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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Red-shouldered hawk devouring what appears to be a praying mantis. It caught the insect in the Vacaville Museum and then perched on a telephone line to eat it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yes, Hawks Eat Insects

October 14, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever watched a red-shouldered hawk on a hunt? They eat a variety of prey, including small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, fish, crayfish, insects and worms, according to the California Raptor Center (CRC), a research center that's part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
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A bee fly, family Bombyliidae, foraging on sedum in a UC Davis garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's Friday Fly Day!

October 11, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Friday Fly Day, and time to post an image of a fly that masquerades as a bee. That would be "the bee fly," a fly so named because it resembles a bee Order: Diptera. Family: Bombyliidae. In its adult stage, it's a pollinator that feeds on nectar and pollen. In its larval stage, it's parasitoid.
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A crab spider eating a lygus bug, an agricultural pest in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Celebrating the Crab Spider in Arachtober

October 9, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Arachtober and that means celebrating arachnids for the entire month of October. Well, we ought to celebrate them year around, but October is THEIR month.
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A screen shot from the seminar of apiculturist Juliana Rangel Posada of Texas A&M.

Learning About the Bees and the Nutrition They Need

October 8, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you missed the eagerly anticipated UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar by apiculturist Juliana Rangel Posada, an associate professor at Texas A&M and an international leader in honey bee research, not to worry. Her Oct. 7th seminar was recorded.
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