Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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They're Pollinators, Too

May 19th, 2010
When we think of pollinators, we usually think of honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, syrphid or flower flies, and butterflies. But wait, blow flies can be pollinators, too.
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The Hunter and the Hunted

May 18th, 2010
The crab spider is a clever and skillful hunter. Last Sunday we spotted a camouflaged crab spider (family Thomisidae) lying flat on a sedum. The spider's pink and white abdomen blended so well into the pink and white blossoms that you couldn't tell where the abdomen ended and where the flower began.
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Killer in Our Midst

May 17th, 2010
There's a killer in our midst, and a chemical ecologist will tell us all about it. The killer: thousand cankers disease. The victim: native black walnuts. The speaker: Steve Seybold.
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Nasty Little Parasites

May 14th, 2010
If you have a bee hive, you most likely have mites. Varroa mites, those blood-sucking parasites that latch onto the brood and also thrive on the adult bees, can weaken and destroy a hive.
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In Mint Condition

May 13th, 2010
Our catmint is in mint condition. So is the cat. The catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae or Labiatae). It's a perennial with two-lipped blue or blue-violet flowers that blooms from spring through fall. It grows so well that it can become invasive. Just like the cat.
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