Rangelands

Welcome to the Organic Materials Management Blog! This is a place for sharing science and policy information on finding valuable uses for organic wastes in California. This site will include news on research findings and the development of innovative practices.

Is there a doctor in the house? Is there a doctor in the courtyard? Is there a doctor in the honey bee costume? Yes! That was the scene at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Annual Children's Party, held Thursday morning, Aug. 8 in the museum courtyard on Buck Avenue.

Today (Aug. 8) is International Cat Day, the feline kind. It was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare as a day to "raise awareness for cats an learn about ways to help and protect them.

Monarch butterflies seem to be as scarce as hen's teeth around here. And since hens have no teeth, that's pretty scarce. And then it happened. A late in-star monarch caterpillar appeared on our milkweed in our Vacaville pollinator-predator garden on the very last day of July.

Can you name California's state insect? Did you know that California has a state insect? It does. Is it the honey bee? No. Is it the lady beetle (ladybug)? No. Bumble bee? No. It's the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), an insect found only in California.

It's nicknamed "the sunflower bee" for good reason. It forages on sunflowers. We recently spotted a longhorned bee, Svastra obliqua, also called "the sunflower bee," on Gaillardia, aka blanket flower, a member of the sunflower family, Asteracease.

"Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons.

National Moth Week ended July 27 but you can go moth-ing any time. Meanwhile, here's another look at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's 2024 Moth Night, which drew widespread interest.

So there he is, a praying mantis in a patch of blanket flowers, Gaillardia, in a Vacaville garden. He's a male Mantis religiosa, as slim as a string bean, and scanning his environment. We're accustomed to seeing see the native Stagmomantis limbata in our garden, and not M.

Scientists worldwide are mourning the death of internationally celebrated entomologist Jeremy Nichol McNeil (1944-2024), a British-Canadian distinguished professor, researcher and author who died July 18 in Toronto, Ontario at age 79.