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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LUCKY BUG--This ladybug soaks up sunshine after being discovered in a garbage can. Her two-legged rescuers saved her from a trip to the landfill.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

The L-Bug

January 5, 2009
There she was, snuggled beneath a garbage can lid, seeking warmth as temperatures dipped to freezing levels. She was lucky. It was City Garbage Pick-Up Day. She could have been trucked to the local landfill had we not rescued her. Luck be a lady and she was.
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PISTACHIO LOVER--This navel orangeworm showed a preference for pistachios. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Penchant for Pistachios Leads to Startling Find

January 2, 2009
Chemical ecologists at the University of California, Davis, are changing their navel-orangeworm research direction after an elementary school students science project found that the major agricultural pest prefers pistachios over almonds and walnuts.
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ROCK PURSLANE--The magenta-colored rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora) is a favorite of honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Twenty-Nine Days to Go

January 1, 2009
Twenty-nine days to go. If you love bees and know how to design a bee friendly garden, remember Jan. 30. Jan. 30 is the deadline to submit your design for the half-acre bee friendly garden at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis.
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TURN OVER A NEW LEAF--and there's a praying mantis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Turning Over a New Leaf

December 31, 2008
For my New Year's resolution, I resolve to turn over a new leaf. Oh, sure, most folks resolve to eat less, exercise more, drink less, read more, stress less, save more, gripe less, and volunteer more. Not me. I'm turning over a new leaf.
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BLUE BUTTERFLY--This butterfly in the live butterfly display at the Entomological Society of America's recent meeting in Reno prompted photographers to aim, focus and shoot. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Flying Flower

December 30, 2008
Ponce Denis couchard Lebrun compared the butterfly to a flying flower: The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly. At the recent Entomological Society of America meeting in Reno, a blue butterfly drew the attention of lepidopterists and photographers alike.
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