http://ucanr.org/blogs/bugsquad/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Happenings in the insect world en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:44:54 PST Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:44:54 PST UC ANR Biodiversity--that's what it's at on Sunday, Feb. 12 at the University of California, Davis.That's when four museums or centers that engage in education and research involving insects, vertebrates or plants will host open houses. And folks will be amazed, officials promise. The Bohart Museum of Entomology, the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology and the Botanical Conservatory will be open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m., while the Center for Plant Diversity will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. "This...
]]> Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:44:54 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6783&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6783 A sure sign that winter is nearly over: when the flowering quince bursts into bloom, attracting a flotilla of foraging honey bees.  Actually, the bees began "inspecting" the flowering quince in the bud stage.  "Hurry, open up!" the bees seemed to urge. "We have to start feeding our colonies." Flowering quince (genus Chaenomeles, family Rosaceae) is an ornamental plant that's delightful to see. Who doesn't admire the soft pink blossoms and the comforting hum of bees buzzing around with heavy...
]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:59:08 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6770&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6770 What do butterflies tell us about tropical diversity? Take it from an expert. Tropical ecologist Philip DeVries of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, will discuss the topic at his lecture on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the University of California, Davis. His presentation, sponsored by the College of Biological Sciences' Storer Life Sciences Endowment, is at 4:10 p.m. in  2 Wellman Hall. Professor Phil Ward of the UC Davis Department of Entomology is his host. Free...
]]> Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:22:20 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6762&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6762 In a pre-Valentine's Day event, officials at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, are planning a Bug Lovin'  theme for their next open house. It will be a lovefest of bugs!The event, free and open to the public, will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 12 at the museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge on California Drive.The Bohart, home of more than seven million insect specimens, also houses a "live petting zoo" (think Madagascar hissing cockroaches and...
]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:17:39 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6749&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6749 Those jumping spiders certainly can jump.Last summer we spotted what appeared to be the red-backed jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni (famiiy Salticidae), stalking native bees and honey bees in our yard.Its iridescent green chelicerae, which characterizes many species in the genus, literally glowed. It wasn't a good hunter. It missed its prey time after time.So, it should be interesting when Damian Elias, assistant professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC...
]]> Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:51:29 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6739&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6739 Almond pollination season in California traditionally begins around Valentine's Day. This year, however, thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, almond trees began blooming in late January in some parts of Central California.Take the city of Benicia. Its temperate climate is conducive to early spring. Today as the temperature climbed to 58 degrees, we saw almond blossoms everywhere--at the entrance to Benicia State Park, in residential yards, in fields and meadows, and lining city streets and...
]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:15:45 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6732&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6732 They're hairy. They're bristly. They're attention-getters. They probably draw more "yecchs!" than most insects. All the more reason to love 'em. Frankly, the tachinids (family Tachinidae, order Diptera) could never be misidentified as honey bees, as some pollinators such as hover flies, are. And yes, flies can be pollinators. Entomologists tell us that worldwide, there are more than 8,200 identified species, and more than 1300 species in North America alone. Who knows how many more are out...
]]> Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:42:21 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6718&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6718 A "she bee" on a hebe.That has a nice ring to it.It was Jan. 7, an unseasonably warm day for winter and we decided to take advantage of it by driving to the Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael.Gardeners do a good job tending the plants that border the marina and the honey bees do a good job of gathering nectar and pollen.One of the plants popular among the bees is hebe (genus Hebe), an evergreen shrub that probably derives its name from Hebe, the goddess of youth (Greek mythology). A native of New...
]]> Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:39:13 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6700&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6700 It's good to see the growing number of seminars, lectures and workshops on pollinators.The more we know about our pollinators, the better we'll be able to protect and sustain them. Bee scientists from the UC Davis Department of Entomology will present four of the six talks at the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Pollinator Workshop, set Tuesday, Feb. 21 in Woodland. The event, free and open to all interested persons, will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. in Norton Hall, 70...
]]> Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:44:11 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6690&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6690 If you're interested in pollen and pollinators, you'll want to attend the UC Davis Department of Entomology seminar at 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1 in 122 Briggs Hall.That's when T’ai Roulston, research associate professor and curator, State Arboretum of Virginia, will speak on "Pollen as a Resource for Pollinators: What Governs Quality?" Pollen is a bee's protein. Nectar is a bee's sugar or carbohydrate. T'ai Roulston will be speaking specifically on pollen. "Lab work using the sweat bee...
]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:33:50 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6678&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6678 If you've been lying awake at night wondering how European paper wasps select their mates--or if you're just naturally curious--you'll want to attend Amanda "Mandy" Izzo's seminar at 12:10 p.m.., Friday, Jan. 27 in 6 Olson Hall, UC Davis. Izzo, who finished her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology last year at the University of Michigan, where she worked with Elizabeth Tibbetts on wasp communication and sexual selection, will speak on "Spotting the Top Male: Sexual Selection in a...
]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:51:41 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6668&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6668 It's off to Japan to talk about bumble bees and other pollinators. Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, will be one of the featured speakers at the International Symposium on Pollinator Conservation, to be held Jan. 27-29  in Fukuoka, Japan. His talk will explore agricultural landscape change and the role of bee life history in predicting and understanding responses of bee communities. The conference, sponsored by the Japan Society of...
]]> Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:24:02 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6663&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6663 No matter what insect you're interested in, you can usually find your favorite topic at one of the Northern California Entomology Society meetings. The group meets three times a year: once in Sacramento, once at UC Davis and once at Concord. Dues? $10 a year. Membership is open to all interested persons. At the next meeting, set from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2 in the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Plant Diagnostics Lab, 3288 Meadowview Drive, featured insects...
]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:10:24 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6654&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6654 When you try to attract leafcutting bees (Megachile spp.) to your bee condos, you may also attract something else.Wasps.Bee condos (wood blocks drilled with holes for native bee nests) are a favorite of gardeners and bee enthusiasts. Leafcutting bees lay their eggs in them, provision them with food for the winter, and seal the holes with leaves. Then, in the spring, if all goes well, their offspring will emerge.Well, some of them will. Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus...
]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:37:53 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6643&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6643 Have you ever observed how a honey bee swarm finds a new home? How a few of the worker bees turn into scouts, scour their surroundings, and then return to the swarm and dance to communicate their findings? Thomas Seeley has. Many times. "Choosing the right dwelling place is a life-or-death matter for a honeybee colony," he writes in his book, Honeybee Democracy. "If a colony chooses poorly, and so occupies a nest cavity that is too small to hold the honey stores to survive winter, or that...
]]> Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:05:06 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6634&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6634 It will be like "old-home week" when Anurag Agrawal returns to the University of California, Davis, tomorrow (Jan. 18) to deliver a seminar on "Evolutionary Ecology of Plant Defenses." Agrawal, who received his doctorate at UC Davis under major professor Rick Karban, UC Davis Department of Entomology, and is now a professor of ecology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.,  will give the presentation from 12:10 to 1 p.m., in 122 Briggs. Host is Andrew Merwin of the Michael Parrella...
]]> Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:45:50 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6623&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6623 There's a waiting list for Susan Cobey's specialized bee classes at the University of California,Davis.That says a lot about the demand for bee stock improvement and for Cobey's teachings.Cobey, bee breeder-geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis and at Washington State University, draws researchers and beekeepers from all over the world to her workshops.Her March and April classes on queen bee rearing and instrument insemination--advanced classes that...
]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:30:13 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6610&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6610 Zombies!What do you think of when someone says "zombies?"Students sitting inattentively in class? A souless body? Or a honey bee infested with parasitic flies? A Zombie, according to Wikipedia, is a term used "to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft....Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired notable popularity, especially in North American and European folklore.  In modern times, the term 'zombie' has been applied to an undead race in...
]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:39:03 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6589&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6589 If you let your bok choy go to seed, what a treat for the honey bees.The mild unseasonable weather and blooming bok choy--perfect for foraging honey bees searching for food in January.Mother Nature may fool them. Bok choy does not. Bok choy (Brassica rapa chinensis), also known as Chinese cabbage, is a East Asian leafy vegetable. In Cantonese, bok choy means "white vegetable."In bee language, it means "let's forage."Check out the yellow pollen and the newness of the bees!Can spring be far...
]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:00:11 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6591&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6591 It all started with Robert Kimsey's fly research on Alcatraz Island. Kimsey, a UC Davis forensic entomologist, first became involved in the fly project in July 2007 when he received a call about the annoying flies from entomologist Bruce Badzik, integrated pest management coordinator with the National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Complaints rose to a feverish pitch in late August, September and October. The flies seemed to land on people as if they were rotten meat. ...
]]> Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:26:01 PST http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6574&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6574