Bug Squad

The Sting. (c) Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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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 European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, has just shredded a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar and is about to take the prey to her colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Quick, Get Your Camera Ready! There's a Wasp!

January 19, 2024
Quick, get your camera ready! There's a wasp! Ever heard anyone say that? We remember capturing an image of a European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, that had just shredded a caterpillar and was about to fly the prey back to her colony. It was a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar, Agraulis vanillae.
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The makings of a European paper wasp nest in Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Bohart Museum: How to Make a Paper Wasp Nest

January 18, 2024
When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on "Social Wasps" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 20, the traditional family art-and-crafts activity will be something special.
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A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, sipping nectar on catmint (Nepeta). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Beer for a Butterfly? No Winner Yet!

January 17, 2024
As of today, Jan. 17, no one has won the Beer-for-a-Butterfly contest sponsored by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus of the Department of Evolution and Ecology.
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A bigeyed bug on the wing of a monarch butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Bigeyed Bug and a Monarch Butterfly

January 16, 2024
You've heard folks call insects "big 'ol bugs" (often in astonishment or terror), right? But have you ever seen a "bigeyed bug on a monarch butterfly?" Bigeyed bugs, Geocoris spp.
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