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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This is the Atlas moth, the largest moth in the world. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Open House: Like a Moth to a Flame!

July 21, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Want to learn more about moths? If you attend the Virtual Moth Open House hosted by the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, then it may be like a "moth to a flame.
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A male yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, sleeps on a Mexican sunflower,Bombus Bombus vosnesenskii,in Vacaville,Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nighty-Night, Mr. Bumble Bee!

July 20, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a bumble bee sleeping? If you slip out to your garden at night or early morning, you might find the male bumble bees asleep in, on or around the flowers. The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, frequents our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif.
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This wasp, a species of Podalonia, flies off a tropical milkweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden with a load of pollinia, a packet of sticky golden pollen grains. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Pollinia: Like Having Gum on Your Shoes

July 17, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've ever stepped in sticky gum, it's similar to what happens when an insect steps into milkweed pollinia. Take the wasps visiting the tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on Thursday morning, July 16 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
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"Well, hello there!" A mature male crab spider, likely a Missumessus species (Thomisidae, crab spider) as identified by UC Davis Professor Jason Bond, peers at the camera from his Tithonia post. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Spider Alert! Meet a Little Charmer

July 16, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Spider alert! Spider alert! Some folks request a "spider alert" because they cringe in horror when they see an image of the eight-legged critter.
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UC Davis doctoral student Alexandria “Allie” Igwe has received a $138,000 National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on soil microbial communities and develop novel online tools to increase interest in ecology.
Bug Squad: Article

Allie Igwe: The Road to Success

July 15, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The road to success is paved with soil microbial communities. And education, curiosity, determination, and collaboration.
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