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 row of honey jars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Still Time to Register for UC Davis Honey Adulteration Symposium

March 24, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
There's still time to register for the online Honey Adulteration Symposium, hosted by the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center and featuring keynote speaker Michael T. Roberts of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. The 2.
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It's an urban myth that "Female mantids always eat males they mate with." Lynn Kimsey's response: "Only if the male isn't fast enough." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

About Those Urban Myths in Entomology

March 23, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Professor Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, knows her insects and she knows the urban myths associated with them.
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A honey bee heads for fava bean blossoms. Note the silver-gray pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lovin' the Fava Beans

March 22, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Every time we see honey bees pollinating fava bean blossoms, we think of actor Anthony Hopkins. Remember that malevolent scene in the "Silence of the Lambs" film (1991) when serial killer Hannibal Lecter (portrayed magnificently by Hopkins (says: "A census taker once tried to test me.
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Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Happy Taxonomists' Appreciation Day!

March 19, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you hugged your taxonomist yet today? No? Probably can't due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but at least we can honor them every March 19 on Taxonomists' Appreciation Day. Basically, taxonomy is the science of describing, naming, defining and classifying organisms, both alive and extinct.
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A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where Are All the Bumble Bees?

March 18, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Seen any bumble bees lately? No? Me, neither. It's almost the first day of spring, and bumble bees are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. (Hens have no teeth, y'know.) We've been watching our nectarine tree bloom. It's drawing honey bees, but no bumble bees.
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