Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

Looking for a specific Blog post?

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

CHEMICAL ECOLOGIST Walter Leal working in his UC Davis lab. His lab revealed the secret mode of the insect repellent DEET in groundbreaking research published in 2008.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

'The Treacherous Scent of a Human'

March 16, 2010

It's a killer, pure and simple. But the issue is as complex as it comes. The malaria mosquito, from the genus Anopheles, infects some 350 to 500 million people a year, killing more than a million. Most are young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

View Article

THIS HONEY BEE nectaring a backyard nectarine tree looks like stained glass. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Our Little Agricultural Workers in the Big Apple

March 15, 2010

If you've ever strolled the streets of New York, you probably noticed a few honey bees here and there. Not the HIVES (they're illegal), but the BEES. Tomorrow, the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will vote on whether city residents can keep bees in the Big Apple.

View Article

Article

What's Wrong With This Photo?

March 12, 2010

Take a close look. What's wrong with the first photo posted below this blog? If you're a beekeeper or someone who's been around bees, you'll know immediately. If not, you may look at the photo and say "Hmm, a honey bee. Yep, it's a honey bee, all right. It's on a what...

View Article

THIS KELLY GREEN walking stick is the impetus behind the Bohart Museum's special theme, "What Has Six Legs and Is Green All Over?" The Bohart will focus on what's green from 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 21 in a special St. Paddy's Day theme. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Going Green

March 11, 2010

What has six legs and is green all over? If you think like an entomologist, that's easy. Walking sticks, walking leaves, mantids, crickets and grasshoppers...

View Article

HONEY BEE, packing red pollen from nearby rock purslane blossoms, nectars lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Benefit for the Bees

March 10, 2010

First question: Concerned about the declining bee population and deteriorating bee health? Second question: Like to paint, draw, sculpt or photograph honey bees? Or craft bee jewelry? Or use another art medium?

View Article