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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A monarch caterpillar molting. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

A Monarch Paradise in July

August 5, 2020
Monarchs, bless their little hearts, souls and wings, deposited 16 eggs on our milkweed plants in July.
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Occupied! A praying mantis, a female Stagmomantis limbata occupies a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Portraits of The Predator and the Prey

August 4, 2020
Heads will not roll. The Hunger Games will not begin. Preying does not always work. It's Aug. 2, 2020 and a praying mantis decides to occupy a specially stunning Mexican sunflower. Specifically, it's a female Stagmomantis limbata occupying a Tithonia rotundifolia.
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A honey bee encounters a lady beetle, aka ladybug, on mustard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This Is Not Our Planet. Whose Planet Is It?

August 3, 2020
Mention "beetles," and most folks think of that iconic English rock band from Liverpool. You know, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr? But to entomologists, "The Beatles," means "The Beetles.
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These Asian giant hornet images from the Washington State Department of Agriculture shows (from left), an example of a worker; the specimen collected July 14; an example of the queen.

Trapping the Asian Giant Hornet

July 31, 2020
Just when folks were beginning to think "it may be over and done" regarding Asian giant hornet sightings, it's not. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has just trapped its first Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, which the news media dubbed "the murder hornet.
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