Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Looking for a specific Blog post?
Search Now
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 HONEY BEE and a sweat bee share the same flower, a rock purslane. The sweat bee is probably Halictus tripartitus, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Two Bees, Two Sizes

November 5, 2009
When a sweat bee and a honey bee share the same flower, the size difference is quite distinct. We took this photo of a honey bee on a rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) blossom.
View Article
GOLDEN ONE--A honey bee, a social insect, nectars lavender. From Nov. 5-11, Häagen-Dazs will donate $1 per Tweet (up to $500 a day) Nov. 5-11 for honey bee research at UC Davis through social networking on www.twitcause.com. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Helping Honey Bee Research

November 4, 2009
Bees buzz. People "Tweet." Well, many people do. It's generous of the Hagen-Dazs brand to donate $1 per Tweet (up to $500 per day) from Nov. 5 through Nov. 11 to support honey bee research at the University of California, Davis.
View Article
HOVER FLY lands on red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens) and sips nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Seeing Red--On Buckwheat

November 3, 2009
Butterflies, honey bees and hover flies can't get enough of red buckwheat. Tight clusters of pink blossoms, coupled with gray-green foliage, grace red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens), a California native. It's good for the insects and good for the gardener. It's drought-tolerant.
View Article
NEW BROOCH--Nanase Nakanishi, a UC Davis student who plans to become a veterinarian, cares for this rose-haired tarantula at the Bohart Museum. It's one of the live insects in the museum, which houses more than seven million specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Everything's Coming Up Roses

November 2, 2009
Everything's coming up roses at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus. Roses? Make that rose-haired tarantulas. See, the Bohart not only houses some seven million insect specimens in its quarters in 1124 Academic Surge, but they have a few live ones, too.
View Article
MALE--This is the male light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana. (Photo courtesy of David Williams, principal scientist, Perennial Horticulture, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia.)
Article

LBAM: What's the Status?

October 30, 2009
Remember the ravenous light brown apple moth (LBAM) and all the controversy? The invasive agricultural pest, from Down Under, soars high on the agenda at the Northern California Entomology Societys meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Concord. Also on the agenda: honey bee regulatory research.
View Article
Subscribe