Rangelands

No assassinations today! But an "assassination attempt." There it was, a leafhopper assassin bug, Zelus renardii, waiting for prey atop a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola in a Vacaville pollinator garden. Yes, it's native to North America.

Arachnids rule! The Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," co-sponsored by the American Arachnological Society (AAS) and held June 25 in the Academic Surge Building, drew more than 250 attendees and 40 volunteers.

Today is the Fourth of July, and what better time to proclaim: "Hurray for the red, white and blue!" And the yellow. On a camping trip last week to Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay, we admired our neighbors' display of American flagsbordered with a dozen honey bees. These bees, however, didn't buzz.

Have you seen any Checkered White butterflies lately? They're quite common in the southern United States and northern Mexico (they're known as the Southern cabbage butterfly), but one CW fluttered through our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Solano County, Calif., on June 23.

John Karlik, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County for environmental horticulture and environmental science, will retire July 1. Karlik began his work in Kern County in 1984 with an emphasis on the commercial rose plant industry and local horticulture outreach.

It was Saturday, June 25.

Las emergencias y los desastres pueden golpear rpido y sin aviso. Actualmente hay varios incendios a lo largo de California, y lo que se ha visto es que cada vez son ms largos, intensos y devastadores.

As Californians prepare for another year of drought and an anticipated intense fire season, landowners and organizations across California have been working to reduce forest fuels flammable woody material that can endanger their properties and communities.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are a series of photos taken at an open house showcasing spiders and other arachnids worth? Photos, that is, of children's candid expressions? Priceless.

Those who know that spiders have eight legs know exactly what's being showcased at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," on Saturday, June 25. Spiders and other arachnids. And you're invited.