Posts Tagged: Robbin Thorp
Carpenter Bee: Beneficial Insect or Pest?
Let's face it--some folks are not fond of carpenter bees. Honey bees, yes! Bumble bees, yes!...
A female mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, pierces the corolla of salvia to rob the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, heads for bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A familiar sight: a female Valley carpenter bee, covered with pollen and nectaring on a passion flower. The female is solid black, while the male of this species is a green-eyed blond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xyclopa varipuncta, pierces the corolla of a foothill Penstemon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female carpenter bees, Xyclopa variuncta, often drill holes in limbs of dead trees to build their nests. This find, from Davis naturalist/photographer Allan Jones, shows a male wintering inside one of the holes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Robbin Thorp: Chasing Franklin's Bumble Bee
It may be extinct, but don't say the "E" word to Robbin Thorp. Thorp, a noted bumble bee expert,...
Robbin Thorp and his computer screen showing his image of Franklin's bumble bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp next to an almond tree on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Landmark Book Addresses California Bees, Blooms
If you're looking for a holiday gift for family and friends--or maybe yourself--think bees and...
This is a native bumble bee, Bombus californicus, on blanketflower (Gaillardia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Often mistakenly "identified" as a "golden bumble bee," this is the male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, on flowering milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Climate Change Affects Bees
Have you ever wondered how climate change affects bees? Honey bees and native bees? You can find...
This ceramic-mosaic sculpture of a worker bee, by self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis, anchors the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Know Your Native Bees: Here's How!
Do you know your native bees? Can you distinguish a sweat bee from a leafcutting bee from a cuckoo...
Female sweat bee, Svastra obliqua expurgate, on purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A leafcutter bee, Megachile sp., heading for a broadleaf milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male cuckoo bee, Triepeolus concavusm, on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. Female cuckoo bees are cleptoparasites; they lay their eggs inside the nests of native bees, including Svastra. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Andrena (mining) bee on meadowfoam, Limnanthes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)