Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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'THE FACE OF DARWIN,' a ceramic mosaic created in a freshman seminar at UC Davis in commemoration of Darwin's 200th birthday anniversary, shows the organisms he studied and the secret notes he harbored. (Photo courtesy of Diane Ullman)
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The Face of Darwin

June 1, 2009
Look closely at Charles Darwin's ceramic face. You'll see selections from his secret notebooks and images of organisms that most influenced his scientific studies. His beard is peppered with moths. You'll also find barnacles, iguanas, finches, orchids and other creatures on his face.
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HONEY BEE nectaring on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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All Things Lavender

May 29, 2009
A field of dreams, for a honey bee, almost certainly would be a field of lavender. Call it what you want, but if a bee could talk, it would probably be "lovely lavender.
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FRANK ZALOM, professor of entomology and integrated pest management specialist (IPM), UC Davis Department of Entomology, is part of the IPM team making a difference in Central Asia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Delivering IPM to Central Asia

May 28, 2009
Making a difference--that's what it's all about. An integrated pest management (IPM) team from the United States is in Central Asia for the third Integrated Pest Management Stakeholders' Forum, June 1-5 in Bishhek, Kyrgystan.
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OPENING A HIVE--UC Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen (second from left) shows a frame to the Vietnamese scientists. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Golden Moments

May 27, 2009
They're now back in Vietnam, but for three days they went on a honey of a tour.
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WHILE one male carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis) nectars on sage, another male attempts to scare him away. Male carpenter bees are very territorial. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Two Is Not Company

May 26, 2009
You rarely see two male adult carpenter bees in the same photo. They are very aggressive and territorial. While they're waiting for females to arrive, they chase all prospective suitors away. Unlike the females, however, they can't sting.
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