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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Honey bee packing pollen on an almond tree at UC Davis--on the grounds of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility--several years ago. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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About that Pollen...

January 31, 2014
Why is that in a honey bee colony, workers can carry pollen but not the queen? Well, scientists from Michigan State University and Wayne State University have discovered the answer.
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Pipevine Swallowtail, Battis philenor, nectaring on radish on Gates Canyon Road, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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'Battus philenor! Battus philenor!'

January 30, 2014
Battus philenor! Battus philenor! Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, excitedly points to a Pipevine Swallowtail nectaring on roadside radish.
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Monarch butterfly nectaring on lantana on Oct. 27, 2013 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Where Have All the Monarchs Gone?

January 29, 2014
As the world mourned the Jan. 27th death of 94-year-old folk singer Pete Seeger and hummed his signature song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", the question has now turned to: "Where Have All the Monarchs Gone?" The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is in trouble.
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An Italian bee forages in the red Japanese apricot, Prunus mume "Matsubara red." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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It's Raining Pink in the Storer Garden at UC Davis

January 27, 2014
When it ought to be raining, it's raining pink. They say you can't fool Mother Nature or outsmart Father Time but that's not the case in the UC Davis Arboretum. A red Japanese apricot, Prunus mume "Matsubara red" glows with absolute radiance in the Storer Garden.
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