Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A male monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Monarch Takes Flight

September 7, 2023
A monarch on the move... When you see a monarch foraging on a flower, have you ever seen them--or photographed them--taking flight? It's not your iconic image of monarch, but a few twists and turns, jumble of colors and jagged lines, and the monarch takes flight.
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An Anise Swallowtail, sipping nectar from a red zinnia, seems unaware of a buzzing honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Bee-Butterfly Battle Over a Zinnia

September 5, 2023
An Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon, settles on a red zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden and begins sipping the nectar. A honey bee buzzes by. Was she just passing through or did she want the same nectar? The bee brushes the butterfly's wings. Okay! I'm leaving! Score: Bee, 1; butterfly 0.
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A male Melissodes agilis barreling over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Let's Roll!

September 1, 2023
Let's roll! During the golden hour, right before sunset, have you ever watched a male longhorned bee roll full-barrel over a flower at Top Gun speed? During the day, the male longhorned target assorted insects foraging on "their" patch of flowers.
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