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 decorates a quilt at the 134th annual Dixon May Fair. Here Interior Living Showcase superintendent Debee Lamont gets ready to hang the quilt. It's the work of Shirley Geertson of Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Insects Are Nearly Everywhere

May 6, 2009
"Insects are the most successful animals that have ever existed on Earth and have been around for just over 400 million years," writes George Gavin in Insects, an American Nature Guide published by Smithmark Publishers, N.Y.
View Article
ROCK PURSLANE (Calandrinia grandiflora) opens in the morning sun. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Like a Rock

May 5, 2009
The rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) attracts its share of insects. This morning the brilliant magenta blossoms drew honey bees, carpenter bees and hover flies.
View Article
CRANE FLY, also known as a "mosquito hawk," nestles among the blades of grass. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Not Your Basic Giant Mosquito

May 4, 2009
It looks like a giant mosquito. But it isn't. It's a crane fly (family Tipulidae), also known as a "mosquito hawk." It's a slender, long-legged insect that cats like to target. Our cat, Xena the Warrior Princess, loves to bat them out of the air--and then look around for more.
View Article
Pollen-packing honey bee in winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) in Storer Gardens, University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

What's Happening with the Bees?

April 30, 2009
What's happening with the honey bees? Those following the mysterious phenomonen known as colony collapse disorder (CCD)--characterized by bees abandoning their hives--are eagerly waiting the latest developments.
View Article
Subscribe