Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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A leafcutter bee (family Megachilidae) foraging on Verbena in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Day 5 of National Pollinator Week: The Leafcutter Bee

June 25th, 2021
Day 5 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the leafcutter bee, family Megachilidae. It's a native pollinator, a solitary bee, and about the size of a honey bee. Its coloration--the black-and-white banded abdomen--makes it easily recognizable.
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The blister beetle is both a pollinator and a pest. It is a pest of alfalfa and is toxic to livestock, especially horses. This one is foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola) in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Day 4 of National Pollinator Week: Beetles

June 24th, 2021
When you think of pollinators, you think of bees, right? And well you should: honey bees are the global workhorses of the pollination community and pollinate about one-third of the food we eat, including fruits and vegetables and some nuts, primarily almonds (California's almond acreage exceeds 1.
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This image of a tiny monarch egg won a silver award in the international Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Life and Human Sciences (ACE). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Day 2 of National Pollinator Week: Focus on a Tiny Egg

June 22nd, 2021
It's Day 2 of National Pollinator Week. So, I guess I should "toot my own horn" (we don't have one, but in our household we do have a piano, a double bass, a guitar, a banjo, a ukulele, a dulcimer, a harmonica, a sousaphone, a set of hand drums, and two accordions.
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