Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Primary Image
A honey bee forages on a lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) in the Joseph and Emma Lin Biological Orchard and Garden (BOG) at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Phacelia! You're Breaking My Heart!

March 31, 2023
Cecelia, you're breaking my heart You're shaking my confidence daily... --"Oh, Cecelia" written by Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkle If you think of the song, "Oh, Cecelia,' every time you pronounce Phacelia (the plant), you're not alone.
View Article
Primary Image
A monarch caterpillar, Danaus plexippus, munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomological ABCs: Ants, Bees and Caterpillars

March 29, 2023
Urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is coordinating the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year and she's just announced the speakers for the spring quarter. Want to learn about ants? Check. Bees? Check.
View Article
Primary Image
Martha Leija and Mario Preciado and their daughter Valentina, 8, a family from Mexico City, check over the morpho butterflies. At right is Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Morphos! The Monarchs! The Bohart!

March 28, 2023
When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house, a sure crowd-pleaser is the global Lepidoptera collection, which totals some 500,000 specimens--60 percent moths and 40 percent butterflies.
View Article