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

Worker bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on a California poppy. (Photo by Gary Zamzow)

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California Poppy: No Nectar, Just Pollen

November 16, 2012

The latest edition of Fremontia, a publication of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), is devoted to the state's declining prairies and grasslands. "Humans are largely responsible" for this decline, writes editor Bob Hass.

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Doris Longwing (Lapus doris viridis) at Puentes Colgantes near Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. (Photo by Hans Hillewaert, Courtesy of Wikipeda)

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Those Fascinating Heliconius Butterflies

November 15, 2012

Those fascinating Heliconius butterflies... Heliconius butterflies will take center stage, so to speak, when James Mallet of Harvard University presents a lecture at the University of California, Davis on Wednesday, Nov. 28.

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Bee observation hive will be one of the attractions at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Bohart Museum Open House: Insect Societies!

November 14, 2012

If you're looking for something to do on Sunday, Nov. 18--something both fun and educational--you'll want to attend the Bohart Museum of Entomologys open house. The theme is "Insect Societies," featuring honey bees, ants and termites.

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Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, casts a shadow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Casting a Long Shadow

November 13, 2012

We probably won't see the Gulf Fritilliary (Agraulis vanillae) laying eggs any more this year on our passion flower vine. Cool weather has set in, the rains are coming, and the butterfly season is ending. But just for a little while, the Gulf Frit obliged us with its shadow.

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Pregnant praying mantis camouflaged on a germander twig. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Just Waiting in the Germander

November 12, 2012

It's no secret that bees are fond of germanders or Teucrium, a genus in the mint family, Lamiaceae. And it's no secret that praying mantids are fond of bees.

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