Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primary Image
Honey bee nearly collides with a ladybug, aka ladybeetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Pomegranate Kind of Day

May 17, 2012
It was a pomegranate kind of day. Red, bright and wonderful. The papery-thin reddish blossoms in our yard draw both beneficial and pestiferous insects. Honey bees are there for the pollen and nectar; ladybugs are there for the pesky aphids.
View Article
Primary Image
Honey bee slides into a a violet trumpet vine blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Sounding the Trumpet (Vine)

May 15, 2012
If you're looking for a good bee plant that offers a little bit of an obstacle, try the violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma calystegioides). It's one of the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars.
View Article
Primary Image
Honey bees gather around a hummingbird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Red Alert!

May 14, 2012
Our yard is filled with such bee friendly plants as salvia, lavender, catmint and rock purslane. Lately, however, the honey bees have taken a liking to the sugar-water mixture from our hummingbird feeder.
View Article
Primary Image
This butterfly painting, in the Fine Arts and Photography Building, is the work of retired teacher Ethel Calvello of Dixon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Nature's Poetry

May 10, 2012
If you head over to the 137th annual Dixon May Fair, the state's oldest continuous fair, you'll see a flurry of butterflies. The fair, located at 655 S. First St., Dixon, opened Thursday, May 10 and continues through Sunday, May 13.
View Article