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)

This is a close-up of a monarch egg, taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. It is about the size of a pinhead. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Joy of Rearing Monarchs

August 10, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The monarch butterfly egg is oh-so-very-tiny but what an incredible work of nature! The intricate egg is about the size of a pinhead, 0.9mm wide and 1.2mm high. It's creamy yellow with narrow longitudinal ridges.

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Ant specialist Brendon Boudinot searching for ants at the Southwest Research Station in Chiricahua Mountains near Portal, Arizona. (Photo by Roberto Keller, National Museum of Natural History and Science, Portugal)

Congrats, Brendon Boudinot, Recipient of ESA's Snodgrass Memorial Research Award

August 7, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Congratulations to UC Davis alumnus and ant morphologist Brendon Boudinot recipient of the coveted Robert E. Snodgrass Memorial Research Award from the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

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This is a female Vespa mandarinia japonica by Yasunori Koide. (Creative Commons photo)

What You Need to Know About That Invasive Giant Hornet

August 6, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's good to see Washington State University Extension's newly published, updated fact sheet on the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia. You can view or download it here for free.

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A monarch caterpillar molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

A Monarch Paradise in July

August 5, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Monarchs, bless their little hearts, souls and wings, deposited 16 eggs on our milkweed plants in July.

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Occupied! A praying mantis, a female Stagmomantis limbata occupies a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Portraits of The Predator and the Prey

August 4, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Heads will not roll. The Hunger Games will not begin. Preying does not always work. It's Aug. 2, 2020 and a praying mantis decides to occupy a specially stunning Mexican sunflower. Specifically, it's a female Stagmomantis limbata occupying a Tithonia rotundifolia.

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