Bug Squad

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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.

A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectars on a spiked floral purple plant, Salvia indigo spires (Salvia farinacea x S. farinacea) at the Kate Frey Pollinator Garden at the Sonoma Cornerstone. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Salivating Over Salvia? Premiere Plant Sale at UC Davis Arboretum on Saturday, April 6

April 5, 2019

Salivating over salvia? You can see, salivate--and purchase--salvias and more at the spring premiere plant sale sponsored by the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden on Saturday, April 6. They'll offer everything from "Bee's Bliss" to "Black Lace" to "Blaze" to "Brilliance.

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A newly emerged anise swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, spreads its wings on anise, its host plant, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Art Shapiro: 'Butterflies as Heralds of the Apocalypse'

April 4, 2019

Butterflies, beer and a bar...

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A pollen-laden honey bee heads for more pollen and nectar on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Yes, I'll Have Some Mustard, Please!

April 3, 2019

Yes, I'll have some mustard, please. Yes, both the pollen and the nectar, thank you. We watched a honey bee buzz into our little mustard patch, her proboscis (tongue) extended, and pollen weighting her down. If she were at the airport, someone would have volunteered to carry her bags.

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In a scene from the 2018 national Linnaean Games championships, Brendon Boudinot answers a question. Team captain Ralph Washington Jr. looks on. (ESA Photo)

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Congrats, UC Linnaean Games Team!

April 2, 2019

Congrats to the University of California Linnaean Games Team! They know their insects! The UC team, which swept the national championship last year, just won the regional competition Monday night at the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA) meeting in San Diego.

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Close-up of female silver digger bee, Habropoda miserabilis, taken at Waldport, Ore. in 2015. (Copyrighted Photo by Leslie Saul-Gershenz. Used with Permission)

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Why Silver Digger Bees Are Like Gold

April 1, 2019

Why silver digger bees are like gold... Remember those "long lost" silver digger bees found last week at the San Francisco Presidio? They hadn't been seen in large aggregations for nearly a century.

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