Rangelands

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First in series: A male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) targets a female foraging on a snapdragon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Love Is in the Air...er...in the Snapdragons

August 26, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Love is in the air. Or, more specifically, in the snapdragons. If you maintain a pollinator garden, you've probably seen female European wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) nectaring on flowers or scraping or carding fuzz for their nests.
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A varroa mite on a drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Upcoming UC Davis Bee Course: How to Manage Varroa Mites

August 26, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're a beekeeper, you not only keep bees in your hive, but unfortunately, varroa mites. This major pest of honey bees is considered Public Enemy No. 1 in the beekeeping world.
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A blue oak stands in a vineyard. The bat echolocation microphone and yellow sticky card (to sample insects) at the top of the telescoping pole are attached to a vine post at the edge of the tree canopy.
Green Blog: Article

Oaks in vineyards a ‘win-win’ for bats and growers

August 26, 2019
By Pamela S Kan-Rice
Californians love their oak trees. During vineyard development, Central Coast grape growers often feel compelled to leave an old iconic oak standing, even if it ends up right in the middle of their vineyard.
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A conk, the fruiting body of the fungus <i>Phellinus ignarius</i> on black walnut. (Credit: AJ Downer, UCCE Ventura County)
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Wood Decay Fungi in Landscape Trees

August 23, 2019
Landscape trees provide welcome shade, fruit, homes for wildlife, and even a place for kids to climb. But if the wood is damaged, disease-causing fungi can infect the tree. A number of fungal diseases decay wood in both tree branches and trunks, weakening and sometimes killing the tree.
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A female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by praying mantis expert Lohit Garikipati of UC Davis) eyes a duskywing butterfly, genus Erynnis, nectaring on verbena. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Just Look, Don't Take?

August 22, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When we last left Ms. Mantis, a female Stagmomantis limbata residing in our verbena patch, she was munching on a honey bee. A successful ambush stalker, she was. But not always. Her plan to take down a duskywing butterfly, genus Erynnis, didn't go so well.
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A female praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata (as identified by Lohit Garikipati of UC Davis) is looking for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Victory in the Verbena

August 21, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Yes, I'm hungry. A female praying mantis is perched upside down in our pollinator garden. She has maintained this position in the verbena over a four-day period, enduring temperatures that soar to 105 degrees.
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BatStar in Tide Pool
UC Environmental Stewards Blog: Article

Tide Pooling Along the Central Coast During the 2019 Regional Rendezvous

August 20, 2019
By Eliot T Freutel
Our day started brisk and damp as the sun rolled out behind a curtain of central coast fog. We gathered in the grey light with our morning tea, dressed in warm clothes as the steam from our breath billowed out in front of laughter and conversation on the subject of tide pool safety and ecology.
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Artist conception of the water bear (tardigrade) sculpture in front of Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Bohart Museum Planning Water Bear Sculpture

August 19, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A water bear or tardigrade sculpture may soon grace the entrance to the Bohart Museum of Entomology. "I've been in touch with the sculptor Solomon Bassoff (Faducciart) in Roseville," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis.
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Future entomologists? A group of students in a Bay Area three-week insect class, taught by SaveNature.Org, poses for a photo.
Bug Squad: Article

Youths Experience the Joy of Insects

August 16, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Do you remember when insects first fascinated you or when you developed a love of insects? Odds are that the children who attend the SaveNature.Org insect-themed sessions in Berkeley will.
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Roses
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Rose Care and Weed Control

August 15, 2019
By Karey Windbiel-Rojas
Many gardeners and landscapers enjoy growing and caring for roses. Through careful selection of varieties and appropriate cultivation, roses can be grown with a minimum of pest problems.
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