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 blister beetle (family Meloidae) eating pollen from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Secret Life of a Blister Beetle

July 11, 2024
Blister beetles (family Meloidae) are so named because they emit a poisonous chemical, cantharidin, that can blister your skin. Don't even think about touching them! Blister beetles can infest alfalfa hay, and are toxic--even deadly--to livestock.
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A honey bee nectars on lavender in a Vacaville garden. The soft pastel colors almost resemble a painting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Our Buddies in the Garden

July 9, 2024
When you venture into your pollinator garden, look for the beauty, color, diversity and the intensity that surrounds you. You will be astounded. A honey bee nectaring on lavender in a soft-pastel scenario. A katydid nymph crawling (backlit) on a blanketflower, Gaillardia.
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These three entomologists were trained directly or indirectly by Jerry Powell (1933-2023) of UC Berkeley. From left are Dan Rubinoff, John De Benedictus and Paul Opler (1938-2023) at a gathering of lepidopterists in 2019 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Powell and Paul Opler (1938-2023) co-authored Moths of Western America, published in 2009. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Meet 'The Moth Man' at Bohart Museum's Moth Night

July 9, 2024
Meet "The Moth Man." If you attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology's annual Moth Night celebration, affiliated with National Moth Week, you'll meet John De Benedictis, better known as The Moth Man. The indoor-outdoor event, free and open to the public, is set from 7 to 11 p.m.
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Potato capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, feeding on a chrysanthemum blossom. It also feeds on nettle, clover and cannabis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Fancy Meeting You Here, Mr. Potato Capsid

July 5, 2024
One potato, two potato, three potato, four... You never know what will pop up in a pollinator garden. Meet Mr. Potato Capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, often found on nettle, potato, clover and cannabis.
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