Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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A honey bee comes faces to face with a Valley carpenter bee on a mustard blossom. The Valley carpenter bee is native to the United States, while the honey bee is native to Europe. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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David and Goliath? Underdog Vs. Bigger Opponent?

April 8th, 2020
Remember the biblical story about David and Goliath? How young David, the underdog, defeats a Philistine giant? Sometimes you think the same kind of battle will occur in nature when a honey bee, Apis mellifera, encounters a much larger carpenter bee, the Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta.
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A honey bee, her head and antenna covered with mustard pollen, heads for more pollen in a bed of mustard in Vacavilel, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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All Hail the Honey Bee

April 7th, 2020
All hail the honey bee! It's an immigrant, like almost all of us, except for the Native Americans. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622. Specifically, they arrived at the Jamestown colony (Virginia).
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This is the coronavirus-equipped mantis that's drawing lots of smiles in the Davis front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of UC Davis. (Photo by Lynn Kimsey)
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Ever Seen a Coronavirus-Equipped Mantis?

April 6th, 2020
Sometimes you just have to display your sense of humor. Take the case of a huge praying mantis sculpture that anchors the Davis, Calif., front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
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A pterophorid plume moth (family Pterophoridae) in Vacaville, Calif. on April 2, 2020. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Ever Seen a Plume Moth?

April 3rd, 2020
Have you ever seen a plume moth? Or has a plume moth ever seen you? We spotted a pterophorid plume moth (family Pterophoridae) yesterday on our back door in Vacaville, Calif.
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