Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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"Red" is for the red flameskimmer, Libellula saturata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).
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Hurray for the Red, White and Blue!

July 3rd, 2015
Hurray for the red, white and blue! One more day until we celebrate the birth of our country, Independence Day, and the patriotic colors will be out in force. Insects, also, can be red, white and blue. Take the red flameskimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata).
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Sunflower bees, Svastra obliqua expurgata, flying to a nesting area in downtown Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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You Can Take That to the Bank!

July 2nd, 2015
They're good bees. You can take that to the bank! The excitement began when Martin Guerena, an integrated pest management (IPM) specialist with the City of Davis, encountered a native bee nesting site Wednesday in front of the U.S. Bank, corner of 3rd and F streets, Davis.
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A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, lands on a butterfly bush. Note the stink bug on top. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Butterfly and the Stink Bug

June 30th, 2015
It's sort of like "The Beauty and the Beast." Or "The Pollinator and the Pest." A gorgeous Western Tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus), seeking nectar from a butterfly bush, touched down and began to feed. It didn't take long for the butterfly to spot a stink bug crawling on top of the blossom.
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Water mites on a damselfly. (Photo by Greg Kareofelas, taken with a Canon Elph)
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Mighty Mites!

June 29th, 2015
If you've ever been "up close and personal" to a damselfly, you might have seen the water mites. Naturalist Greg Karofelas of Davis, an associate of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, has not only seen them, he has photographed them. See his truly spectacular photo below.
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