Backyard Orchard News
A Royal Moment with a Queen Bumble Bee
It's Thanksgiving Day and time to give thanks for NOT what we WANT, but what we HAVE. And, not for...
A queen bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on Salvia indigo spires in Kate Frey's pollinator garden on Nov. 12, 2017 at the Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The queen Bombus vosnesenskii begins her bumble bee acrobatics in the Kate Frey pollinator garden, Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ah, nectar. The queen bumble bee extends her tongue (proboscis). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Special Day for the Parasitoids and Walking Sticks
American biologist, researcher, theorist, naturalist and author E.O. Wilson once said: "(We have)...
UC Davis doctoral candidate Jessica Gillung shows a stick insect to brothers Elliott Bren, 12 (foreground) and Liam Breen, 14. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A stick insect maneuvers toward 12-year-old Elliott Bren of Sacramento. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An Australian walking stick munches on a eucalyptus leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sisters Zia Tinel, 8, and Olivia Tinel, 4, of Davis engage in the family craft activity: making pop-up cards starring monarchs and parasitoids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tabatha Yang, Bohart Museum education and outreach coordinator, shows dung beetles to the Huang siblings (from left) Amy, 6, Julie, 4, and Alex, 3, of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart Museum Visitors: As Close as Davis and as Far Away as San Jose
When there's a Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, visitors come to listen, learn and...
Bohart associate and butterfly expert Greg Kareofelas talks to Sacramento residents Amii Barnhard-Bahn and her daughter, Larkin, 15. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kathy Ruiz of Davis, a member of the Yolo County Master Gardeners, visited the Bohart Museum with her grandsons Elliott Bren (left), 12, and Liam Bren, 14, of Sacramento. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This display focused on silk moths and the life cycle stages, from eggs to caterpillars to pupa to adults. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis doctoral students Jessica Gillung and Ziad Khouri discuss their entomological projects prior to the arrival of Bohart Museum of Entomology guests. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Doctoral Candidate Brendon Boudinot: Adding to Our Knowledge of Ants
If you attended the 2017 Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting, held recently in Denver,...
Myrmecologist Brendon Boudinot in the field. This was taken at the Southwest Research Station in the Chiricahua Mountains near Portal, Ariz., by Roberto Keller, National Museum of Natural History and Science, Portugal.
Brendon Boudinot (front) with fellow myremcologists at a 2014 National Geographic expedition to Santa Rosa Island, led by David Holway and Phil Ward. In back (from left) are researchers Matt Prebus, Marek Borowiec and their major professor Phil Ward. Prebus, a doctoral candidate, will be giving his exit seminar this spring. Borowiec is now a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University.
Brendon Boudinot (center) is the recipient of a first-place President's Prize for the second consecutive year in the Entomological Society of America's annual graduate student competition. With him are outgoing ESA president Susan Weller, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum; and incoming ESA president Michael Parrella, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, and former professor/chair of the UC Davis Department. (ESA Photo)
The World of Praying Mantids: A Question Posed, A Question Answered
Last summer you may have happened upon praying mantids mating. Hopefully, the male didn't lose his...
Mating pair of Stagmomantis limbata, a common mantis in Vacaville, Calif. The male did not lose his head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mating pair of mega mantids, Plistospilota guineensis. These mantids are part of Andrew Pfeifer's collection in Monroe County, N.C. See the result below! (Photo by Andrew Pfeifer)
Praying mantis authority Andrew Pfeifer, who administers the public Facebook page, Mantis Keepers, captured this image of his Plistospilota guineensis ootheca. It's about the size of a large chicken egg. (Photo by Andrew Pfeifer)