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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Elisa Seppa (left), superintendent of McCormack Hall, Solano County fFair and assistant superintendent Gloria Gonzalez work on a skep display. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Home Sweet Home

August 2, 2012
It's good to see county and state fairs focusing on bugs 'n bees. These displays inform, educate and entertain. The California State Fair, Sacramento, traditionally features an Insect Pavilion, which includes exotic and invasive species.
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Bee breeder-geneticist Kim Fondrk of UC Davis manages the Robert Page specialized genetic stock. These bee hives were in a Dixon almond orchard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Turning a Page in Entomological History

August 1, 2012
It was great to see Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, be selected as one of the 10 fellows of the 6000-member Entomological Society of America for 2012.
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Chemical ecologist Walter Leal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Equivalent to an Olympic Gold Medal

July 31, 2012
Walter Leal isnt participating in the Olympics, but he medaled just the same. It was not for athletic prowess, but for scholarly achievementsthe scientific equivalent of an international gold medal.
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Orbweaver eating its wrapped prey, a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It's the Nature of Things

July 30, 2012
The thing about predators and prey is that it's the nature of things. Take spiders. The many different species have different methods of catching, killing, confining and eating their prey.
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Honey bees licking the surface of a hummingbird feeder. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Dining Where They're Not Wanted

July 27, 2012
If your hummingbird feeders are filled with that oh-so-tantalizing sweet sugary syrup, you may be attracting not only hummers, but honey bees, too. In fact, the bees may be crowding out the hummers.
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