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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Western yellowjacket (Vespula penyslvanica) heading toward a red-hot poker (but this variety is yellow). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's No Vegetarian

November 1, 2012
Bee specialists like to point out that the yellowjacket is a carnivore and the honey bee is a vegetarian. They are, indeed.
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Harlequin cabbage bug feeding on cabbage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bug That's Perfect for Halloween

October 31, 2012
If there ever were a bug just perfect for Halloween, that would be the orange and black Harlequin cabbage bug, Murgantia histrionica, also known as a calico bug or fire bug. Its brilliant, distinctive colors bring back memories of a circus clown.
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Aedes aegypti transmits the deadly dengue. (Photo by James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

An Important Message

October 30, 2012
It's Halloween tomorrow (Wednesday) but what's really frightening is Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that transmits the deadly dengue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue is the world's most rapidly spreading mosquito-transmitted disease. Some 2.
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Lady beetle, aka ladybug, prowling for aphids on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

When Contemplating Biocontrol of Pests

October 26, 2012
What are the important considerations when contemplating the biological control of pests? That's one of the topics when the Northern California Entomology Society meets on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 9:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District, 155 Mason Circle, Concord.
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