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 monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'Most Delicious Poison': A Must-Read Book

December 21, 2023

A deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes, writes evolutionary biologist Noah Whiteman, author of the newly published book, Most Delicious Poison: the Story of Nature's Toxinsfrom Spices to Vices (Little, Brown Spark).

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A male Melissodes agilis targeting a meloid beetle on a Tithonia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Intensity of a Territorial Bee Targeting a Blister Beetle

December 20, 2023

If you're feeling overwhelmed during the holiday season and just can't seem to concentrate, check out the focus and intensity of this male territorial bee, a Melissodes agilis.

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Queen bee laying an egg. A honey bee egg weighs about 0.1 mg, according to the late Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Honey Bee Larvae: Weigh to Go!

December 19, 2023

It's a week before Christmas and it's not just the geese that are getting fat. If you're thinking that the bathroom scale and you are not good friends, not to worry.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, holds some of the stocking stuffers available in the Bohart git shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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There's a Bed Bug in My Christmas Stocking!

December 18, 2023

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

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A Conversation in the Flower Bed

December 15, 2023

Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Location: A flower bed in Vacaville, Calif. Mantis: Hi, it's me, your favorite praying mantis! I just popped in to say hello! Photographer: Well, hello there, Ms.

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