The severe California drought--we're in the fourth year--is affecting us all, but it's also affecting insects, says Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.

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A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata)--as identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro--waits for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Spider and the Skipper

August 27th, 2015

This is a a story about a spider and a skipper. Technically, a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) and a fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus, family Hesperiida). The garden spider lies in wait, its head down, clinging to its real estate, an enormous sticky web.

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The Sting: A bee stings the wrist of Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen. That's the abdominal tissue trailing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'The Sting' Revisited

August 26th, 2015

Photographers are frustrated, and rightfully so, with all the thievery on the Internet. Like many other photos, "The Sting," is being used illegally for commercial purposes. It's appeared on sites like PhotoBucket where unscrupulous people sell it as canvas prints and holiday cards.

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An Amazing Ant/Millipede Video

August 25th, 2015

Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, near the temples of Angkor, an unlikely drama takes place. Blue ants of the genus Leptogenys, native to southeast Asia, surround their prey, a massive millipede. It's almost like circling the wagons in a scene from the Wild West. Or "rodeo-style behavior.

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Pipeline swallowtail on Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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For the Love of Butterflies

August 24th, 2015

A passion for butterflies coupled with a yearning to protect their habitat is what drives 98-year-old Louise Hallberg, founder of the nine-acre Hallberg Butterfly Gardens in Sebastopol.

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