Backyard Orchard News
Who Doesn't Pine for Plants? And Pollinators!
Who doesn't pine for plants? And pollinators? The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is...
Chilean rock purslane, Calandrina grandiflora, is a favorite of pollinators, including this bee. Note the red pollen. This is one of the plants offered by the UC Davis Arboretum at its plant sale on Nov. 4. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectaring a butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii. This is one of the plants for sale at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Nov. 4. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee makes a beeline for a pomegranate blossom, a Punica granatum 'Wonderful.' This plant will be offered at the Arboretum plant sale on Nov. 4. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Congratulations, ESA Winner Kelly Hamby!
Congratulations, UC Davis alumna Kelly Hamby! Hamby, an assistant professor and extension...
Kelly Hamby, assistant professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, conducts a horticultural crop tour hosted by the Western Maryland Research and Education Center. The educational meeting gave fruit and vegetable producers a look at several of the ongoing projects at the research facility located in Washington County, MD, as well as the opportunity to interact with University of Maryland researchers and Extension specialists.
Kelly Hamby (foreground) works on a lygus bioassay with a University of Maryland student.
Kelly Hamby works in a University of Maryland research field, a young raspberry planting "where we are deploying spray card to evaluate spray coverage."
Bugs at the Bohart? Yes, and Bernie and a Hot Dog, Too!
Entomologists don't always dress as predators or prey at their Halloween parties. Sure, they're...
A carved pumpkin at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Halloween party spilled its guts. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart Museum research entomologist Tom Zavortink portrayed Bernie Sanders, and UC Davis alumnus Danielle Wishon, a shark. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart senior museum scientist Steve Heydon portrayed a scarecrow--that knife is fake--and his wife, Anita, a black widow spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, delighted in student Parras McGrath's costume--a tarantula hawk. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the advisor to the UC Davis Entomology Club, came dressed in his ghillie suit. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Student Keely Davies, a member of the UC Davis Entomology Club, was all law 'n order. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Student Jamie Fong came dressed as a hot dog. At left is Tabatha Yang, Bohart Museum outreach and public education coordinator, dressed as a "staff infection." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ahoy, there, mate! UC Davis student Diego Rivera came dressed as a pirate (see the parrot on his shoulder?) but he was mistaken for a patriot from the American Revolutionary War. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
And the band played on! From left are James Heydon on guitar, vocalist Maia Lundy (UC Davis entomology graduate) and her sister, Jade Lundy, on violin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Framed by a harp, Andre Poon softly played the violin. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A PiƱata That Only Entomologists Could Love
Have you ever hit a piñata? Hit it and smashed it to smithereens? It was probably a...
The Halloween party invitation from the Bohart Museum of Entomology featured an Acroceridae fly and larva. (Images the work of Nicole Tam, UC Davis alumnus)
UC Davis PhD student Charlotte Herbert as"Maggie the Maggot," and her fiance, George Alberts, as "Farmer Maggot," or his interpreation of Farmer Maggot from "The Lord of Rings." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis PhD students Charlotte Herbert (left) and Jessica Gillung admire the fly pinata, depicting the genus Acrocera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis PhD student Charlotte Herbert takes a swing at the fly pinata that she and her fiance, George Alberts, created for the Bohart Museum of Entomology Halloween party. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis PhD student Jessica Gillung dressed as a raccoon at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Halloween party. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Not a Good Time to Be a Monarch Caterpillar
Migrating monarchs are fluttering daily into our yard in Vacaville, Calif., one by one, two by two,...
A monarch caterpillar munches on tropical milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 27. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pacific Northwest monarchs began migrating to their overwintering sites along coastal California in last August and early September. This one touched down on milkweed in Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 12. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This was the scene Nov. 14, 2016 at the Natural Bridges State Park's Monarch Grove Butterfly Natural Preserve, Santa Cruz. They were overwintering 80 feet high in a eucalpytus tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)