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A honey bee checks out a minute black scavenger fly at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

The Bee and the Fly

October 2, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey is a genius, to be sure. Show him a fly and he'll tell you exactly what it is and what it's all about. I shot this photo at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. The honey bee looked huge and the fly, tiny.
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The honey bee, resplendent here with silvery wings, is gold to the global economy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

What Price Pollination?

October 1, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What are insect pollinators worth to the global economy? Well, it's a lot less than the Wall Street bailout...er...rescue plan. Recent research published in the journal Ecological Economics reveals just how important insect pollinators are.
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A ladybug crawls along the leaf of a Russian sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seeing Spots

September 30, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you spot a ladybug, don't just start reciting "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home." Aim, click and shoot. With a camera, that is. Agricultural Research Service scientists and entomologists at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
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A honey bee can't wait for the Calandrinia grandiflora to open. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Heaven Can Wait

September 29, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They danced in it, rolled in it, and bathed in it. The honey bees just couldn't get enough of the rock purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora). Last week when we visited Vacaville's El Rancho Nursery and Landscaping. nursery, owned by Ray and Maria Lopez, it was like a free-for-all at the French Laundry.
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Getting the Red In

September 26, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you love pomegranates, you can thank a honey bee. If you love capturing images of pomegranates, you can thank a honey bee. And, if you love juicing them and making pomegranate jellyas I doyou can thank a honey bee. The honey bee makes it all possible.
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UC Davis mosquito researcher Chris Barker will speak on "Environmental Drivers of Large-Scale Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Mosquito Abundance and Virus Transmission in California” on Nov. 26 from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

From Beetles to Skeeters

September 25, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
So, you want to become an entomologist... Entomologists, future entomologists and others interested in science are looking forward to the fall seminars sponsored Oct. 1 through Dec. 3 by the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis.
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A newly emerged bee at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. During the busy season, a worker bee will live only four to six weeks.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

It's All About the Bees

September 24, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's all about the bees. When A. G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the newly selected State Apiary Board meet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3 at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.
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A honey bee on sage. Fossil evidence indicates that the very first insects inhabited this earth 400 million years ago. Honey bees existed at least by 7000 B.C., per a primitive drawing in a cave wall in eastern Spain. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Holy Moly!

September 23, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Quick! How long have insects inhabited this earth? If you're taking a biology or an entomology course, you'll be asked that question on an exam. If you're attending the Entomological Society of America conference Nov. 16-20 in Reno, you probably already know that. A good answer: 400 million years.
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A drone (front) starts his takeoff to find a virgin queen. At left is a worker bee, his sister. Drones don't survive the winter; the girls kick the boys out of the hive.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?

September 22, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's tough being a drone honey bee this time of year. The drones, or male bees, don't survive the winter. Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis admits to having a soft spot for drones.
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A Consperse stink bug (Euschistus conspersus) races down a post at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis campus. Note its distinctive shield shape and its five-segmented antennae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Why the Stink Bug Stinks

September 19, 2008
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever wonder why the stink bug stinks? The stink bug, from the family Pentamodae, is a shield-shaped insect that tomato growers would love to ban from the face of this earth. Some 50 species exist in California. The adults are either brown or green. Most stink bugs are plant feeders.
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