Backyard Orchard News
What's It Like to Be Parasitized?
What's it like to be parasitized? Say you're a caterpillar or an aphid and a wasp comes along and...
A wasp (family Aphidiinae) parasitizing an aphid. (Photo by Fran Keller, who received her doctorate in entomology this year from UC Davis.)
C'mon In, the Pollen's Fine!
It's a cold spell. As temperatures dip throughout much of California, and honey bees snuggle...
A pollen-covered honey bee heading toward Bacopa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
C'mon in, the pollen's fine! A honey bee reaching for pollen.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The 'Gold' That an Apple Tree Yielded
Thar's gold in them thar apple trees. Gold? When a rotten apple tree was cut down last week on...
A male Valley carpenter bee (right) peers from a hole. A female (all females are solid black) occupies the hole next to him.
A cluster of male Valley carpenter bees.
Extension apiculturist (emeritus) Eric Mussen holds a handful of male Valley carpenter bees.
This male Valley carpenter bee backed into its drilled hole to keep warm.
A Posse for the Pieiris?
In case you've forgotten amid all the horn-blowing, champagne-sipping and singing of "Auld Lang...
Cabbage white butterfly on catmint. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Buggy New Year!
It's a buggy new year! One of the fascinating things about beginning the new year is the...
This photo of a black soldier fly, by Jena Johnson, is "Mr. October" in the ESA calendar. (Photo by Jena Johnson, used with permission)
The ESA calendar cover features this clown grasshopper by Francisco Lopez-Machado of Cali, Colombia. (Photo courtesy of ESA)
"Mr. December" in the ESA calendar is this image of a flameskimmer dragonfly, taken by Kathy Keatley Garvey of UC Davis.