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 cellar spider eyes a honey bee in the catmint (Nepeta). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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All Wrapped Up

July 23, 2013

Just call it a missed opportunity. Catmint (genus Nepeta) draws scores of insects, from honey bees to leafcutter bees to European wool carder bees. It also draws spiders. We usually see a cellar spider (family Pholcidae) trapping prey in its web.

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Gulf fritillary butterfly. Agraulis vanillae, lands on Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Touchdown! At Last!

July 22, 2013

For months, I've been waiting ah, so patiently (well, not always s-o-o-o patiently) for the gulf fritillary butterfly to touch down on our Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. A perfect match, I figured.

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A male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, nectaring on bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Big on the Bulbine

July 19, 2013

Look at the Xylocopa on the Xanthorrhoeaceae. If that sounds like a mouthful, think of the mountain or foothill carpenter bees, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, on bulbine from the genus Bulbine in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae.

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The Miss Bee Haven Project starts with a lump of clay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Making of a Bee

July 18, 2013

Take one nationally celebrated artist and one nationally renowned entomologist. Blend together. Add their deep concern for the declining honey bee population. Then just add bees. Ceramic bees.

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A honey bee can beat its wings 230 times every second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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How Fast Can a Honey Bee Fly?

July 17, 2013

How fast can a honey bee fly? We captured these photos today of a honey bee nectaring on catmint (genus Nepeta). The bee was moving fast. To blur the wings, we set the shutter speed at 1/640 of a second with an f-stop of 13 and IS0 of 800.

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