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

This bee condo, meant for blue orchard bees, is attracting a European wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Hole for One

August 17, 2012

During the day, European wool carder bees (so named because the females collect or "card" plant fuzz for their nests) forage on our catmint and lamb's ear. These bees, Anthidium manicatum, are about the size of a honey bee, but with striking yellow and black markings.

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Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen talks to a tour group at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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All About Honey Bees

August 16, 2012

To commemorate National Honey Bee Day, Jefferson Exchange host Geoffrey Riley of Jefferson Public Radio, Southern Oregon University, recently booked a trio of experts to talk about honey bees. The broadcast, aired Aug.

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Honey bee heading toward tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Bounty of Pollination

August 15, 2012

If you want to learn more about honey bees and other pollinators, then The Bounty of Pollination: More Than Just Honey is the place to bee on Saturday, Oct 27 at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science (RMI), University of California, Davis.

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Katydid climbing a wall. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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The Sounds of Katydids

August 14, 2012

Ever heard the sound of katydids? The meadow katydids, the true katydids, the round-headed katydids, the bush katydids and the shiedback katydids? They're all there, in all their glory. Entomologist/educator/author/lecturer/photographer/broadcaster Art Evans of Richmond, Va.

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Freeloader fly sharing a meal with a spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Buddy, Can You Share a Meal?

August 13, 2012

The next time you see a spider eating a bee snared in its web, look closely. The spider may not be alone. It may have a dinner companion. A freeloader fly. The common name, "freeloader fly," refers to the Milichiidae family.

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