Rangelands

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A honey bee nectars on tropical milkweed, while another bee gets ready to join her. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Bees Do Love That Milkweed

November 16, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Don't tell the honey bees. They will forage where they want to--whether it's on bee balm, a dandelion or that controversial tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.
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A male metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, foraging on iceplant on Nov. 5 at a Bodega Bay's Doran Beach. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Metallic Green Surprise at Bodega Bay

November 12, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A Nov. 5th trip to Bodega Bay's Doran Beach yielded a metallic green surprise. What was that foraging on a pink iceplant blossom near a path to the ocean? A metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, also called an ultra green sweat bee. We usually don't see A.
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Lt. Robert Washino (front left) served as a medical entomologist in the Korean War, seeing duty with the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps from 1956 to 1958.
Bug Squad: Article

A Salute to a Special Veteran, Medical Entomologist Robert Washino, 88

November 11, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Veterans' Day and what better day than today to salute noted medical entomologist Robert Washino, 88, a U.S. Army veteran? When you say "Thank you for your service," that not only means his service in the Korean War, but his entire career in medical entomology. Dr.
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The walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis, in association with the fungus, Geosmithia morbida, causes the insect-pathogen complex known as "thousand cankers disease," which wreaks havoc on walnut trees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

UC Davis Forest Entomologists Publish Two Papers on Walnut Twig Beetle

November 10, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Two UC Davis forest entomologists who studied with the late chemical ecologist Steven Seybold, a faculty-research associate with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, have published two complementary papers on the walnut twig beetle that shed more light on the invasive pest.
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UC Davis doctoral student Clara Stuligross by her blue orchard bee nests in the spring of 2018. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Research: A Double Punch to the Blue Orchard Bee

November 9, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
In a first-of-its-kind study, UC Davis research shows that the double punch of pesticide exposure and food scarcity drastically affects the reproduction of the blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria, a wild bee known for pollinating early spring bloom, including almonds.
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The Gulf Fritillary, Agaulis vanillae, spreads its wings on a passion flower in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Passion on Passion

November 5, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not often you see "passion on passion." That would be the "passion butterfly"--Gulf Fritillary, Agaulis vanillae--on the blossom of its host plant, the passionflower vine, Passiflora. You often see the males patrolling the vine and the females laying eggs on the leaves.
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