Battus philenor! Battus philenor! That's what UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro called out when he spotted a pipevine swallowtail foraging on wild radish as we trudged up Gates Canyon Road several years ago. It's a beautiful butterfly, and one of the first we see in the spring.

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The Kimseys--Bob and Lynn--are faculty members, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Bob is a forensic entomologist and Lynn,a hymenopterist, directs the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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How a Newly Described Bacteria Species Became a Kimsey

May 10th, 2023

Ever had a bacteria species named for you? No? Well, a newly described bacteria species now carries the last name of a husband-wife team: Lynn and Robert "Bob" Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

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Students at the Tremont Elementary School, Dixon, created this "Spring Has Sprung" basket of flowers and pollinators as their entry in the Dixon May Fair, May 11-14. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Spring Has Sprung: Bees, Butterflies and Blossoms Grace the Dixon May Fair

May 9th, 2023

"Spring Has Sprung!" That's the theme of the 146th annual Dixon May Fair, the 36th District Agricultural Association. It's been a long, cold winter and we're ready for that! So are the exhibitors and fairgoers. When the fair opens Thursday, May 11 and continues through Sunday, May 14 at 655 S.

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A honey bee in flight, heading for a Phacelia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Professor Irene Newton: Inside the Honey Bee Gut

May 8th, 2023

"The honey bee gut is home to varied and diverse bacterial species," says Professor Irene Garcia Newton of Indiana University, Bloomington, who studies host-associated microbes.

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A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, pollinating a squash. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Pollination Ecologist Neal Williams: The Importance of Native Bees

May 5th, 2023

Did you know that California is home to more than 1600 species of undomesticated beesmost of them nativethat populate and pollinate our gardens, fields, and urban green spaces?--Source: California Bees and Blooms, a Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists.

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