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

WITH TONGUE EXTENDED, Anthophora urbana heads for lavender. It's known as a rapid forager. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Tiny Bee

August 17, 2009

It's smaller than a honey bee. And faster and louder. Anthophora urbana, a solitary, ground-nesting bee, frequents our garden to nectar the catmint, lavender and sage. Sometimes the forager's buzz is so loud that it's startling.

View Article

THIS IMAGE of the Western Tiger Swallowtail is by naturalist/photographer Greg Kareofelas, who took this in east Davis last week. Butterfly experts hadn't seen this butterfly in the Davis area for 15 years until this year.

Article

Tiger by the Tail

August 14, 2009

Talk about a tiger by the tail. That would be the Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus). It's returned to the Davis area after a 15-year hiatus.

View Article

SIGN in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis honors the legendary geneticist. The ceramic sculpture at the site (sign and walls) is the work of Davis artist Donna Billick and entomologist-artist Diane Ullman. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

The Bees Have It

August 13, 2009

The bees have it. That would be honey bees and native bees. The UC Davis Department of Entomology has just launched its new bee biology Web site.

View Article

EXTENSION APICULTURIST Eric Mussen (left) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty shares information with Pennsylvania State Uniersity entomologist Dennis van Engelsdorp at the 2007 meeting of the Entomological Society of America. UC Davis and Penn State receive research funds in a project launched by Haagen-Dazs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

The Buzz About CCD

August 12, 2009

Entomologists, geneticists and virologists are still searching for the cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD). Yes, they're still searching, and no, there' s no known cause yet. CCD is a mysterious phenomonen characterized by adult bees abandoning the hive.

View Article

CARPENTER BEE nectars a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

In the Pink

August 11, 2009

Thunder boomed across the garden. The carpenter bee (Xylocopata tabaniformis orpifex) meant business. She headed straight for the slowly opening rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). Never mind that the petals hadn't quite unfolded.

View Article