Rangelands

The Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest is not over. Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology who annually sponsors the contest in the three-county area of Sacramento, Solano and Yolo to determine the first flight of the cabbage white butterfly, sighted one on Thursday, Jan.

News flash: Monarch sighting in Sacramento! Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, spotted a monarch in Sacramento on Wednesday, Jan. 29--way, way, way early to see monarchs in this area. But it wasn't in his transect.

UC Davis medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo's tiny research subjects in Tupper Hall are receiving widespread attention on a very large scale. In less than 48 hours, nearly 500,000 people have seen thembut not in his restricted-access lab.

A UC Davis scientist has just received a federal grant to study trapdoor spiders in California, with opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in the research. Citizen scientists also can be involved through public sightings and suggestions for naming a newly discovered species.

Trapdoor spiders can hide, but not for long. Jason Bond, professor and the Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has received a 4-year, $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant to study trapdoor spiders in the California Floristic Province.

If you're a beekeeper or scientist and want to know more about bee breeding, you should access the newly produced video, "Selecting Methods for Honey Bee Breeding.

Public concern regarding the risk of illness from long-term exposure to glyphosate is on the rise.

Private forestland landowners have a unique opportunity to enjoy the economic, ecological and social benefits forests offer. The public also benefits from private forests as they play a critical role in the connectivity and functioning of the larger forest ecosystem.

"Today dawned foggy," began Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, in a Jan. 22nd group email.

The question is troubling: What's going on with the monarch butterfly population in the West? The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reported this week that its Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count shows a decline for the second consecutive year.