Rangelands

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.

As the climate crisis fuels more high-severity wildfires, many forests adapted to bounce back from frequent but less-intense fires are struggling to recover quickly.

The Vacaville Museum Guild's annual children's party--for Vacaville children ages 3 to 9--promises to be a honey of a party. Themed "Fun on the Farm," it's an entertaining and educational event set for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 8 in the museum courtyard, 213 Buck Ave.,Vacaville.

Folks new to the world of working livestock guardian dogs (LGDs), whether they are producers or dog aficionados, often ask, What's the best breed? or What breed is your dog?

So here's this female praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, camouflaged on a narrow-leaf milkweed, Asclepias fasciculari, in a Vacaville garden. If she thinks she's going to ambush a monarch, she has another think coming. No monarchs in the garden. If she thinks she's going to ambush a bee, no way.