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Recently Asked
“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
“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
“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
“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
“Hello,
My son and I were wondering if this is a grasshopper. If so, which species?”
Hans, Newbury Park, CA - October 28, 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
“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
“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 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
“Every year I am struck by the bees (?) buzzing in the coast live oaks around the western residence. Collectively, there are enough to create quite a hum at a distance. This is not a swarm, rather th...”
Bob, Las Encinas Road - May 19, 2021
“Any idea as to what species this is and why does it appear to have three antennae that are pointing to the rear of its head? The antennae also appear to be transparent, what is that item that runs the...”
Ken, Ventura - May 17, 2021
“Was breaking apart some sandstone boulders to dig some very old marine fossils out of them and came across this very strange, very small insect, it's about maybe 1.5mm in size. Is this some sort of sp...”
Ken, Ventura - May 13, 2021