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)

The Real Reason Why Santa Is Hurrying Down the Chimney

December 24, 2015
So, hurry down the chimney, tonight! So goes a line from "Santa Baby." The songwriters (J. Javits, P. Springer and T. Springer) listed all the good presents they wanted Santa to bring: a sable, a '54 convertible (light blue, please!), a yacht, a duplex and a deed to a platinum mine.
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Saving the Monarchs: Saving the Sacred Trees

December 23, 2015
We can help save the monarch butterflies by saving the "sacred" trees in central Mexico where most of the migrating population overwinters. Science journalist Janet Marinelli, writing in Yalee360, said it well in her Dec. 21st piece, "To Protect Monarch: a Plan to Save the Sacred Firs.
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Why Wild Bees Are in Trouble

December 21, 2015
Our nation's wild bees--which include bumble bees, squash bees and leafcutter bees--are in trouble. A newly published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals just how much trouble.
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Santa Is a Robber Fly

December 18, 2015
Santa may be a jolly ol' elf who gives away presents, but he is also a robber fly. Take it from UC Davis entomology student Wade Spencer. Spencer decided to create a Bohart Museum of Entomology Christmas card--an insect version--and sure enough, Santa is a robber fly.
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