Bug Blog
About Those Walking Sticks...
Why would anyone want to study walking sticks (stick insects)? Well, why wouldn't anyone NOT want to? That's the question we ought to ask. Enter doctoral candidate Matan Shelomi of the UC Davis...
This is the insect that Matan Shelomi studies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One Last Look at the Almonds 'n the Bees
While other parts of the country are buried in snow, California's Central Valley is just finishing up its almond pollination season. In actuality, those fragile white petals fluttering to the ground...
Honey bee foraging on an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollen-packing honey bee dives in head first. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Land around an almond tree on Bee Biology Road is being prepared for UC Davis pollination ecology plots. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Meet Our Garden Heroes at Bohart Museum Open House on March 2
If there's anything better than a ladybug eating an aphid, it's a ladybug devouring dozens of aphids. Get 'em! Ladybugs--actually, they're "lady beetles"--are garden heroes. And that's the theme of...
A ladybug grabbing an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ladybug prowling for aphids on brittlebush, Encelia californica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ladybug "walking the line." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Carpenter Bees Like Almond Blossoms, Too
We're accustomed to seeing honey bees pollinating the almonds. But carpenter bees do, too. We spotted a female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, foraging in an almond tree on Feb. 24...
A female Valley carpenter bee buzzes in the almond blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Full speed ahead: carpenter bee sights an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female Valley carpenter bee meets almonds blossom. She's shaking her thoracic muscles to loosen the pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Feeding the Bees
Talk about good news. Honey bees will definitely benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's announcement Tuesday that it will provide nearly $3 million in technical and financial...
Honey bee foraging on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)