Rangelands

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Find the ootheca! It's on this barn-themed birdhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Praying Mantis Was Here

February 5, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You never know where a praying mantis will deposit its egg case, the ootheca. In and around Vacaville, we've seen them on olive trees, honeysuckle vines, passionflower vines, and wooden stakes.
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A cabbage white heads for catmint in a garden in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest Is Over

February 4, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you were thinking of trying to net a cabbage white butterfly to win Art Shapiro's "Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest"--a butterfly for a pitcher of beer, or its equivalent--you're too late. The contest is over. No winner this year.
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HOrT COCO-UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa: Article

Backyard Shade Tree Selection

February 2, 2020
Advice for the Home Gardener from the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Client's Request: Hello. We would like to plant a shade tree in our backyard in mid-County. We have a fairly shallow well and am assuming a high water table although we don't have any wet, boggy areas.
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Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, with part of the tardigrade collection. The Bohart collection includes some 25,000 slide-mounted specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Oh, for a Water Bear Sculpture at the Bohart Museum!

January 31, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you can picture a huge water bear (tardigrade) sculpture gracing the entrance to the Bohart Museum of Entomology on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, the scientists need your help to make it happen.
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2019 Annual Report narrow
From Soil to Science: Article

2019 Annual Report

January 31, 2020
We are pleased to share our 2019 Annual Report available in two formats! We have our print version and are excited to present our story map version! Special thanks to Michelle Nozzari for putting together the story map version and Deborah Curle for the print version.
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Weeds of California and Other Western States book
UC Weed Science (weed control, management, ecology, and minutia): Article

Weed science books on sale

January 31, 2020
By Gale Perez
I just read Ben Faber's blog post titled "Weed ID in Your Hands" from the Topics in Subtropics blog. Ben mentions, "Who says you can't know all those wild things growing in the field you didn't put there? Here's a chance to learn what they are for cheap.
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A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, nectaring on catmint in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomology & Nematology News: Article

Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest Not Over Yet

January 30, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest is not over. Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology who annually sponsors the contest in the three-county area of Sacramento, Solano and Yolo to determine the first flight of the cabbage white butterfly, sighted one on Thursday, Jan.
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A monarch in flight in the summer of 2017 in Vacaville, Calif. This is the non-native tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Monarch Sighting in January? In Sacramento? Yes!

January 30, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
News flash: Monarch sighting in Sacramento! Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, spotted a monarch in Sacramento on Wednesday, Jan. 29--way, way, way early to see monarchs in this area. But it wasn't in his transect.
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