http://ucanr.org/blogs/bugsquad/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Happenings in the insect world en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Tue, 15 May 2012 21:12:38 PST Tue, 15 May 2012 21:12:38 PST UC ANR If you're looking for a good bee plant that offers a little bit of an obstacle, try the violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma calystegioides). It's one of the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars.What's an Arboretum All-Star? The UC Davis Arboretum horticultural staff, led by Ellen Zagory, singled out "100 tough, reliable plants that have been tested in the Arboretum." The All-Stars are "easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in...
]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 21:12:38 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7503&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7503 Our yard is filled with such bee friendly plants as salvia, lavender, catmint and rock purslane. Lately, however, the honey bees have taken a liking to the sugar-water mixture from our hummingbird feeder. Manufacturers' bee guards are meant to deter them but frankly, we rather like attracting both the hummers and the buzzers."The bees are hungry," said bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the University of California, Davis and Washington State University.We like watching the honey bees gather...
]]> Mon, 14 May 2012 23:19:25 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7494&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7494 If you head over to the 137th annual Dixon May Fair, the state's oldest continuous fair, you'll see a flurry of butterflies. The fair, located at 655 S. First St., Dixon, opened Thursday, May 10 and continues through Sunday, May 13. Colorful specimens and butterfly posters from the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, grace the Floriculture Building. Over in the Fine Arts and Photography Building and Today's Youth Building, scores of artists--young and young at heart--are displaying images...
]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 22:40:09 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7476&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7476 A honey bee foraging in a lavender patch encounters a jumping spider and narrowly avoids becoming prey.HB returns to the hive only to notice a sister doing the waggle dance to communicate (erroneously) what a good foraging site this lavender patch is, and "Let's go!"HB head-butts her dancing sister to warn of the danger. The dancing stops. A "stop signal" just occurred.That's the short version of what biologist James Nieh of UC San Diego will discuss when he speaks on “The Role of...
]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 21:45:30 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7467&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7467 When TED extends an invite, that's a high honor.Scientists-artists Diane Ullman and Donna Billick, co-founders and co-directors of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, have been invited to speak at the second annual TEDx program hosted at the University of California, Davis. The theme of the daylong program, set from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 19 in Room 1100 of Social Sciences and Humanities Building, is “The Power of Perspective." Ullman and Billick are among some 14 speakers...
]]> Tue, 08 May 2012 21:13:06 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7456&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7456 What's Mother's Day without moths?And caterpillars? Moth specimens and a fun caterpillar craft activity will highlight a pre-“Moth’er's Day” open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, May 12 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, 1124 Academic Surge on California Drive, University of California, Davis campus. The event is free and open to the public.You can learn about moths and make "caterpillars" from colorful “scrunched-up paper” and chopsticks, says Tabatha Yang,...
]]> Mon, 07 May 2012 21:33:33 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7445&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7445 So you want to learn about native bees...Just drop by the Davis Public Library next Thursday night.Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, will present a public lecture on “Promoting Native Bees for Gardens, Farms, and Native Plants” at the Davis Botanical Society meeting on Thursday night, May 10 in the Davis Public Library, 315 E. 14th St. Williams, to speak from 7 to 8 p.m., will discuss native bee biology and diversity in the Capay...
]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 21:29:13 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7431&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7431 Honey bees aren't that much into roses. Wild roses, yes. Cultivated roses, not so much. Given a choice, they'll take the lavenders, mints and salvia (sage) over the roses any time. Occasionally, however, we see honey bees foraging on roses in the UC Davis Arboretum's Storer Garden on Garrod Drive, or in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road. Ah, roses! One of life's simple pleasures. And what would Mother's Day be without them?Speaking of roses, this weekend on the UC Davis...
]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 22:12:19 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7418&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7418 Monarch butterflies, says Sonia Altizer, are "globally distributed and best known for undertaking a spectacular annual migration in parts of North America." However, in wild populations, monarchs are commonly infected "with a specialist protozoan Ophryocystis elektroscirrha; this parasite can be transmitted both vertically and horizontally and causes debilitating infections." Altizer, an associate professor in the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, will discuss "Migratory...
]]> Wed, 02 May 2012 22:21:01 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7409&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7409 If you're growing a tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii) in your yard, you won't need a stop sign or a traffic light to encourage vehicles to slow down--they will automatically when they see this spectacular plant.it's a traffic stopper.The plant, reminiscent of a Christmas tree, attracts not only vehicular and foot traffic, but honey bees, bumble bees and hummingbirds. It's basically a tower of bees when it blooms. The one in our yard is about eight feet tall. Honey bees, eager for the nectar...
]]> Tue, 01 May 2012 23:17:03 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7394&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7394 Sometimes it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.The common blue damselfly or Northern Bluet (Enallagma cyathigerum) is long and slender like a needle, but a jeweled blue needle.We spotted this one last weekend at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis.  Damselflies are difficult to photograph. You have to sneak up on them. If you move too fast toward...
]]> Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:20:46 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7385&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7385 Nature's Gallery is absolutely spectacular.You may remember hearing about the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program project when it was displayed in the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2007.Nature's Gallery drew raves then and it's drawing raves now.It's a mosaic mural of 140 interlocking ceramic tiles depicting plants and insects. Now it's in its "forever" home--the UC Davis Arboretum's Ruth Storer Garden, located on Garrod Drive. It anchors what is to be Nature's...
]]> Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:30:50 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7372&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7372 The declining population of honey bees troubles us all.Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, who holds a dual appointment at the University of California, Davis and Washington State University (WSU), believes that "increasing the overall genetic diversity of honey bees may lead to healthier and hardier bees that can better fight off parasites, pathogens and pests." Just as stock improvement has served the poultry, dairy and swine industries well, the beekeeping industry needs access “to stocks of...
]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:23:26 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7356&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7356 Beekeepers sometimes see a white-eyed drone in their hives--a genetic mutation.All drones (male) honey bees, have these spectacular wrap-around eyes that are perfect for finding a virgin queen on her maiden flight. After all, the drone's sole purpose is to mate with a queen and then die.  So, every afternoon in spring and summer,  weather permitting, the drones fly from their individual colonies and gather in a drone congregation area and wait for a virgin queen to fly by. The queen will mate...
]]> Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:32:25 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7337&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7337 So you're sitting in your yard having your morning coffee, and you get buzzed--not a buzz from the caffeine but a buzz by a carpenter bee.A male carpenter bee,  Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, is guarding the salvia, fending off all other male suitors as it waits for a female to arrive. Then, seeking a quick energy fix, our subject stops to rob the nectar (when carpenter bees slit the corolla, bypassing the pollination process, it's called "robbing the nectar").We managed to photograph this male...
]]> Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:53:07 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7336&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7336 They're tiny--about 1/5 of an inch long. They feed at night and hide during the day.There's a good reason why they're called "the menace in the mattress." The mattress is one of their hiding spots.They? Bed bugs. Parasites that feed on human blood."Bed bug infestations are rampant locally, nationally and globally," says Tanya Drlik, integrated pest management (IPM) coordinator of Contra Costa County who will speak at the May 3rd meeting of the Northern California Entomology Society, to be held...
]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:47:50 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7330&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7330 Is there a doctor in the house? If you head over to the UC Davis Department of Entomology's displays at Briggs Hall and at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on Saturday, April 21 during the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, you'll find them. Bug doctors. Lots of them. They'll be there from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will be behind a sign that says "Dr. Death" in Room 122 of Briggs Hall. (Briggs is located off Kleiber Hall Drive.) There you can ask him all kinds of...
]]> Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:47:11 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7314&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7314 When you listen to a rainforest, what do you hear? What does it tell you? Those who attend the free public event,  “Mentawai: Listening to the Rainforest,” on Sunday, April 22 on the UC Davis campus will find out. The unique art/science fusion program, held appropriately on Earth Day, will be presented at 7 p.m. in the UC Davis Main Theatre. Doors open at 6:30. The event is affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.  The program...
]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:07:31 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7304&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7304 One of the six honey varieties that the UC Davis Department of Entomology will serve during the campuswide 98th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 21 is...drum roll...cactus honey.Yes, you heard that right. Cactus honey.The plant may present a prickly situation to us, but not to the bees. In addition to cactus honey, honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, will share five other varieties:  California buckwheat, avocado,...
]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:32:12 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7294&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7294 Bee swarms don't always have happy endings. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology was quoted in a news story published today about a bee swarm on a Stockton ballfield. "It came from over the center-field wall during the top of the fourth inning, a dark cloud headed straight for home plate," wrote Stockton Record staff writer Alex Breitler. "Bees. Perhaps 20,000 of them." Breitler related that "players dived into the dirt or spring for the dugout, while...
]]> Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:52:01 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7281&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7281