Rangelands

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A camouflaged praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Mantis on the Milkweed

June 26, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So here's this immature praying mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, perched on a narrow-leafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. She's camouflaged quite well. She's as green and thin as the leaves. Me: "Hey, Ms. Mantis, whatcha doin'?" Ms.
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A small green plant with long, narrow leaves in a bed of brown wood bark mulch.
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Nutsedge—Yes, We Hate It Too!

June 26, 2024
By Belinda Messenger-Sikes
Nutsedges are aggressive and persistent weeds that commonly infest lawns, vegetable and flower gardens, and landscapes. These perennial sedges are a problem in lawns because they grow faster than turfgrasses and result in non-uniform turf.
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A honey bee on a blanketflower, Gaillardia, in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

The Art of the Bee

June 25, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Thought for the day... Every time we see a honey bee "posing perfectly" on a Gaillardia, commonly known as blanket flower, we think of a quote by internationally known honey bee geneticist, Robert E. Page Jr.
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The banded alder borer is attracted to fresh paint, probably because of the phermone-like scent. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Behold: the Banded Alder Borer

June 24, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So there it was, an exotic-looking bug resting against a freshly painted red bollard at a Vacaville supermarket. It was not there to shop. Or to stop vehicles from crashing into the store or colliding with shoppers. It was there, I suspect, because of the pheromone-like scent of the fresh paint.
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A digger bee, Anthophora bomboides standfordina, heading to her nest at Bodega Head. Note the ant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Digging the Digger Bees and the Newly Published Research

June 20, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen the digger bees on the sandy cliffs of Bodega Head, Sonoma County? if you hike a short distance up a meandering trail, you'll see a landscape of turrets, the work of solitary, ground-nesting digger bees, Anthophora bomboides standfordina. The nests remind us tiny sandcastles.
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Cleo Woelfle Hazard and his child visit a beaver dam analog
Employee Spotlights: Article

Fire advisor Woelfle Hazard transcends bounds in studies, career

June 18, 2024
By Michael Hsu
Costumed as river creatures with papier mch heads and dressed as the Army Corps of Engineers, Cleo Woelfle Hazard and a performance art group called The Water Underground dazzled the biennial Bay Delta Science Conference a few years ago. Woelfle Hazard then a Ph.D.
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A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, touches down on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Applause for the Pollinators

June 17, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bees, butterflies, beetles, birds and bats. What do they have in common? Skipping the alliteration for a moment, they're all pollinators. Honey bees grab the most attention, of course, and they do the bulk of the work. But so do bumble bees and other native bees.
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