Backyard Orchard News
Carpenter Bee: Beneficial Insect or Pest?
Let's face it--some folks are not fond of carpenter bees. Honey bees, yes! Bumble bees, yes!...
A female mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, pierces the corolla of salvia to rob the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, heads for bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A familiar sight: a female Valley carpenter bee, covered with pollen and nectaring on a passion flower. The female is solid black, while the male of this species is a green-eyed blond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xyclopa varipuncta, pierces the corolla of a foothill Penstemon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female carpenter bees, Xyclopa variuncta, often drill holes in limbs of dead trees to build their nests. This find, from Davis naturalist/photographer Allan Jones, shows a male wintering inside one of the holes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Interest in Kearney tea plants mentioned in the local abc 30 news broadcast Jan 2nd, 2017.
On January 2nd, 2017, abc 30 news aired a story on the 50 year old tea plants at UC ANR Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. When the 1967 20-yr long Lipton tea project ended, some of the top two cultivars were kept in the general landscaping. The Global Tea Initiative at UC Davis learned that the tea plants survived for fifty years without any special treatment. The initiative plans to do some studies on these plants.
A Look Back at 2016: Monarch Butterflies Reigned
What a marvelous year! Looking back at 2016, monarch butterflies reigned supreme--or at least they...
This tagged butterfly, part of WSU entomologist David James' migratory research project, flew from Ashland, Ore. on Aug. 28 to Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 5, or a distance of 285 miles in seven days, or about 40.7 miles a day. It was reared and tagged by Steve Johnson of Ashland and was on its way to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly laying an egg. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, their host plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tiny monarch egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar munching away on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green chrysalids, rimmed in gold, look like precious jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Its wings dried, a newly eclosed monarch is ready for release. This one decided to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch nectaring on milkweed blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Our Story Begins with Eight Monarch Caterpillars in the Dead of Winter
This is a story about how eight monarch butterflies escaped the freezing temperatures of Vacaville,...
Rita LeRoy of Vallejo holds a Vacaville monarch before releasing it at Lighthouse Field State Park. (Photo by Walter Rockholt)
Monarchs overwintering in the Lighthouse Field State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
Monarchs fluttering in the warm breeze at Lighthouse Field State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
Multiple monarchs nectaring on Eucalyptus blossoms at the overwintering site in Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
A Beer for a Butterfly or 'Suds for a Bug'
It's almost that time again—time for the annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest or...
This is a cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)