Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, with Franklin's bumble bee, a bee he had been monitoring since 1998. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Remembering the Legendary Robbin Thorp

June 7, 2019
We cannot imagine a world without Dr. Robbin Thorp. The distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis--he preferred to be known as Robbin--was a global and legendary authority on bees, an amazing person and an incredible scientist.
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A male European wool carder bee patrolling snapdragons in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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European Carder Bees Do Like Snapdragons!

June 6, 2019
What a show! Last weekend we spotted female European wool carder bees (so named because they collect or card plant hairs for their nests) buzzing in and out of our snapdragons. The bees, about the size of honey bees, are mostly black and yellow.
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A honey bee and a Painted Lady share a mustard blossom in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Bee and the Butterfly

June 5, 2019
The bee and the butterfly. The honey bee and the Painted Lady. Apis mellifera and Vanessa cardui. They both wanted to sip that sweet nectar from a mustard blossom. The Painted Lady was there first. Sometimes it's "first come, first served" and sometimes it's "I'll have what she's having.
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An adult lady beetle (aka ladybug) and a larva. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Kill That 'Alligator-Looking" Critter? No, Don't!

June 4, 2019
"Yecch! What's that ugly bug? Kill it!" Have you ever heard anyone say that when they see the larva of a lady beetle (aka ladybug, family Coccinellidae)? Unfortunately, it's quite common among non-gardeners and non-insect enthusiasts.
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First-instar praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by UC Davis praying mantis expert and entomology student Lohit Garikpati. Photograph taken May 13 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A 'Star' Is Born and Then....

June 3, 2019
We rarely see an adult praying mantis until late summer or fall. Their offspring are out there, though. And sometimes we see life go full circle. On Sept.
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