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

Honey bee nectaring Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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What's That Buzz?

September 28, 2012

When the Onward California tour rolls into Davis next week, the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility will share the limelight. Here's why.

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Praying mantis hangs upside down on a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Oh, the Life of a Praying Mantis...

September 27, 2012

Oh, the life of a praying mantis... You can hang upside down like an acrobat, shading yourself from the sun while waiting for prey and avoiding predators. You can crawl beneath dense leaves, the better to ambush, snatch and eat an unsuspecting bee.

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Buckeye (Junonia coenia) spreads its wings on sedum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Buck (Eye) Stops Here

September 26, 2012

The buck stops here. The buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia), that is. Whether it's doing the fandago on the plantago, the can-can on the lantana or the waltz on the sedum, it's easy to spot. That's because of its large eyelike circles on its wings.

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Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanilla) heads for a tasty leaf on a passion flower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Very Hungry (And Very Striking) Caterpillars

September 25, 2012

When Eric Carle designed, illustrated and wrote the children's picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, it's a wonder that all his young readers didn't become lepidopterists. No doubt many of them did.

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Gulf Fritillary on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Greeting the Gulf Fritillary

September 25, 2012

Ah, the Gulf Fritillary... We spotted this orange-reddish butterfly nectaring lantana last Saturday near downtown Vacaville. In fact, the patch of lantana (family Verbenaceae) drew assorted butterflies, including buckeyes, alfalfa, monarchs, and painted ladies.

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