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

Equine Control Officer Laurie Christison of the Center for Equine Health captured this cell-phone image of a female velvet ant.

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'A Strange Little Bug'

October 24, 2011

Picture this. Staff at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Equine Health encountered "a strange little bug" that they'd never seen before outside their office Friday on Old Davis Road.

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Ladybug, aka lady beetle, searching for aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Luck Be a Lady

October 21, 2011

Photographers never tire of capturing images of ladybugs, aka lady beetles. First of all, they're beneficial insects. You know when you photograph them that they're about to scoot, crawl or fly off to grab a tasty lunch--an all-you-can-eat aphid buffet. Second, they're colorful.

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Noted insect photographer Alex Wild captured this spectacular image of sweat bees on sideoats grama. (Photo by Alex Wild and used with permission.)

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Call of the (Alex) Wild

October 20, 2011

There are insect photographers and there are insect photographers. There are those who point and shoot, those who shoot and point, and those who see the world through a viewfinder. And then there's Illinois-based Alex Wild, who is in a class by himself.

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Spotted cucumber beetles crawls along a tangerine leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Flying Cucumber (Beetle)

October 19, 2011

You usually see them crawling around, but never about to fly. The Western spotted cucumber beetles (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) is one of California's most common insects. And though quite attractive in coloring, it's a major agricultural pest.

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Honey bee nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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What's That Buzz?

October 18, 2011

Things are buzzing over at the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science on the University of California, Davis campus. The RMI folks are gearing up for the big Honey! event, set for 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 21 in the UC Davis Conference Center.

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