Backyard Orchard News
Plant Communication Research: 'Taking Root'
It's not outlandish now, if it ever were. A recent article in Science headlined "Once Considered...
UC Davis ecologist Rick Karban has researched plant communication in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on the east side of the Sierra since 1995.
Drum Roll...First Bumble Bee of the Year!
We have a winner! Several UC Davis bumble bee enthusiasts--encouraged by native pollinator...
Check out the pollen on this black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on manzanita, as photographed by Kim Chacon, UC Davis doctoral candidate on Jan. 10.
Black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heads for a manzanita blossom in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kim Chacon)
Close-up of a Bombus melanopygus heading for a manzanita blossom. (Photo by Kim Chacon)
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, teaching at The Bee Course last August. (Photo by Kim Chacon)
What, Santa Didn't Bring You a Tarantula for Christmas?
Doesn't Santa give everyone a Mexican redknee tarantula for Christmas? Oh, you didn't get...
Mexican redknee tarantula, the new project of 9-year-old Delsin Russell of Vacaville. Santa delivered the much-wanted gift on Christmas Eve. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Delsin Russell of Vacaville, then 8, attended an open house last August at the Bohart Museum of Entomology with his mother, Beth. Here they chat with Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kira Meets a Stick Insect
When you're five years old and just learning about the world around you and its inhabitants, it's...
Kira Olmos, 5, of Winters isn't sure she wants meet an Australian stick insect at the Bohart Museum. She is holding mom's hand. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kira Olmos' reaction is priceless as she reacts to the stick insect on her mother's arm. "She’s really not sure she wants to be one the same planet as that stick insect," commented Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kira Olmos leans forward for a closer look at the Australian stick insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kira Olmos smiles as she holds a smaller stick insect at the Bohart Museum. In back are UC Davis student fly researchers Yao Cai, graduate student, and Cindy Truong, undergraduate student, of the Joanna Chiu lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bruce Hammock: From Researching Insects to Helping Humankind
And to think it all began with butterflies. From basic science to applied science. From studying...
An anise swallowtail caterpillar, Papilio zelicaon. UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock's research on metamorphosis has led to human-focused research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An anise swallowtail,Papilio zelicaon. UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock's research on metamorphosis has led to human-focused research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)