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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robber fly staring at the photographer. A robber fly is one of many insects that students use in "How to Make an Insect Collection." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

How to Make an Insect Collection

October 1, 2015
It's that time of year again. Teachers ask their students to make an insect collection. The project is considered a "rite of passage." However, often the students--whether they be middle school, high school or college level--don't know where to begin.
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A praying mantis nails a monarch butterfly on a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey(
Article

To Kill a Monarch

September 30, 2015
It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee in her classic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." "Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy," one of her characters, Miss Maudie, wisely observed.
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Two Gulf Fritillaries doing what comes naturally. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Privacy, Please!

September 29, 2015
Privacy, please! You're walking by a patch of lavender and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) and you notice that two Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are doing what birds 'n' bees 'n butterflies do. Well, some folks call it "bug porn" and some call it a "two-for" images--two insects in one photo.
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Female mosquito, Aedes aegypti, also known as "the dengue mosquito," drawing a blood meal. (Photo by James Gathany. United States Department of Health and Human Services)
Article

ICE-ing on the Cake!

September 28, 2015
What a nice move! Especially since the United States is busily restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. Think entomology. Think ICE. Think ICE'ing on the cake. Think ICE'ing on an entomological cake.
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