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

The winning Davis Linnaean Team is comprised of (from left) Kelly Hamby, Matan Shelomi, Kelly Liebman and Jenny Carlson. With them is mascot, Max. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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They Know Their Insects

April 4, 2012

They know their insects. They know what a "land lobster" is. They know diseases caused by trypanosomes. They can name the six orders of arthropods represented in the circus troupe from the movie, "A Bug's Life.

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A red-shouldered stink bug peers at the camera.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Kill It Or Let It Live?

April 3, 2012

So, you've just stepped on a bug. Do you kill it and put it out of its "misery" or do you let it live? That was basically the question that UC Davis entomologist/doctoral candidate Matan Shelomi answered on Quora.

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Derek Downey checks the cluster on a newly hived colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Charmed

April 2, 2012

The third time was definitely the charm. After rain postponed the grand opening of the Davis Bee Collective's Bee Sanctuary not once, but twice--the third time, Sunday, April 1--proved to be the charm.

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A thriving honey bee colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Neonics Creating Quite a Buzz

March 30, 2012

The neonicotinoid pesticides are creating quite a buzz in the bee world. Research published this week in the Science journal zeroed in on the effects of the neonics on honey bees and bumble bees.

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View of the Davis Bee Sanctuary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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They Want the Weather to 'Bee Nice'

March 29, 2012

"The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains, according to a signature song in the musical, My Fair Lady. Dont tell that to Derek Downey, who has been trying to schedule the grand opening of the Davis Bee Sanctuary now for the past two weeks.

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