Recently Asked
“Saw this on my front door today, is there an arachnologist you know who can identify it? It was a bigger spider than I typically see around here roughly the size of the largest wolf spiders I see here...”
Hans, Newbury Park, CA - May 6, 2022
“just read the answer you gave in 2020 regarding the interaction between the monarch caterpillars and the tachinid flies. We do not raise monarchs but have milkweed in an area of the garden, butterf...”
juliet, Malibu, CA - April 19, 2022
“Hi Geologists -
Out in the Santa Ynez Valley at the corner of Happy Canyon Rd. and Baseline Rd. in the streambead I found these very large rocks. They were too big to move (small boulders?).
They ar...”
Robert, Santa Barbara - March 20, 2022
“My children and I are looking for assistance in identifying the exact type of mollusk these shells come from and the type of environment they would live in. We are in the process of mapping what we be...”
The Killen Family, Carpinteria - March 15, 2022
“Good Afternoon,
I discovered these bones near the top of a seacliff off the Santa Barbara Coastline, near UCSB. They look like vertebrae to me, but I truly have no clue. ”
Shahmeer, Santa Barbara, CA - February 23, 2022
“Hello.
I know this is a common tree in Santa Barbara, but I can't find the i.d. It grows near Atascadero Creek and I watched Lesser Goldfinches harvesting seeds/nectar? off the blooms.
Please tell...”
MiTmite9, Goleta, CA - February 22, 2022
“I was below the Shoreline Park on the mesa. In the rubble at the bottom of the shale bluffs a found several pieces of what appears to be marble with veins of other hard rock through it. Could it be ma...”
Robert, Santa Barbara city - February 4, 2022
“When it is low tide at "my" tidepool (Rincon Point) I see such a wonderful variety of creatures, with and without shells. Can you point me to a web site or app that would help me identify who I am see...”
Sue, Carpinteria - February 4, 2022
“We found this at campus point. Do you know what animal it came from? ”
Terri, Goleta - January 30, 2022
“Hello- Would you know what type of shells these are? More importantly, I found them buried about 12 to 15 inches in a pit we dug for a fence post. I've also found many other smaller shards at various...”
Phil, Goleta, CA - January 10, 2022
“I found some interesting Rocks that look like fossilized eggs but have no ideas to what they are. Size is approximately that of an A4 sized paper.
I have uploaded pictures where found thereof here......”
Anthony, Tanzania - January 9, 2022
“Hello, this funny little bug crawled up onto my phone a few days ago and we have no idea what it is. I’ve asked around and nobody has been able to figure it out. I was hoping you could pass the pictur...”
Domanique, Santa Barbara - December 8, 2021
“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
“I am reading The Noontide Sun. In the book by Arlene Benson based off Stephen Bowers. He says he found two mortars. Carved from whale vertebrae. Did these make it to the SBMNH? Very curious to see wha...”
Joshua, Frazier Park - October 18, 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