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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Fran Keller is an enthusiastic entomologist and an outstanding teacher. Plus, she's an accomplished artist, illustrator, and a nature and insect photographer.
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Teacher Extraordinaire

September 3, 2008
Okay, be honest. If you were attending class at 7:30 a.m., could you get excited about flies? No? How about the gender differences? Still no? You would if Mary Frances Fran Keller were there teaching you. You won't find anyone more enthusiastic about entomology than Fran Keller.
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The crane fly is sometimes called a mosquito hawk or a gollywhopper.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Gollywhoppers in Love

September 2, 2008
He didn't bring her flowers. They were already sharing a sunflower leaf. He didn't bring her candy. They'd already dined on nectar. It was Labor Day and the two crane flies looked quite friendly in our bee friendly garden. More than friendly. I think they were in love.
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Light brown apple moth, female. (Photo courtesy of David Williams, principal scientist, Perennial Horticulture, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia.)
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Ain't No Moths on Me

September 1, 2008
Bam! LBAM is back in the news. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Aug. 29 that it has established a 19-square-mile quarantine straddling portions of two counties after the light brown apple moth (LBAM) was found July 23 in Napa County and Aug. 10 in Sonoma County.
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Xena the Warrior Princess is a feline entomologist. She specializes in butterflies and sphinx moths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Big on Butterflies

August 29, 2008
Our cat is an entomologist. She has no formal training in the science of insects, but she can catch insects with the best of 'em. Plus, her credentials include a butterfly mark on her leg. Xena the Warrior Princess is a rescue cat.
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A praying mantis snares a pipevine swallowtail butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Let Us Prey

August 28, 2008
Robert Bugg saw it first. That's entomologist Robert L. Bugg. Bugg, who received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis, does research on the biological control of insect pests; cover crops; and restoration ecology. And he saw it first. Look, he said.
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