Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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Hear that buzz? The Honey Bee (Dr. George Stock) enters the courtyard. With him are Vacaville Museum Guild members Georganne Gebers (right) of Vacaville, and Sharon Walters of Dixon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Honey of a Bee

August 9th, 2024
Is there a doctor in the house? Is there a doctor in the courtyard? Is there a doctor in the honey bee costume? Yes! That was the scene at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Annual Children's Party, held Thursday morning, Aug. 8 in the museum courtyard on Buck Avenue.
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Monarch caterpillar on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Observing International 'Cat Day

August 8th, 2024
Today (Aug. 8) is International Cat Day, the feline kind. It was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare as a day to "raise awareness for cats an learn about ways to help and protect them.
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A visitor! A late in-star monarch caterpillar munches on wilting milkweed in a Vacaville garden in triple-temperature conditions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Welcome, Little 'Cat; 'Bye, Little 'Cat!

August 7th, 2024
Monarch butterflies seem to be as scarce as hen's teeth around here. And since hens have no teeth, that's pretty scarce. And then it happened. A late in-star monarch caterpillar appeared on our milkweed in our Vacaville pollinator-predator garden on the very last day of July.
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Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology, holds a drawer of California dogface butterfly specimens. The butterfly is California's state insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Can You Name California's State Insect?

August 6th, 2024
Can you name California's state insect? Did you know that California has a state insect? It does. Is it the honey bee? No. Is it the lady beetle (ladybug)? No. Bumble bee? No. It's the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), an insect found only in California.
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