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.

Male green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, nectaring on a seaside daisy, the Erigeron glaucus Wayne Roderick at Tomales Bay. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Wearing of the Green

March 16, 2012

It's St. Patrick's Day tomorrow and time for "The Wearing of the Green." "The Wearing of the Green" is actually an Irish street ballad dating back to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The author: anonymous. The color of choice: green.

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A garden spider spinning a web. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Sticky Business

March 15, 2012

If you've ever watched spiders trap their prey in their sticky webs, you've probably wondered: "Why don't spiders stick to their own webs?" We've watched countless spiders trap honey bees, syrphid flies and other hapless critters in their webs.

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Aphids cover a rose bud. Some aphids can complete a generation in five days. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Ask the Bug Doctor

March 14, 2012

Okay, what's the heaviest insect in the world? The longest? The fastest runner? The fastest flying insect? The loudest? The smallest? The insect with the greatest wingspan?

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Queen and her court. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Those 'Immoral' Honey Bee Queens

March 13, 2012

The news headlines screamed "immoral" and "promiscuous." The story was not about a red light district or "Ladies of the Night" or even linked to humans. It was about honey bee queens. "Ladies of the Day," if you will.

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Kelly Hamby, seeking her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, works on spotted wing drosophila research in the Frank Zalom lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Post Here, Please

March 12, 2012

It promises to be both exciting and informative. Some 200 freshmen at the University of California, Davis will present their research posters on career explorations from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13 in Freeborn Hall.

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