Rangelands

It promises to be an educational and entertaining event: Parasites coupled with a Halloween theme. The Bohart Museum of Entomology is hosting its annual "Parasitoid Palooza" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct.19.

Yes, he began his career studying honey bees. The late Robbin Thorp, the renowned UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology and global bee authority who will be memorialized at a celebration of life on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of bills aimed at improving California's wildfire prevention, mitigation and response efforts.

If you're looking for a worthy cause to support during the giving season (and as a bonus, receive a tax deduction), think tardigrades, aka water bears. Or more specifically, think "sculpture in front of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis.

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Gardener's Request: We just moved into a 30-year-old house in the East Bay hills, and we expect to stay here a long time. We have numerous oaks and Bay trees on the property.

It's all about the bumble bees... And now doctoral candidate John Mola of the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will present his exit seminar on "Bumble Bee Movement Ecology and Response to Wildfire" at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 9 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.

Updated links and republished Oct 2019. Many residents in Sonoma County live in or near fire danger. For those who do live in a high fire area, knowing what to do when conditions are ideal for a forest (or urban fire) is essential.

A monarch butterfly fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville yesterday and sipped nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) as a bird looked on. Well, sort of looked on. The bird was decorative art. The monarch was real. Now if that bird had been real, the monarch may have been a meal.

Native California elderberries can be found at the intersection of sustainable farming, super nutrition and economic viability. Naturally drought tolerant, flavorful and packed with nutrients, they are capturing the interest of farmers, health-conscious consumers and scientists.

If you're interested in nematodes--also called "roundworms"--then you'll want to be around when plant nematologist Nathan Schroeder, associate professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, presents a seminar on Wednesday, Oct.