Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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Boys' Night Out--Five male longhorned bees, Melissodes agilis, sleeping on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Boys' Night Out: Let's Have a Slumber Party!

June 30th, 2021
Let's have a slumber party! Don't bring a pillow, a night-cap or an attitudeit's Boys' Night Out and we're sleeping outside on the flowers. That's what the male longhorned bees, Melissodes agilis, do while the females return to their underground nests at night.
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It's early morning, and a newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, perches on lavender in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Just a Day in the Life of a Butterfly

June 29th, 2021
It's early morning. A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, perches alone in the center of a lavender bed in Vacaville, Calif. It's too early for the honey bees.
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In this image, Jacob “Jake” Francis and Sage Kruleski, an undergraduate researcher from the University of Nevada, Reno, are sampling nectar and pollen rewards from phlox on Peavine Mountain, northwest of Reno.
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Congrats to the Two 'Jakes' from the Rachel Vannette Lab

June 28th, 2021
Congrats to the two "Jakes" from the laboratory of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The two postdoctoral scholars, Jacob "Jake" Francis and Jacob "Jake" Cecala, have just received prestigious federal research fellowships.
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This drone fly (Eristalis tenax) is often mistaken for a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Day 6 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the Drone Fly

June 26th, 2021
It's Day 6 of National Pollinator Week. Meet the drone fly (Eristalis tenax), often mistaken for a honey bee. The late Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, used to jokingly call it "The H Bee," pointing to the "H on its abdomen. It's not a bee, though, it's a fly.
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