Rangelands

Spring seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will range in topics from fruit flies to spider glue to an African odysssey. The seminars, coordinated by medical entomologist/assistant professor Geoffrey Attardo, will all take place at 4 p.m.

Targeted grazing using sheep, goats, or cattle (or combinations of two or more species) can be an effective way to manage vegetation for a variety of goals.

They study bees, ants, fruit flies and spider flies. And that's just a small portion of what they do. And what a difference they're making! Four UC Davis entomologists won awards from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA).

I usually enjoy life and growing things as a farmer, however I was excited in the recent weeks to see the remains of something most definitely dead; owl pellets under an artificial nesting site. After a couple barn owl boxes were installed last year, I have eagerly awaited their occupation.

Who doesn't love that "bolt of blue," the pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor? A black butterfly with iridescent blue hindwings, it's a frequent visitor to our garden, where it nectars on such plants as the butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), and sage (Salvia).

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology won four major awards from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA), which encompasses 11 Western U.S. states, plus several U.S. territories and parts of Canada and Mexico.

We recently posted information about the Bohart Museum of Entomology's upcoming open house on "Eight-Legged Wonders," and several people responded that they absolutely HATE spiders, and that we should have prefaced it with a SPOILER ALERT: "SPIDER PHOTOS! BEWARE!" Spiders--especially jumping spiders...

Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is a common phobia, but there are five good reasons to like spiders, according to Jason Bond of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

UCCE Sonoma County along with other UC colleagues, recently received a grant to identify the impact of grazing on the frequency and severity of wildfire in California.

"Where can kids learn beekeeping for free?" someone asked us last week. One of the ways is through the 4-H Youth Development Program. Who can join 4-H, which stands for head, heart, health and hands and which follows the motto, "making the best better?" It's open to all youths ages 5 to 19.