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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POSTER CHILD--This poster, designed by UC Davis entomology doctoral candidate Fran Keller with photographs by Greg Kareofelas of Davis, shows the California state insect, the dogface butterfly. The male (top) is known as "the flying pansy." The female (bottom) is mostly yellow. The poster received praise from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in April. Now it's received more acclaim. (See story above).
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Poster Child

December 11, 2008
It's a high-flying butterfly--rarely seen and rarely recognized. Ironically, it's now down-to-earth, frequently seen, and frequently recognized, thanks to the Internet.
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THE DEAD BEE--Worker bees prepare to remove their dead sister (far left) from the hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Hymn for Her

December 10, 2008
Did you catch the "The Burns and the Bees" episode on The Simpsons Sunday night? Dead honey bees take over the otherwise animated TV show. Bart, on a dare from schoolyard bullies, knocks a bee's nest from a tree and it lands kerplop on the playground.
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TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE--Yao Hua Law (left) and Randy Veirs hold up the "To Bee or Not to Bee" t-shirt. It is intended to do double duty: to raise funds for the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association and to raise awareness for the plight of honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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To Bee or Not to Bee

December 9, 2008
"To bee or not to bee." That is the question. What is the solution? The plight of the honey bees has not escaped the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (EGSA).
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HAVEN FOR HONEY BEES--A honey bee gathers nectar from salvia (sage). Sage is sure to be one of the featured plants in bee friendly garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Pollinator Paradise

December 8, 2008
There's been trouble in paradise far too long. Now, thanks to a generous donation from Hagen-Dazs, there will be a pollinator paradise--in the way of a bee friendly garden--at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.
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APHIDS ON GAURA--These aphids are feasting on a gaura. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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They Suck

December 5, 2008
Call them plant lice. Call them plant suckers. Call them aphids. The tiny, soft-bodied insects with pear-shaped bodies form denses colonies on plants. They suck. Literally. Their destructive feeding habits do not endear them to gardeners and farmers. No love lost. No lost love.
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