Rangelands

There's still time to register for our first-ever Sierra Foothills Rancher's Fire Academy! We'll be covering topics like using prescribed fire to control rangeland weeds, planning your own prescribed fire, fire tool basics, ranching hardening, and managing livestock during wildfire.

If you like insects, macro photography, and cool calendars, you'll want to order the "World of Insects" calendar, published by the Entomological Society of America. You'll see insects you've never seen before--and learn a little about them.

Meet Sol Wantz, who serves as president of the UC Davis Entomology Club, a curator intern at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and an undergraduate student researcher in the laboratory of pollination ecologist Neal Williams, a UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology professor.

We are saddened to hear of the death of Peter "Kim" Flottum, longtime editor of Bee Culture magazine, a friend of the nation's beekeepers and bee scientists, and a close friend of the UC Davis bee community. A resident of Medina, Ohio, Kim died Sunday, Dec. 10 at his home of lung cancer at age 76.

Sleeping with the aphids...that's what this monarch caterpillar was doing. It lived--and quite hidden at that--through the freezing cold, the rain, and the wind. It surfaced today on a milkweed in our Vacaville pollinator garden.

Can a praying mantis catch a monarch? Yes, it can. And yes, it does. It was Sept. 14, 2013. As I approached a Vacaville supermarket, I noticed pink lantana blooming furiously near the entrance, and then, a familiar-looking butterfly quietly sipping nectar. "Ah, there's a monarch," I observed.

News flash: Santa shops at the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop at UC Davis. Yes, he does.

Mark your calendars! Mark your calendars for the eagerly awaited open houses and special events at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology has announced its 2024 special events, which include three open houses and participation in UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and UC Davis Picnic Day. All are free and family friendly. The schedule: Saturday, Jan. 20: "Social Wasps," 1 to 4 p.m.

Seven invasive fruit fly quarantines are in place throughout California. If you live within one of these quarantine zones, fruits and vegetables should not be moved off the property they were grown on.