's what his wife, Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo, messaged me. She attached a photo.
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A honey bee "in the pink" is foraging on a begonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

'Tis the Season to Be 'In the Pink'

December 30, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
As the predominantly red-and-green holiday season draws to a close, and the year crawls to an end, it's time to "bee in the pink." Pink? Yes, "in the pink." Skip the red. Ignore the green. Think "in the pink.
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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, foraging on oxalis near the Benicia State Capitol grounds on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

In Search of the First Bumble Bee of the Year

December 29, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What are you doing on New Year's Day? Well, weather permitting, you can begin searching for the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano. If you photograph it and you are judged the winner, a prize awaits you--in addition to bragging rights.
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Praying mantis: "I'm hungry! What's to eat?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

To Catch a Cabbage White...On a Wing and a Prayer

December 28, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost ready to deposit her ootheca, was hungry. She crawled behind a cactus in our yard, waiting for prey. It did not take long.
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In flight, a cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, heads for lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest Begins Jan. 1

December 28, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When the annual Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, hosted by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro as part of his scientific research, gets underway on Sunday, Jan. 1, it will be of special interest.
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A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, nectaring on catmint (Nepeta) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Beer-for-Butterfly Contest Set; Why It's of Special Interest This Year

December 27, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro's annual Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, in which he trades a pitcher of beer (or its equivalent) for the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly collected in a three-county area, is of special interest this year.
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A female metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

'Am I Even a Bee?' Identity Crisis Unfolds in This Charming Book

December 26, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Your mama tells you that you're a bee, but when you look around you, you don't look like any of the bees you encounter in the meadow. Not the honey bee, not the carpenter bee, not the bumble bee, not the cuckoo bee and not any of the other assorted bees minding their own bees-ness in the meadow.
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The five gold rings became five golden bees. Here's one of the golden bees, a Cordovan, a subspecies of the Italian. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'

December 23, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
This Christmas season isn't the same without University of California Cooperative Extension apiculturist emeritis Eric Mussen, who died June 3 of liver cancer at his home in Davis. Mussen (1944-2022) was an institution. He was a global authority of honey bees. He was family to everyone.
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