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May 2025Archived
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THREE GREEN APHIDS are sucking plant juices from a rock purslane, while a honey bee is sipping nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Guess Who Came to Dinner?

November 23, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Picture this. A light rainstorm strikes the garden, pummeling and shredding some of the blossoms. As the rain lets up, a honey bee buzzes into a rock purslane blossom for a sweet shot of nectar. She is not alone. If you look closely, you'll see three green aphids on an unopened blossom next to her.
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SPECTACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY of entomologist Rollin Coville, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley, graces the 2010 Native Bees Calendar, a fundraising project of the Xerces Society and the Great Sunflower Project. (Photos courtesy of Rollin Coville)
Bug Squad: Article

Native Bee Calendar Focuses on 'Pin-Up Girls'--and Boys

November 20, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Humans aren't the only calendar pin-up models. Think native bees. Think the 2010 Native Bees Calendar. The Xerces Society and the Great Sunflower Project have joined forces to produce a calendar showcasing 12 commonly found native bees.
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LADYBUG crawls on a leaf at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

What's Bugging the Ladybug?

November 19, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It probably bugs her but it doesn't kill her. But why? An entomologist at the University of Montreal is investigating why parasitic wasps (Dinocampus coccinellae) that lay their eggs on ladybugs (Coccinella maculata) do not kill them. Often a parasitic insect, such as a tachinid fly, kills its host.
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SLOW-MOVING yellow-legged paper wasp, Mischocyttarus flavitarsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Waist Not, Want Not

November 18, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A buggy thing happened on the way to a meeting. As we left Briggs Hall, a three-story building on the UC Davis campus that houses the Department of Entomology, we noticed a wasp at our feet.
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THE RESEARCHERS--Maurice and Catherine Tauber in Brazil.
Bug Squad: Article

The Taubers: Legends in the Entomological World

November 17, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They met and married in the 1960s when they were studying for their doctorates in entomology at UC Berkeley. They established exemplary careers in entomology at Cornell University. Now, at retirement age, they've moved back to Northern California. Meet Drs.
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BEEKEEPER AND ARTIST Andrew Tyzack of East Riding, Yorkshire, UK, with his bees. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Tyzack)
Bug Squad: Article

Bees in Art

November 16, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bees engage us. They fascinate, charm and inspire us. Last Sunday morning, as the temperature climbed from 40 to 50 degrees, the honey bees joined us in our garden. They buzzed in and out of the autumn blossoms, gathering pollen and nectar.
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VARROA MITE on a honey bee (see raised reddish-brown spot under the wing). The mites reproduce in the hive, sucking the blood of pupae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Not a Pleasant Sight

November 13, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What's wrong with this photo? A honey bee is nectaring a lavender, right? Right. But if you look closely, you'll see a Varroa mite--a parasite--attached to her. Varroa mites, considered the No.
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HONEY BEE, with tongue extended, makes a "beeline" for pink oxalis (Oxalis herta) in the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Bottoms Up

November 12, 2009
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A recent visit to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden found honey bees making a...yes...beeline...for the pink oxalis (Oxalis herta), a native of South Africa. Some folks consider oxalis, especially yellow oxalis, a "weed.
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