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)

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS--The nymph (bright red) of the soapberry bug scurries down a tree trunk. (Photo by James Moerhke)

Bug Squad: Article

Shoulder to Shoulder

February 4, 2009

Vacaville resident James Moehrke was out geocaching last weekend in the Vaca Valley Parkway-East Monte Vista Avenue area of the city when he spotted some red-shouldered black bugs. "There were many clusters, probably thousands of individuals, in the trees and a few on the ground," he recalled.

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DEDICATION--Entomologist Bruce Hammock,a distinguished professor at UC Davis, confers with a researcher at a recent meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Hammock holds a joint appointment in Cancer Research with the UC Davis Medical Center. He directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Program on the UC Davis campus, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Program in Biotechnology, and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory.(Photo by K

Bug Squad: Article

A Sense of Urgency

February 3, 2009

It's a sense of urgency.

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HONEY BEE ON DAPHNE--The daphne is known for its scented flowers--but beware those poisonous berries. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

No Pork Barrel Politics Here

February 2, 2009

Honey bee insurance buzzed into the news Feb. 1 when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared on the CBS Show, "Face the Nation" and blasted the state of the economy and President Obama's economic stimulus plan.

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PERFECT CAKE FOR AN ENTOMOLOGIST--What's a perfect birthday cake for an insect scientist? One with bugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bug Squad: Article

The Bug Stops Here

January 30, 2009

Its Friday, so it must be Friday lite When youre hosting a birthday party for an entomologist, you have to think bugs. Thats the rule. Its written right there in the Entomological Society of Americas official guidebook, Chapter 10, Page 387, Line 38. (OK, I made that up.

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A hover fly or flower fly, Syrphus opinator, rests on a stem in the Storer Gardens, UC Davis. You'll be seeing more of these hover flies as the weather warms. This photo was taken Saturday, Jan. 24. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Just Hovering

January 29, 2009

It's often mistaken for a honey bee. It's not a honey bee. It's a hover fly or flower fly. And this one, hovering around the plants last Saturday in the Storer Gardens at the University of California, Davis, looked like a Syrphus opinator to me.

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