Rangelands

When we last left Ms. Mantis, a female Stagmomantis limbata residing in our verbena patch, she was munching on a honey bee. A successful ambush stalker, she was. But not always. Her plan to take down a duskywing butterfly, genus Erynnis, didn't go so well.

Yes, I'm hungry. A female praying mantis is perched upside down in our pollinator garden. She has maintained this position in the verbena over a four-day period, enduring temperatures that soar to 105 degrees.

Our day started brisk and damp as the sun rolled out behind a curtain of central coast fog. We gathered in the grey light with our morning tea, dressed in warm clothes as the steam from our breath billowed out in front of laughter and conversation on the subject of tide pool safety and ecology.

A water bear or tardigrade sculpture may soon grace the entrance to the Bohart Museum of Entomology. "I've been in touch with the sculptor Solomon Bassoff (Faducciart) in Roseville," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis.

Do you remember when insects first fascinated you or when you developed a love of insects? Odds are that the children who attend the SaveNature.Org insect-themed sessions in Berkeley will.

Many gardeners and landscapers enjoy growing and caring for roses. Through careful selection of varieties and appropriate cultivation, roses can be grown with a minimum of pest problems.

Ever seen that humorous sign in the veterinarian office that warns "Unattended kids will be given a shot of espresso and a free kitten?" Well, the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis has done it one better.

Updated Sept 17, 2020 to add link. Visit: MatchGraze.com As previously mentioned in the September 2018 issue of the Farm Bureau newsletter, the frequency, intensity, and size of wildfires in northern California have increased.

If you've ever reared a butterfly--from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis to an adult--you know what it feels like. Like a miracle, to see life unfolding.

The late Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and a global authority on bees, worked tirelessly to try to include Franklin's bumble bee (Bombus franklini) as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).