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 lone soapberry bug searching for a mate in the UC Davis Arboretum, off Garrod Drive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fifty Shades of Gray (and Red)

April 2, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ah, soapberry bugs... They'll never get top billing in a racy novel, let alone star in an R-rated movie. The "R" word comes into play only when they're referred to as "the rapidly evolving soapberry bugs" or when scientists talk about reproduction.
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This female damselfly, Argia vivida, can barely be distinguished from the twig she's resting on. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Quick! Find the Damselfly!

April 1, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Quick! Find the damselfly! This damselfly (below) is so camouflaged that it's difficult to see her.
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A lady beetle crawls on an Iceland poppy stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fly Away Home

March 31, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Who wouldn't like to have a lady beetle, aka ladybug? Although they're commonly called "ladybugs," entomologists call them "lady beetles." That's because they're beetles, not bugs.
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A honey bee heads for an almond blossom in Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Almond and the Bee

March 30, 2015
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Remember Stephanie Hsia? She's the beekeeper/graduate student at Harvard's Graduate School of Design who traveled through almond orchards in California's Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys in May 2014 to illustrate and pen a book about the spatial relationship between honey bees and almonds.
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