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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dorsal view of the larva of a lady beetle, aka ladybug, on a strawberry plant in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

They Are Not Your Enemy

April 7, 2022
They're not exactly cute, cuddly little critters. Some folks say they look like miniature alligators or "ugly, spiky orange-and-black buggy thingies.
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A soldier beetle seeking aphids and other soft-bodied insects on a strawberry plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Soldiering On

April 5, 2022
They're curious little critters. When solider beetles (family Cantharidae) go on patrol in your garden, don't kill them. They're not being deployed to harm you. They're the good guys. They eat aphids and other soft-bodied insects.
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A yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for Phacelia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Bumble Bee Ballet

April 1, 2022
Ever watched a bumble bee ballet? Bumble bees may look clumsy in flight, but they get the job done. We recently marveled at the yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on lacy phacelia, Phacelia tanacetifolia, on the UC Davis campus. This is a native bumble bee and a native plant.
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