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Recently Asked
“Do you know what these are? There are several clusters on one of our tomato plants.”
Jane, Santa Barbara - November 23, 2021
“Hello Dr. Chaney and Dr. Geiger,
I recently procured two scaphopod shells from the nature exchange. I plan to gift them to my brother, who inherited an extensive shell collection from a relative. Unf...”
Harrison - October 31, 2021
“Hi,
Thsi question is for both your Ornithology and Chumash Artifacts curators.
There is a well documented flock of local parrots that have roosted in Montecito for many decades. You may be familiar...”
Christopher, San Roque - October 28, 2021
“Hello,
My son and I were wondering if this is a grasshopper. If so, which species?”
Hans, Newbury Park, CA - October 28, 2021
“Hi, I found this in my yard this morning and thought it was a Clathrus ruber but it has a stalk. Flies are attracted to it but I don't want to smell it.
If you could be so kind to identify, I would a...”
Julie, Glen Carbon, Illinois - October 11, 2021
“Hello,
I recently came upon this cotton-like mass engulfing a green caterpillar. Looking closer the cotton-like mass contained perhaps hundreds of wiggling white larvae. I've been unable to locate an...”
Scott, El Paso, Texas - September 26, 2021
“I went to sniff a flower in my yard and it was chowing down on a bee!”
Ann Fox, Santa Barbara County - September 23, 2021
“Hello I am a social studies teacher and will be showing this to my class, I believe it might be an artifact of significance. Found in rocks below cliffs at a known location of Tongva village. ”
Nicole, Palos Verdes Estates - September 19, 2021
“Is anyone concerned about invasive foxes? I have had animal cameras running continuously for about 5 years and watched a few generations of grey foxes grow up on our bit of wilderness on our property....”
Joel, Ojai - September 17, 2021
“I have read about the notably dark sedimentary layer within the Beechers Bay Formation at Arlington Springs Canyon at Santa Rosa Island. According to Kennett et al., the nanodiamonds found in this lay...”
Susie, Santa Barbara - September 15, 2021
“I saw this bee in Oxnard licking a plumeria leaf, roughly about 1/4” in size. The hind end area has a longish black part sort of like a stinger. The body is greenish and the eyes are definitely green....”
Amy, Oxnard - September 1, 2021
“On the north side of Santa Cruz Island I haves seen a couple small caves high up on ridgelines that appeared to have soot staining on the wall and roof. The caves are open to the sea to the north. Is...”
Don, boat in Channel Islands harbor - August 26, 2021
“Hello, Hoping your experts there can help identify this very large brown moth that was in my house. My photo is not very good. The moth was about five inches across. We were able to trap it in our...”
Lisa, Ventura County - August 26, 2021
“Hi there,
Is early July very early to be seeing tarantulas walking around? This one (ebony?) was spotted July 3 in the Carpinteria foothills at about 9:30 PM. Coincidentally, we also had two tarantul...”
Claire, Santa Barbara County - August 13, 2021
“I took this photo last weekend at the SB Botanic Garden. I couldn't find an example of one in the online beetle ID sources I looked at.
Thank you!”
Kevin, Santa Barbara - August 5, 2021
“I was wondering if any of your vertebrate zoologists could comment on this skunk. I caught it on my motion camera in my backyard. It appears to have a large growth on its head, visible in both views....”
Rebecca, Goleta - July 30, 2021
“I found this one near our door, so I have no idea what the host plant is. He was all fuzzy.”
Cassie, Ventura - July 16, 2021
“Hello! I have a new insect for you. I think he was on the wisteria...so maybe a genista broom caterpillar?”
Cassie, Ventura - July 1, 2021
“My daughter found a black fuzzy caterpillar 2 weeks ago and wanted to keep it until it turned into a moth or butterfly. Yesterday it wedged itself in the bottom of its container, and started spinning...”
Ariel, Goleta - June 30, 2021
“Hello!
I found this cicada struggling in my pool. After I netted it I took a few photos while it was in torpor, and looked online for the species. I could not find a match to a black-eyed cicada exce...”
Adam, Goleta - June 30, 2021