Bug Squad

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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.

TINY female sweat bee (Halictus tripartitus) nectaring rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Between a Rock and a...

October 8, 2009

Caught between a rock and a...soft place... You'll often see tiny sweat bees nectaring rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) in urban gardens. This plant, a native of Chile, brightens landscapes with its pinkish magenta blossoms.

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SUNFLOWER BEE, Diadasia enavata, forages on a New England Aster in the UC Davis Arboretum. This is a female, as identified by pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Sunny Day, Sunny Bee

October 7, 2009

The UC Davis Aboretum--particularly the Storer Garden--is full of color--and sunflower bees. A recent trip to see the New England Asters (Aster novae-angliae from the Asteraceae or sunflower family) yielded a Nikon moment: fuzzy-wuzzy sunflower bees foraging on the striking purple flowers.

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FIRST SPEAKER--Biological control scientist Madoka Nakai, associate professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, will discuss biocontrol of tea pests in her talk, “A Novel Protein from Lepidopteran Virus Killing Endoparasitoid and Viral Control for Tea Pests in Japan,” at noon, Wednesday, Oct. 7 in 122 Briggs Hall, UC Davis. The lecture will be Webcast.

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When Seminars Become Webinars

October 6, 2009

Like to know more about the biocontrol of tea pests? Aging of insects? What honey bee research is under way? If you can't physically attend the UC Davis Department of Entomology's fall seminars, starting Wednesday noon, Oct.

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THIS TINY HOVER FLY is nectaring on a strawberry blossom at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden being developed on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. This hover fly is most likely from the genus Paragus sp., said UC Davis emeritus professor and pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Not Just the Bees

October 5, 2009

It's not just the honey bees that will be foraging in the half-acre Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. Scores of native bees and other insects will be there, too. They already are. A weekend visit to the haven, a bee friendly garden being developed next to the Harry H.

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THIS MALE green metallic sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, looks as if someone poured fluorescent paint on it. It's about one-fourth the size of a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Color It Metallic Green

October 2, 2009

The green metallic sweat bee looks as if someone splashed green fluorescent paint on it. This uniquely colored bee is just one of some 1600 native bee species in California. It's about one-fourth the size of a honey bee and it's difficult to photograph because (1) it's tiny and (2) it moves fast.

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