Backyard Orchard News
Are Western Monarchs Heading for Extinction?
Are western monarch butterflies heading for extinction? A Sept. 7 article in Reuters, headlined...
A male monarch takes flight on Sept. 12 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch heads for another flower on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Startled, a male monarch abruptly leaves a tropical milkweed blossom, Asclepias curassavica, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarchs nectaring on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bright Face in the Garden: Banded Argiope
We have bright faces in our Vacaville, Calif., pollinator garden. The bright faces are usually...
A banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata, stretches out near its wrapped bee in a Vacaville, Calif. pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
See the freeloader fly, family Milichiidae, feasting on the wrapped bee? Below it: the banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata. Argiope is Latin for “with bright face” while trifasciata is Latin for “three-banded.” (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Day a Widow Skimmer Came Calling
Just as all lady bugs aren't ladies, all widow skimmer dragonflies aren't female. A mature male...
A mature male Libellula luctuosa, aka “Widow Skimmer," perches on a bamboo stake in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A strong gust of wind pushed the widow skimmer's wings below its body. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of mature male Libellula luctuosa, aka “Widow Skimmer." This one was recently mated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Exploring the Wonders of Insects--With a UC Davis Aboretum Talk and Tour
If you want to learn about insects, join entomologists Joel Hernandez and Melissa Cruz for their...
Entomologist Joel Hernandez led a butterfly tour last year at the UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
For the Love of Bees
Sarah the Bee Girl stands in front of a cluster of first graders sitting by a six-foot worker bee...
First graders, school officials and parents from Peregrine School cluster around a bee sculpture at UC Davis Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee for a "Kids and Bees" program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sarah the Bee Girl reads a book about bees. In back are WAS members Cyndi and Jim Smith of Donney Lake, Wash. Cyndi serves as the secretary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sarah the Bee Girl outfits a first grader with a forager costume for correctly answering a question about foragers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After Sarah the Bee Girl (back) read a book about bees, she quizzed them, and those with the correct answers were given props depicting those bees. These youngsters represent (from left) a forager, a scout bee, a house bee, a nurse bee, the queen bee and a drone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Robbin Thorp (left), distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, catches a bee with his device. A magnifying class enables the youngsters to see the bee up close. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Staff research associate Charley Nye, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, staffed the bee habitat table. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Staff research associate Bernardo Niño of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr., Honey Bee Research Facility/UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, staffed the beewax table. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Zoe Anderson, a UC Davis undergraduate student majoring in animal biology, holds up a jar of honey bottled by Sarah the Bee Girl. Her bees foraged on vetch to produce this honey, which was the favorite of all the honeys tasted. Anderson staffed the honey-tasting table with WAS member Kari Hallopeter of Spokane, Wash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)