Backyard Orchard News
There's an Assassin in Your Garden
Ever seen assassination attempts in your garden? They are not pretty if you're the prey. Neither...
Can you find the nymph assassin bug on this Cleveland sage? This bug belongs to the genus Zelus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A nymph assassin bug strikes a pose on Cleveland sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This adult assassin bug, Zelus renardii, is ready to ambush prey on a double cosmos blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This adult assassin bug lurks almost unnoticed on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The predator: the assassin bug. This one is lying in wait on a nectarine leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotcha! An assassin bug spears a male metallic sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Want to Try Your Hand at Maggot Art?
Want to try your hand at Maggot Art? If you've ever visited Briggs Hall during the annual...
Artists creating Maggot Art at the 2017 UC Davis Picnic Day celebration at Briggs Hall. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Maggot Art activity at the 2017 UC Davis Picnic Day drew a long line of eager artists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A maggot in action, creating Maggot Art. Artists can guide the movement of the maggots. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Some art critics compare the abstract lines of Maggot Art to the work of American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. Some lines are straight and simplistic, others, curved and crisscrossed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Dragonfly vs. Bee: Catch of the Day
The red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) waits oh-so-patiently atop a bamboo stick at...
A red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) with her prey, a female sweat bee, Halictus ligatus, as identified by Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. The gender of the flamekimmer identified by Kathy Claypool Biggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The red flameskimmer dragonfly adjusts her prey, a sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beneath all of that pollen is a female sweat bee, the prey of this red flameskimmer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
All gone. The red flameskimmer polishes off the last of the sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue!
It's the Fourth of July, and amid our celebration of the adoption of the Declaration of...
The red: The firecracker red flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The white: the cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The blue: The blue spots in the tail of the Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Flies, Maggots and Forensic Entomologists at Bohart Museum on Sunday, July 9
Do you know the importance of maggots? Have you ever wanted to talk to a forensic entomologist?...
A male flesh fly (Sarcophagidae) "very likely genus Sarcophaga," according to senior insect biosystematist Martin Hauser of of the Plant Pest Diagnostics Branch, California Department of Food and Agriculture. Photo taken on a nectarine plant in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey collecting flies on Alcatraz Island for a research project. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Maggot art is created by dipping a maggot in non-toxic, water-based paint and letting it crawl on canvas (paper). This is a popular activity at the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)