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)
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John Hargrove in South Africa providing expertise on the tsetse fly. (Photo by Pietro Ceccato of the SERVIR Applied Sciences Team)

John Hargrove: Targeting Tsetse, Trypanosomiasis and Climate Change

May 1, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness, is a disease caused by a parasite. People can get this parasite when an infected Tsetse fly bites them. Symptoms include fatigue, high fever, headaches, and muscle aches. If the disease is not treated, it can cause death.
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Look closely and you can see a squirrel occupying a small hollow or cavity in a sycamore tree. The cavity has been home to feral bees for at least two decades. (Image taken in Vacaville by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Squirrel Vs. Bees: Sorry, No Vacancy!

April 28, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Call it The Battle Over a Tree Hollow." Feral bees have occupiedand abandoneda sycamore tree cavity in a Vacaville neighborhood for at least two decades. They occupy it in the spring, summer and fall, and then the colony either absconds or dies back in the winter.
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Ready to field questions are these representatives of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Karey Windbiel-Rojas (left), associate director for Urban and Community IPM/Area IPM Advisor, and IPM educator Lauren Fordyce. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Of Lady Beetles and Green Fruit Beetle Larvae

April 27, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Make way for the beetles! Lady beetles, green fruit beetle larvae, and stick-on bug tattoos drew inquisitive and appreciative crowds when the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) staffed an informational booth at Briggs Hall during the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.
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