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

Grappeltail dragonfly, the club-tailed dragonfly.It belongs to the genus Octogomphus, which has one species, O. specularis. The dragonfly derives its "clubtail" name from the club-like widening at the end of its abdomen. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas)

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UC Davis-Affiliated Experts Discuss Dragonflies on 'Critter Chat'

November 21, 2024

Meet the Grappeltail dragonfly, the club-tailed dragonfly. It belongs to the genus Octogomphus, which has one species, O. specularis. The dragonfly derives its common name from the club-like widening at the end of its abdomen.

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Soil scientist Christine Sprunger (left) and lab manager of the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), Michigan State University, collecting soil samples. (Photo courtesy of KBS)

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MSU Soil Scientist to Discuss Nematodes as "Bioindicators of Soil Health and Climate Resiliency'

November 20, 2024

Nematodes, says soil scientist Christine Sprunger of Michigan State University, East Lansing, are "bioindicators of soil health and climate resiliency.

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UC Davis professor Jason Bond, director of the Bohart Museum, shows butterfly specimens to Woodland residents Olive Smith, 8, and her mother Sarah Smith. Bond is the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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2025 UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day Set Saturday, Feb. 8

November 19, 2024

Mark your calendar! The 14th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day is set for Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. announced coordinator and co-founder Tabatha Yang, the public education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Biodiversity Museum Day.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock (seated) with Jun-Yan Liu, professor at Chongqing Medical University, China, and a former research scientist (7.5 years) in the Hammock lab.

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From Butterfly Research to High-Sugar Diet Research

November 18, 2024

What does butterfly metamorphosis have to do with high-sugar diet research? Well, you never know where research will take you.

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A syrphid fly heads for a Gaura in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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It's Friday Fly Day!

November 15, 2024

It's Friday Fly Day and what an appropriate day to honor a syrphid fly. This syrphid, caught in flight, was seeking nectar from a Gaura, a genus of flowering plants in the family Onagraceae, native to North America.

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