Bug Blog
The Monarch and the Melissodes
Just call it "The Battle Over the Tithonia." A female monarch butterfly--gender identified by butterfly expert Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis...
A male sunflower bee, Melissodes agilis, targets a monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Watch your backside! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Head to head: a monarch and a Melissodes square off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'The Well': The Hammocks Did It Well
There are no bugs in the film. None. Just because an entomologist is cast in a Hollywood movie, that doesn't mean there will be bugs. Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology at the...
Professor Bruce Hammock in his office in Briggs Hall, UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Looking for a Thistle
Perhaps it was searching for a thistle. The Mylitta Crescent butterfly (Physiodes mylitta) did not find the thistle—at least in our bee garden. What it did find were the leaves of a tower of...
Mylitta Crescent butterfly (Physiodes mylitta) on the leaf of a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Occupied! This bull thistle is occupied by a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Very Showy Butterfly
There's a good reason why lepidopterists call the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) "showy." Its bright orange-red wings, spangled iridescent silver on the underside, and a four-inch wingspan all...
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in flight over a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary checking out a place to lay her eggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary warming her wings on a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey Bees Need Water, Too!
These triple-digit temperatures make us all thirst for water. Honey bees need water, too. If you see them taking a sip from your birdbath or taking a dip in your pool, the "sip" means they're...
Honey bees find water where they can. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A flat floating cork in the fountain of The Melissa Garden, Healdsburg, is great for bees to buzz down and safely take a sip. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)