Posts Tagged: Martin Hauser
A Fly, Oh, My!

A fly, oh, my! On the approval scale, they don't rank nearly as high as honey bees, but some are...
A female Eristalis stipator (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, foraging on tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The female Eristalis stipator peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eristalis stipator in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
See you! Off flies Eristalis stipator, heading for another blossom. (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)
The Lady Beetle and the Syrphid Fly

So, here I am, an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) perched on a rose bush in Vacaville,...
A large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri (as identified by Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture), heads for a lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Touchdown! The large syrphid fly, Scaeva pyrastri, lands next to the lady beetle.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The syrphid fly licks honeydew from the lady beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky liquid, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the anus of the aphid.
Flowering Jade Draws Some Pollinators

It's not spring yet, but don't tell that to the pollinators at the Benicia Capitol State Historic...
European syrphid fly forages on jade at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. This is a Eristalinus aenus.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee foraging on jade at the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
There Is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch

There is such a thing as a free lunch. And a free breakfast. And a free dinner. And a...
A freeloader fly dines on a bee freshly killed by a garden spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a freeloader fly, family Milichiidae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)