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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Honey bee foraging in a tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yule'll Like This One

May 1, 2012
If you're growing a tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii) in your yard, you won't need a stop sign or a traffic light to encourage vehicles to slow down--they will automatically when they see this spectacular plant. it's a traffic stopper.
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Common blue damselfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Like a (Blue) Needle in a Haystack

April 30, 2012
Sometimes it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The common blue damselfly or Northern Bluet (Enallagma cyathigerum) is long and slender like a needle, but a jeweled blue needle.
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Nature's Gallery, a mosaic mural celebrating insects and plants, is now at home in the Storer Garden, UC Davis Arboretum, on Garrod Drive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nature's Gallery: Absolutely Spectacular

April 27, 2012
Nature's Gallery is absolutely spectacular. You may remember hearing about the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program project when it was displayed in the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2007. Nature's Gallery drew raves then and it's drawing raves now.
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This is a white-eyed Caucasian (dark) honey bee drone. White-eyed drones are blind. In the foreground is honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

White-Eyed Drone

April 25, 2012
Beekeepers sometimes see a white-eyed drone in their hives--a genetic mutation. All drones (male) honey bees, have these spectacular wrap-around eyes that are perfect for finding a virgin queen on her maiden flight. After all, the drone's sole purpose is to mate with a queen and then die.
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