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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOVER FLY, aka flower fly, nectars the rock purslane. The insect is from the family Syrphidae, and probably genus Platycheirus, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Hovering

November 30, 2009
The warmth of the sun and the lure of nectar beckoned the hover flies or flower flies to our bee friendly garden. We saw this one nectaring the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) last weekend.
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COMPOUND EYES of the honey bee are comprised of hundreds of single eyes (ommatidia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Seeing Eye to Eye

November 27, 2009
Ever wonder how a honey bee sees? Its compound eyes are comprised of hundreds of single eyes (ommatidia), each with its own lens. It can distinguish colors, but can't see red, which it interprets as black.
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HONEY BEE nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Thanks Be to the Bee

November 26, 2009
Hap-bee Thanksgiving! If you're having cranberries, squash, pumpkins, carrots, cucumbers (and pickles) onions, grapefruit, oranges, apples, pears, cherries, blueberries, sunflowers and almonds, you can thank the honey bee.
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LOOKING like pure gold, an Italian bee nectars lavender. The yellow leaves of a pomegranate tree are in the background. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Thar's Gold in That Thar Lavender

November 25, 2009
I slipped into the back yard today to see how many honey bees were nectaring the lavender, one of the few plants still blooming. A few here. A few there. That's when I saw her. A bee the color of pure gold. And she was carrying a load of pollen that was equally pure gold.
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HONEY BEE heads for a Leptospermum scoparium keatleyi, also known as a "royal pink manuka." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Tea for Two

November 24, 2009
In a way, it's "tea for two." The New Zealand tea tree, Leptospermum scoparium, aka "manuka," "tea tree," and "Leptospermum," is a favorite of the light brown apple moth AND honey bees. We captured images of bees on Leptospermum scoparium keatleyi recently in Sausalito.
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