Do you recognize the native bee that graces the cover of the current edition of California Agriculture, a peer-reviewed journal published by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources? Yes, it's a carpenter bee.

View Article

PINK BLOSSOMS of this cactus, Echinopsis, rise majestically, but if you look closely, this plant has company. It harbors plant bugs (see photos below). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Marvelous Mirids

July 7th, 2009

So, you spot a bug crawling up and down a plant in your garden. What is it? Plant bug. Plant bug? No kidding. The common name for certain members of the Miridae family is--you guessed it--"plant bug.

View Article

THIS DOG TICK, from the genus Dermacentor, is an adult female. When she's embedded and gorged with blood, she will swell to about half-an-inch long. Here she's crawling on a ruler. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Ticked Off

July 6th, 2009

Now here's something that will tick you off. You're taking photos of bumble bees and honey bees in tall grass near a wooded area, minding your own ISO, shutter speed and aperture. All's well with the world.

View Article

A squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

Yellow Blossom Special

July 3rd, 2009

They're up and at it long before the honey bees. Before dawn breaks, you'll see the tiny bees gathering nectar and pollen in squash, pumpkins and other cucurbits. They're squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa), sometimes called the plush bee.

View Article

WALNUT TWIG BEETLE is smaller than a grain of rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Article

A One-Two Punch

July 2nd, 2009

When you look at the tiny unassuming walnut twig beetle--it's smaller than a grain of rice--you wonder how it could possibily kill a majestic black walnut tree. By itself, it can't. But when it's associated with a specific fungus that hitchhikes on the beetle, were talking serious problems.

View Article