Backyard Orchard News
Take Stock: It's the First Day of Spring
Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring. If Virginia...
It's spring! A honey bee heads toward a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee prepares to land on a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up! The honey bee sips nectar from the fragrant Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Admiring the Red Admiral
One of the first butterflies we see in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden in midwinter is the...
A Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, spreads its wings on a Roldana aschenborniana (Golden Light Senecio) on March 9 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Red Admiral prepares to take flight over a Roldana aschenborniana (Golden Light Senecio) in the Storer Garden, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sol Wantz Sheds Light on Jerusalem Crickets and Other Insects
Those Jerusalem crickets aren't as scary as some folks imagine them to be. UC Davis third-year...
UC Davis student entomologist Sol Wantz begins her presentation on "Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids" at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Jerusalem cricket can reach 2.5 inches in length. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sol Wantz with her parents Adam Wantz and Patti-Leggett Wantz of Belmont, and UC Davis researcher Ernest Walker, a UC Davis alumnus (biology). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Many Spiders Have You Saved Today?
It's National Save-a-Spider Day. I did not save a spider today. I did not save one yesterday,...
A redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum, visiting a pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A jumping spider eyes the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Students Video Their Impressions of Emeriti Presentations
What a great idea! When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the...
A male monarch butterfly nectaring on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)