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.

A Western tiger swallowtail, missing part of its tails, nectars March 30 on a lilac bush at a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Hello, Spring! Welcome, Western Tiger Swallowtail!

April 2, 2021

Hello, spring! It's not "officially" spring until we see--and photograph--the spectacular Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus. One landed March 30 on an aromatic white lilac bush in Alamo Creek Park, Vacaville. It lingered long enough for a few photos and then fluttered away.

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Bob Peterson: 'That's Not Normal for Any Insect'

April 1, 2021

If you missed entomologist Robert Peterson's outstanding virtual seminar on "Tigers in Yellowstone National Park: Adaptations of Insects to Extreme Environments," presented March 31 to the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, not to worry. It's on YouTube at https://youtu.

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Honey bees head into their home in the the bell tower of the Epiphany Episcopal Church, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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'Bee Man' Norm Gary Weighs in on 'Blessed Bees in the Bell Tower'

March 31, 2021

You've heard of "bats in the belfry," right? Well, how about "bees in the bell tower"? The Epiphany Episcopal Church of Vacaville, Calif., has just that: bees in its bell tower. (See Bug Squad blog, Blessed Are the Bees.

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Yellowstone white tiger beetle. (Image courtesy of Yellowstone National Park, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

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Are There Tigers in Yellowstone National Park? Listen to Bob Peterson's Seminar

March 30, 2021

(Editor's Note: See this March 31st seminar on YouTube at https://youtu.be/z85B0NlmizU) Are there tigers in Yellowstone National Park? Yes, tiger beetles. They live in the thermal pools, are one of the fastest animals on earth and in size, can fit on your thumbnail. Robert K. D.

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The honey bees swarmed last week to the entrance to the Epiphany Episcopal Church, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Blessed Are the Bees

March 29, 2021

Blessed are the bees. When honey bees swarmed last week at the entrance to the Epiphany Episcopal Church in Vacaville, the site seemed quite fitting. Biblical references to bees and honey, such as "the land of milk and honey," abound. Blessed are the bees.

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