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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A honey bee cleaning her tongue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ever Seen a Honey Bee Cleaning Her Tongue?

July 30, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We humans brush our teeth, and we sometimes brush our tongues. But have you ever seen a honey bee cleaning her tongue? Bay Nature contributing editor Alison Hawks recently asked two of our UC Davis bee experts why bees clean themselves.
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Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) on Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It Suits Them to a 'T'

July 29, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It suits them to a "T." And the "T" is for Tithonia. Many species of butterflies frequent our Tithonia, also known as Mexican sunflower. Like its name implies, it's a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
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McCormack Hall assistant superintendent Sharon Payne of Vallejo, a past president of the Solano County 4-H Leaders' Council, stands next to youth photography featuring insects. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Meet Me at the Fair!

July 28, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
County fairs are filled with fun, food and festivities. They're meant to educate, inform and entertain. What we've always loved about the county fairs: the incredible exhibits. Especially exhibits dealing with photographs and paintings of insects.
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A freeloader fly dines on a bee freshly killed by a garden spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

There Is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch

July 27, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
There is such a thing as a free lunch. And a free breakfast. And a free dinner. And a free snack. That is, if you're a freeloader fly.
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Three's company! Three juvenile Cooper's hawks, as identified by Andrew Engilis, Jr. curator of the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology,cooling off in an urban birdbath in Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why Influx of Caterpillars Linked to Hawks

July 24, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." --John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra Muir said it well.
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