Bug Squad

Bumble bee on bull thistle at Bodega Bay
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RAGGED WINGS of a honey bee. She is nectaring lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Winged Wonders

December 2nd, 2009
Hear the buzz? That's the sound of a honey bee's wings moving at about 11,400 times per minute. As a field bee, the worker bee lives only several weeks during the peak nectaring season. She can fly four to five miles a day, at a speed of about 15 miles per hour.
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MASON WASP sipping nectar from a rock purslane. The wasp is from the family Vespidae and subfamily Eumeninae. It's probably from the genus Ancistrocerus, according to Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Meet the Masons

December 1st, 2009
Mason wasps are strikingly beautiful. The black and yellow patterns are intriguing, but even more intriguing are the mud nests they build. Makes sense that these wasps are called mason or potter wasps, named for what they do. Their human counterparts work with stone, brick, and concrete.
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HOVER FLY, aka flower fly, nectars the rock purslane. The insect is from the family Syrphidae, and probably genus Platycheirus, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Hovering

November 30th, 2009
The warmth of the sun and the lure of nectar beckoned the hover flies or flower flies to our bee friendly garden. We saw this one nectaring the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) last weekend.
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COMPOUND EYES of the honey bee are comprised of hundreds of single eyes (ommatidia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Seeing Eye to Eye

November 27th, 2009
Ever wonder how a honey bee sees? Its compound eyes are comprised of hundreds of single eyes (ommatidia), each with its own lens. It can distinguish colors, but can't see red, which it interprets as black.
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HONEY BEE nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Thanks Be to the Bee

November 26th, 2009
Hap-bee Thanksgiving! If you're having cranberries, squash, pumpkins, carrots, cucumbers (and pickles) onions, grapefruit, oranges, apples, pears, cherries, blueberries, sunflowers and almonds, you can thank the honey bee.
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