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 SYRPHID FLY (problably from the Genus Toxomerus) heads toward a white ceanothus blossom near Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Syrphids Back Again

February 16, 2010
Have you seen the little syrphid flies, aka flower flies and hover flies, hovering around the early spring blossoms? We saw half a dozen of them Monday, Feb. 15 nectaring a white ceanothus at the Marshall Post Office in Marin County. The ceanothus is a shrub from the buckhorn family, Rhamnaceae.
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HONEY BEE visiting an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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No Day Off

February 15, 2010
It's Presidents' Day today, a holiday for most of us but not for the honey bees. The bees are buzzing in and around the almond blossoms, collecting nectar and pollen for their hives. Nectar provides the carbohydrates for the hive, and pollen provides the proteins.
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UPSY DAISY--A honey bee gathers nectar in a white flowering quince in the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden, UC Davis Arboretum. This photo was taken Feb. 6. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Little Kick

February 12, 2010
There's nothing like a steaming hot cup of coffee to jump-start the day. If there's anything better than one cup, it's TWO cups. Well, honey bees like a little caffeine, too. And nicotine.
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ALEXANDRA KLEIN, shown here in the arms of an almond tree in the Capay Valley in February of 2008, will speak on "Can Wild Pollinators Contribute, Augment, and Complement Almond Pollination in California?" at a UC Davis seminar on Feb. 17. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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In the Arms of an Almond Tree

February 11, 2010
The first time I met Alexandra "Alex" Klein, she was perched in the arms of an almond tree in the Capay Valley, Yolo County. It was Feb. 27, 2008.
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HONEY BEE nectaring on Tidy Tips, a native California wildflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Sun Break: Here Come the Bees

February 10, 2010
The Tidy Tips are a'blooming and the bees are a'buzzing. The Tidy Tips, a native California wildflower (Layia platyglossa, family Asteraceae) is a welcome addition to flower beds.
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