Bug Squad

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The Bug Squad blog, by Kathy Keatley Garvey of the University of California, Davis, is a daily (Monday-Friday) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008. It is about the wonderful world of insects and the entomologists who study them. Blog posts are archived at https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/bugsquad/index.cfm. The story behind "The Sting" is here: https://my.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7735.

A flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stick in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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First Flameskimmer of the Year

May 24, 2023

It was a little late. The first flameskimmer of the year usually arrives in our yard in early April. Not this year. The species, Libellula saturata, was late. The easily recognized red dragonfly, also known as "the firecracker skimmer," touched down in our yard today, May 24.

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This is the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, that Katie Thompson-Peer uses in her biological research. (Photo by André Karwath, Wikipedia)

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Katie Thompson-Peer: Fruit Flies as a Model to Study Dendrite Regeneration

May 23, 2023

The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is widely used for biological research.

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Master Beekeeper Sung Lee of Castro Valley, known worldwide on social media as "Sung Lee The Bee Charmer," displayed his observation hive at the California Honey Festival. With him is fellow CAMBP member Leandra Hale of Lake Tahoe. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Bees and CAMBP Prevail at California Honey Festival

May 22, 2023

Rain and hail pelted the California Honey Festival, held recently in downtown Woodland, but that didn't deter the estimated 22,000 to 25,000 attendees who simply opened their umbrellas, slipped on their rain gear, or dashed for cover at store fronts.

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Checking out a frame in a bee hive at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, is California Master Beekeeper Program director Elina Lastro Niño, associate professor of Cooperative Extension and a member of the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Why 'The Bee Team' Is 'The A Team'

May 19, 2023

"The Bee Team" is "The A Team.

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A velvety tree ant encounters a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Bohart Museum Open House: Ants, Hissers, Sticks and More

May 18, 2023

Come for the ants, stay for the hissers. Or come for the hissers, stay for the ants. Either way, it's all good. When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on Sunday, May 21 from 1 to 4 p.m., ants will be the main attraction, but don't forget the critters in the live "petting zoo.

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