Backyard Orchard News
Hmm, What's That Critter with the Long, Skinny Necks and Legs?
“They have weird, long, skinny hinged necks, long skinny legs, and the wing bases are covered...
Heads of Rhadinoscelidia malaysiae species. "One of the most unusual things about these wasps is the weird head deformities," says Lynn Kimsey. "I’ve never seen it in any other wasps or bees that I’ve studied."
Comparison of Rhadinoscelidia (top) and Chrysididae. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Kimsey)
UC Davis Arboretum Plant Sale on March 10; Why Not Think Gaillardia?
If you've been thinking about blanketing your garden with blanketflower (Gaillardia), you're in...
A pollen-covered honey bee forages on a Gallardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus californicus, forages on a Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, flutters on a Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, spreads its wings on a Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A syrphid fly, also called a hover fly or flower fly, stakes out a Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollinators aren't the only insects that like Gaillardia. Here a praying mantis lies in wait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Unforeseen Trophic Interactions in Ag Systems: What-Eats-What in the Food Chain
Trophic interactions--or what-eats-what in the food chain or food web of a given ecosystem--will...
Female sweat bees, Halictus ligatus, on goldenrod at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tom Seeley: 'Bees Are Superb Beekeepers'
"Honey bees are superb beekeepers; they know what they're doing." So said bee scientist and author...
"Honey bees are superb beekeepers; they know what they're doing," keynote speaker Tom Seeley tells the fourth annual UC Davis Bee Symposium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"EVERYTHING that colonies do when they are living on their own (not being managed by beekeepers) is done to favor their survival and their reproduction, and thus their success is contribution to the next generation of colonies," Cornell bee scientist Tom Seeley pointed out. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Darwinian beekeeping is allowing the bees to use their own beekeeping skills fully," keynote speaker Tom Seeley says. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Professor Neal Williams (left) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, shares a laugh with keynote speaker Tom Seeley of Cornell. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
And Along Came a Spider
If you've been checking out the honey bees foraging on the almonds lately--in between the...
Can you see an ant and a spider in this photo of an almond tree? It's a winter ant, Prenolepis imparis and a jumping spider, Salticidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eyes to eyes: A winter ant, Prenolepis imparis, encounters a jumping spider on an almond branch on a tree off Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. The jumping spider has four pairs of eyes while the ant has one pair. No arthropods were harmed in the making of this photo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)