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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A painted lady, Vanessa cardui, flutters away in this prize-winning work of artist Roberto Valdez. He won best of show in the professional fine arts category, oils and acrylics, at the 2021 Dixon May Fair.

Art Imitating Life or Life Imitating Art?

May 10, 2021
Does art imitate life or life imitate art? Oscar Wilde opined in his 1889 essay, The Decay of Lying: An Observation, that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." It's up for discussion. Take the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui.
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A queen bee (No. 58) and her retinue. This image is from Susan Cobey's colony.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If a Queen Bee Were to Celebrate Mother's Day...

May 7, 2021
If a queen bee were to celebrate Mother's Day (and she won't because she's too busy laying eggs), what a crowded festivity that would be. Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of Washington State University, former manager of the Harry H.Laidlaw Jr.
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