Despite the weather forecast of heavy rain and wind, honey bees will still be "attending" the California Honey Festival. They'll be safe and dry in the bee observation hives. The free and family friendly event, co-sponsored by the University of California, Davis, takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 East Gum Ave. Parking is free, a spokesperson said. The festival traditionally takes place in downtown Woodland and draws a crowd of some ..read more

The California dogface butterfly stole the show at the Bohart Museum of Entomology pop-up tent at Briggs Hall during the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day. Visitors received free posters of the colorful butterfly, the state insect; learned how to use an insect net to catch a paper butterfly; and posed for images behind the dogface butterfly face banner. At the California dogface butterfly table, entomologist Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College who doubles as a Bohart Museum ..read more

Today (April 30) was a special day for entomologist Walter Soares Leal. “I got two phone calls almost simultaneously on my two cell phones, so I thought this could not be a prank, but I am still in disbelief,” said Leal, a UC Davis distinguished professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology (now Entomology and Nematology) The caller: The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) The message: You've been ..read more

Show me the honey? Show me the California Honey Festival. The annual event, which emphasizes the importance of bees, and promotes honey and honey bees and their products, will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4 in downtown Woodland. It's free and family friendly. It traditionally draws a crowd of some 40,000. Amina Harris, who retired last June as director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, co-founded the honey festival in 2017 with the City of Woodland. She ..read more

When a noted entomologist retires, what do you do? Give them a 21-insect net salute. That's what occurred at a recent retirement celebration honoring the legacy of UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years. Kimsey, who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology) in 1989, became the director of the Bohart Museum in 1990. Noted entomologist Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007 ..read more

Bee biodiversity? It promises to be an interesting seminar. Assistant professor Laura "Melissa" Guzman of the University of Southern California (USC) will discuss "Using Occupancy Models to Infer Trends of Bee Biodiversity in North America" at the April 29th seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Her seminar begins at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall and also will be on Zoom. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/9 5882849672 "Historical museum records ..read more

An image of a damselfly photographed in Hawaii, and images of a blowfly and a monarch photographed in California won the Photo Salon recently hosted by the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) Photo Salon coordinator Joshua Milnes, an entomologist with the Plant Protection Division, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Yakima, announced the winners as: First, Robert Peck, entomologist with the University of Hawaii, for his image of a damselfly Second, Alexander ..read more

There is no "Planet B." The Earth is all we have. Today, April 22, is Earth Day (an annual event launched April 22, 1970) and what a perfect occasion to celebrate a native bee and a native wildflower. Bombus vosnesenskii,aka the yellow-faced bumble bee, meet the California golden poppy, Eschscholzia californica, the California state flower. (The California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice, is the state insect, but shouldn't B. vosnesenskii rank as a runner-up?) Why do we celebrate Earth ..read more

Wait! Don't head over to the Bohart Museum of Entomology in the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane on Saturday, April 20 during the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day. Why? It will be closed. The Bohart Museum, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT), will be staffing a pop-up tent from noon to 4 p.m. in front of Briggs Hall, home of the department. That means all the "bug" displays at the 2024 UC Picnic Day will be at one place: Briggs Hall. The Bohart has ..read more

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will not only celebrate insect and nematode diversity at Briggs Hall during the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 20, but also "The Diversity of Arachnids." Doctoral student Emma "Em" Jochim of the Jason Bond lab is coordinating an exhibit she created last year to display the diversity of arachnids, such as vinegaroons, whip spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions. "We'll have live animals and fact sheets that will give a ..read more