Bug Squad

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.

Cheryl Veretto was first in line to take the California Master Beekeeper Program practical test administered in September 2016. With her is UC Davis research associate Charley Nye, CAMBP examiner and manager of the Laidlaw facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Master Beekeeper Cheryl Veretto: She Loved Bees, Plants and People

August 16, 2021

Cheryl Veretto was the first to step forward. She and 51 other beekeepers had gathered that day in September 2016 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis to undergo testing to become California Master Beekeepers at the apprentice level.

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Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Memo to a Mantis

August 13, 2021

Dear Ms. Mantis, We see you. You're trying to camouflage yourself, but we see you. You're hanging out on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, trying to catch a butterfly or a bee.

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Hammock lab alumnus, Guodong Zhang, associate professor in the University of Massachusetts' Department of Food Science, is the recipient of the Foods 2021 Young Investigator Award. He is shown here in the Hammock lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Guodong Zhang, a Rising Star from the Bruce Hammock Lab, Wins Interntionial Award

August 12, 2021

Congratulations are in order! Associate professor Guodong Zhang of the University of Massachusetts' Department of Food Science and a former UC Davis postdoctoral scholar advised by UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, has just been named the recipient of the Foods 2021 Young Investigator...

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Honey bees sharing an east-facing sunflower with a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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UC Davis Professor Stacey Harmer: Why It's Better for Sunflowers to Face East

August 11, 2021

Have you ever noticed that sunflowers facing east attract more bees? An 11-member team of researchers led by UC Davis scientists reveals insight on "how and why" in a newly published article in the journal New Phytologist.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal (far right) preparing for the chat session of the international symposium on olfaction and taste. Assisting him are students Efrain Vasquez (foreground) and Kelly Brandt.

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All Systems 'Go' for the International Olfaction/Taste Symposium

August 10, 2021

All systems are "go" for a first-of-its-kind international olfaction/taste symposium co-hosted by a trio of scientists, including UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal. The Zoom symposium, Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe, begins at 9 a.m.

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