Suds for a bug?

The annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest, launched in 1972 by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, gets underway Jan. 1.

The person who finds the first live  cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, will receive a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.

What are you doing on New Year's Day?

Weather permitting, you can begin searching for the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano. If you photograph or video it, and you are judged the winner, a prize awaits you--in addition to bragging rights.

Jolene Saldivar, a UC Davis Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Professor Louie Yang, will speak on "Disturbance in Coastal Sage Scrub and the Implications for Migratory Butterflies" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar.

Ecologist Andrew Corbett, a research associate with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT), will speak on "In Silico Experiments with the Effect of Natural Habitats on Biological Control in Agricultural Landscapes" at the next department seminar, set for 4:10 p.m., Monday, Oct. 21 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.

The seminar also will be on Zoom. The link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

He never expected to discover a new praying mantis species.

But a juvenile mantis that UC Davis alumnus Lohitashwa “Lohit” Garikipati collected on a 2019 trip to Madera Canyon, Arizona, proved not to be the commonly known California mantis, Stagmomantis wheelerii, but a new species.

Climate change is rapidly restructuring North American bumble bee communities, according to newly published research from the laboratory of Professor Neal Williams, a pollination ecologist in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Microbes found in the immature stages of a solitary bee that nests in sand cliffs along Pacific Coast beaches may be helping the bee defend itself from pathogens and protect it from cold stress, according to newly published research led by microbiologist Shawn Christensen of the Rachel Vannette Lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

(See June 3rd presentation on YouTube at:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa2eHuvPLHQ)

California's fruit fly invasion is in crisis mode, says UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey, a noted authority on the invasion of tropical fruit flies.

UC Davis doctoral candidate Danielle Rutkowski, who studies with community ecologists Rachel Vannette, associate professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and distinguished professor Rick Karban, will present her exit seminar on "Identity and Functions of Symbiotic Fungi Associated with Social Bees" on

Applied insect ecologist Alejandro Del-Pozo, assistant professor at  Virginia Tech, will speak on “Expanding the Toolbox: Applied Research for Improving Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Specialty Crops” at the next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Due to an inclement weather forecast, the annual California Honey Festival will reelocate this year from downtown Woodland to the nearby Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 East Gum Ave. 

The free and family friendly event, co-sponsored by the University of California, Davis, takes place from 10 to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4. Parking is also free, a spokesperson said.  The festival traditionally draws a crowd of some 40,000.

What's the latest information about bee biodiversity trends in North America?

Assistant professor Laura "Melissa" Guzman of the University of Southern California (USC) will speak on "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.

Adam Wong, an assistant professor at the University of Florida (UF) who researches insect-microbe interactions, from mutualism to pathogenesis, will present the April 22nd seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. 

Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, associate professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology--and a newly selected Chancellor’s Fellow--will discuss “Bees in the Tahoe Basin: Pollination Ecology and Conservation” at a Thursday, April 25th seminar hosted by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (UC Davis TERC).

The UC Davis Bee Haven will celebrate its 15th anniversary with an open house from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 6.

The half-acre garden,  a project of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus.