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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Article

No 'Brotherly Love' for California Sister

July 21, 2022
It definitely wasn't a case of "brotherly love" when a predator--maybe a bird or a praying mantis--grabbed the California Sister in our pollinator garden. The butterfly, Adelpha bredowii californica, didn't survive.
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A crab spider on a Mexican sunflower is ready to ambush prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Crab Spider and a Bee

July 20, 2022
Oh, the patience of a crab spider. It lies in wait on the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in the hot sun. It scuttles back and forth, extending its legs. It's an ambush predator, ready to inject venom.
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A sky-high Gulf Fritillary caterpillar munches on a passionflower vine (Passiflora). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

A Sky-High Caterpillar

July 19, 2022
When you're in your garden, look up. Sometimes you'll see a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar outlined against the sky, munching away on its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The bright orange caterpillars can be as striking as the adults (Agraulis vanillae).
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