Rangelands

Cindy McReynolds, a 10-year outstanding research administrator and scientist in the laboratory of UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, Department of Entomology and Nematology--and who just received her doctorate in pharmacology/toxicology--is the recipient of the UC Davis Staff Assembly's...

Life is not always sunny for the sunflower bee, Svastra obliqua, a native longhorned bee. The gals have trouble foraging when a male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, targets them. The male M. agilis are very territorial--and their kamikaze-like maneuvers are spectacular.

Let's have a slumber party! Don't bring a pillow, a night-cap or an attitudeit's Boys' Night Out and we're sleeping outside on the flowers. That's what the male longhorned bees, Melissodes agilis, do while the females return to their underground nests at night.

Congrats to the two "Jakes" from the laboratory of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The two postdoctoral scholars, Jacob "Jake" Francis and Jacob "Jake" Cecala, have just received prestigious federal research fellowships.

It's Day 7--the last day--of National Pollinator Week. Meet a longhorned bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, family Apidae. It's also known as a sunflower bee.

It's Day 6 of National Pollinator Week. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, used to jokingly call it "The H Bee," pointing to the "H on its abdomen. It's not a bee, though, it's a fly.

Over the last six months, drought has once again dominated most of my thinking and many of my conversations with other ranchers.

Day 5 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the leafcutter bee, family Megachilidae. It's a native pollinator, a solitary bee, and about the size of a honey bee. Its coloration--the black-and-white banded abdomen--makes it easily recognizable.

When you think of pollinators, you think of bees, right? And well you should: honey bees are the global workhorses of the pollination community and pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, including fruits and vegetables and some nuts, primarily almonds (California's almond acreage exceeds 1.

Stinknet (Oncosiphon pilulifer) is a relatively new weed to North America and has been moving quickly and spreading in San Bernardino County. Gardeners may have noticed this unusual yellow-flowered plant growing in their yard this year, even though we are in a significant drought.