Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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BUTTERFLY GURU Art Shapiro, outside his office at Storer Hall, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Butterfly Man

March 3rd, 2011
Move over, Justin Bieber. Butterfly guru Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, says he's now a "cover boy," too. Shapiro is featured in the current edition of Sacramento News & Review.
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CREMATOGASTER ANTS--Myrmecologist or ant specialist Bonnie Blaimer studies theses ants in Madagascar. “This genus fascinates me particularly because of its species diversity and dominance in tropical forests, and its intriguing natural history,” she says. “Most species are canopy-nesting in dead twigs and branches or under bark, or they make elaborate independent carton-nest from wood fibers. Some species are suspected to be temporary social parasites, and many tend scale insects or mealybugs." (Photo by B
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In Pursuit of Ants

March 2nd, 2011
Just call it the ABC of ants. (A) Ants, (B) Bonnie Blaimer and (C) Crematogaster. Add a double "M" and you have a myrmecologist studying ants in Madagascar.
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SOAPBERRY BUG scrambles up a tree at UC Davis. Biologist Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, studies soapberry bugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Don't Say the "R" Word

March 1st, 2011
For being "retired," Hugh Dingle is one busy scientist. Dingle, an emeritus professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology, recently returned to Davis after living in Australia for seven years and doing research at the University of Brisbane, Australia.
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HONEY BEE forages in a nectarine blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Pollen Power

February 28th, 2011
Cool temperatures and honey bees do not a good team make. Since honey bees don't forage until temperatures hit 50 to 55 degrees, we haven't seen many bees gathering pollen from our nectarine trees. If you love nectarines, there's a lot to love.
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HOVER FLY foraging on cape mallow at the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. The haven is known as a half-acre "bee friendly garden," but it's also a "pollinator-friendly garden." Located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, it is open year-around from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Around the Cape

February 25th, 2011
It's not just honey bees that forage among the cape mallows in the Hagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis. The brilliant magenta flowers also draw assorted other insects. Such as flies...hover flies.
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