Rangelands

Congratulations to the three UC Davis faculty members who will receive prestigious awards next week from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA).

UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal is organizing a free, virtual symposium on Recent Advances in Sensory Physiology, zeroing in on such organisms as mosquitoes, honey bees, butterflies and fruit flies, as part of the April 20th meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of Americ...

Three UC Davis faculty members will be honored when the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA), hosts its virtual meeting on Monday, April 20.

Another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic: the annual California Honey Festival, which was scheduled May 2 in historic downtown Woodland. This year would have been the fourth annual. But, of course, and rightfully so, the cancellation is for our protection. It needed not to happen.

If you're like me, you were probably surprised to look at the calendar this morning and realize that irrigation season begins in here in the Sierra foothills this week.

The wonderful world of insects... Have you ever seen a syrphid, aka hover fly or flower fly, that resembles a bumble bee? Volucella bombylans is a fascinating fly that engages in identify theft. Of a bumble bee. It's a "wanna bee.

With recent rains in many parts of California and the weather warming up, it's time once again to think about mosquito prevention and control.

Congratulations to Annaliese Wargin and Garrett Keating, two outstanding graduating seniors in entomology at the University of California, Davis. Each will receive a bachelor's degree in entomology in June and each has been singled out for high honors.

Remember the biblical story about David and Goliath? How young David, the underdog, defeats a Philistine giant? Sometimes you think the same kind of battle will occur in nature when a honey bee, Apis mellifera, encounters a much larger carpenter bee, the Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta.

Senior entomology major Garrett Keating, who performs microbiome/pollinator experiments in the laboratory of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, is the recipient of a Department Citation from the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology for his outstanding work.