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)

A monarch butterfly sips nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in front of a bird, decorative art. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Butterfly and the Bird

October 1, 2019

A monarch butterfly fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville yesterday and sipped nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) as a bird looked on. Well, sort of looked on. The bird was decorative art. The monarch was real. Now if that bird had been real, the monarch may have been a meal.

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Adult Caenorhabditis elegans. Wikipedia describes it as "a free-living, transparent nematode, about 1mm in length, that lives in temperature soil environments." (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Plant Nematologist Nathan Schroeder: 'Endless Worms Most Beautiful'

September 30, 2019

If you're interested in nematodes--also called "roundworms"--then you'll want to be around when plant nematologist Nathan Schroeder, associate professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, presents a seminar on Wednesday, Oct.

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Two monarchs arrived today at a pollinator garden in Vacaville to sip nectar from a patch of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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A Monarch Kind of Day

September 27, 2019

Today was a Monarch Kind of Day...in Vacaville. When Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, searched for butterfly species today at one of his field sites--Gates Canyon in Vacaville--he spotted not one, but two monarchs.

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Lupine seeds will be among the native wildflower seeds available at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden plant sale on Saturday, Sept. 28. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Why UC Davis Campus Is Place to 'Bee' on Sept. 28

September 26, 2019

The UC Davis campus is the place to "bee" on Saturday, Sept. 28.

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The parts of a honey bee include the head, thorax and abdomen. A class on "Advanced Anatomy and Physiology of the Honey Bee" takes place Oct. 19 at UC Davis, and is offered by the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program. This image was taken in Vacaville of a bee heading toward a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Learn About Honey Bee Anatomy at UC Davis Class

September 25, 2019

Consider the honey bee. Like all insects, it has a head, thorax and abdomen. But are you familiar with the rest of its anatomy? Here's an opportunity to learn about "Advanced Anatomy and Physiology of the Honey Bee" in a class offered Saturday, Oct.

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