Backyard Orchard News
These Insects Thrive in the Extreme!
A mannequin in a firefighter turncoat pinned with fire beetles drew "oohs" and "aahs" at the Bohart...
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and animal biology major Crystal Homicz look at the turncoat covered with pinned beetles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Visitors examined the Extreme Insects display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Delsin Russell, 8, of Vacaville, wearing a T-shirt, "I Like Big Bugs; I Cannot Lie," asks a question of Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum. At right is Delsin's mother, Beth Russell, who related that Delsin wants to become an entomologist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Folsom residents Ravi Kahlon and her sons Rohan Jagadeesan, 6, and Raja Jagadeesan,3, discuss extreme insects with Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum. Ravi Kahlon is a 2001 graduate of UC Davis, majoring in philosophy.
Rohan Jagadeesan, 6, of Folsom, reads all about insects who thrive in a salty habitat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis students Karissa Merritt (center) and Sara Guevara-Plunkett staffed the live "petting zoo." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Participating in the family craft activity are (from left) Vacaville residents Rinka Matsumiya, 5, Kate Irwin, 3, and Kate's brother, Thomas Irwin, 8. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Senior museum scientist Steve Heydon chats with a visitor about parasites. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Don't Believe Everything You Read About Spiders--Or Anything Else for that Matter!
Just a hoax. A fear-mongering hoax. A so-called Facebook "public service announcement" on Aug. 21...
The woodlouse spider, Dysderca crocata, is neither a new species nor deadly, contrary to a Facebook hoax disguised as a public service announcement. (Photo by Michel Vuijlsteke, courtesy of Wikipedia)
This is a male woodlouse spider, Dysderca crocata. (Photo © Hans Hillewaert, courtesy of Wikipedia)
And the (Bee) Beat Goes On...
It was bound to happen. A "real" honey bee flying alongside "fake" bees on a bee crossing...
A honey bee flies in formation with "fake" bees on a bee crossing sign. Bees can flap their wings around 240 times per second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's almost flyover time again. Blue spike sage (Salvia uliginosa) is in the foreground. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How to Find a Praying Mantis
Do you know where your praying mantids are? Water a bush or a plant frequently visited by bees and...
A male praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, emerges from a pomegranate bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, strikes a pose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
About Those Declining Meadow Spittlebugs along the California Coastlne...
Who knew they were declining? Well, ecologists Richard "Rick" Karban Mikaela Huntzinger of the UC...
A meadow spittlebug nymph at the Bodega Marine Reserve. (Photo by Mikaela Huntzinger)
A graphic from the UC Davis researchers' article in the journal Ecology.