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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May the Fourth Be With You: Four honey bees share a rose blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

May the Fourth Be With You

July 4, 2019
"The Redcoats are coming! The Redcoats are coming!" So shouted American Revolutionary patriot Paul Revere during his historical ride. Those who responded to the colonial revolt included my immigrant ancestors: the Keatleys, Laughlins and Agees. They left their farms and took up arms.
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A female blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, as identified by Greg Kareofelas of the Bohart Museum, warms itself on a window screen in the early morning. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Joy of Dragonflies

July 2, 2019
If a dragonfly lands on your window screen and rests there for several hours, is that good luck? A female red rock skimmer, Paltothemis lineatipes, did just that. She was several feet from our fish pond and several yards from our pollinator garden. And inches from where we stood.
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Entomologist Norm Smith (center) answers questions about moths at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Moth Night. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum of Entomology: One Busy Place!

July 1, 2019
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is one busy place--lots of activities planned this summer and there's a newly announced schedule of summer hours. Moth Night. The Bohart will celebrate National Moth Night: Exploring Night Time Nature on Saturday, Aug.
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A Gulf Fritillary shares a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) with a hover fly (Syrphid). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where Are You, Gulf Fritillaries?

June 28, 2019
Where are you, Gulf Fritillaries? The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) population seems to be diminishing this year around Solano and Yolo counties. A few here, a few there, but not in the large numbers of last year.
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