Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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UC ANR is renovating its website. The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/archive.cfm

A walking stick being fed a leaf at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Your Wish Will Come True Saturday, Feb. 8

February 4, 2014

How many times have you walked around the University of California, Davis campus on a weekend and wished: "If only those buildings were open--I'd love to see what's inside!" Well, on Saturday, Feb. 8 your wish will come true.

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The mural from a distance. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Monarch Sighting, All Day, Every Day

February 3, 2014

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a mural worth? Priceless--if it's a mural of a realistic monarch butterfly, teasing you with a strip of masking tape, a chunk of a child's lined notebook paper, and a stack of rich, textured heritage bricks.

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Honey bee packing pollen on an almond tree at UC Davis--on the grounds of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility--several years ago. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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About that Pollen...

January 31, 2014

Why is that in a honey bee colony, workers can carry pollen but not the queen? Well, scientists from Michigan State University and Wayne State University have discovered the answer.

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Pipevine Swallowtail, Battis philenor, nectaring on radish on Gates Canyon Road, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'Battus philenor! Battus philenor!'

January 30, 2014

Battus philenor! Battus philenor! Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, excitedly points to a Pipevine Swallowtail nectaring on roadside radish.

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Monarch butterfly nectaring on lantana on Oct. 27, 2013 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Where Have All the Monarchs Gone?

January 29, 2014

As the world mourned the Jan. 27th death of 94-year-old folk singer Pete Seeger and hummed his signature song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", the question has now turned to: "Where Have All the Monarchs Gone?" The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is in trouble.

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