Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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UC ANR is renovating its website. The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/archive.cfm

A mint moth, Pyrausta californicalis, nectaring on lavender in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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What's Better than a Mint on Your Pillow?

June 4, 2021

What's better than a mint on your pillow? A mint moth in your garden! We ran across this colorful mint moth, Pyrausta californicalis (as identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro) on May 20 in a Vacaville bed of tall lavender.

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Female golden hunting wasp dragging a paralyzed spider to its nest. (Photo by Tony Wills, courtesy of Wikipedia)

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Bohart Museum Receives Collection of More than 50,000 Aculeate Wasp Specimens

June 3, 2021

If you've ever seen a spider-hunting wasp capture, sting, and paralyze a spider, you know what these wasps can do. Renowned wasp expert Marius Wasbauer (1928-2021) studied them for about six decades. When he died this spring in Brookings, Ore.

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Peek-a-bee! A honey bee, blanketed with pollen, forages on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Are You Ready for National Pollinator Week?

June 2, 2021

Nothing says National Pollinator Week more than a honey bee coated in pollen. Make mine yellow. Yellow pollen. There's plenty of time to prepare. National Pollinator Week is June 21-27.

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The male flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) is firecracker red. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Like a Lens to a Flame

June 1, 2021

It's a delight to see the flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata). This male made its appearance in our Vacaville pollinator garden on May 17, and hung around long enough for me to capture several images. Like a lens to a flame...

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A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, flutters on the American flag. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Flying High, Flying Free

May 31, 2021

An American flag flies from its sky-high pole at our home year-around. A U.S. Air Force veteran lives here, and the survivors of generations of veterans, starting with the American Revolution, live here.

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