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 varroa mite (see reddish-brown spot on bee's thorax) at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. Varroa mites are native to Asia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Article

Those Dratted Mites

November 25, 2008
Those dratted mites. UC Davis entomologist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor and a native bee pollinator specialist, sent us a BBC report linking a varroa mite infestation to a devastating honey production loss in the UK. It's the worst honey crisis ever to hit the UK.
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PONDERING A QUESTION are (from left) the UC Riverside team of Jennifer Henke, Casey Butler, Jason Mottern and Rebeccah Waterworth. UC Riverside won the Linnaean Games. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Answers

November 24, 2008
Okay, what are the answers? In a prior blog, we listed several questions asked at the Linnaean Games, a college-bowl type of quiz thats a traditional part of the Entomological Society of Americas annual meeting. You have to know insect facts and figures and ESA history to win.
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THE CURL--A honey bee, curled like a comma, nectars purple sage. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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The Curl

November 21, 2008
In football lingo, a curl is a spin on a football, which makes it swerve when it's kicked. Honey bees can also "curl." I took this photo today of a lone bee curled on purple sage. The worker bee was gathering nectar in the summerlike weather.
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PESIDENT'S PRIZE--Michael Branstetter, a doctoral candidate in entomology at the University of California, Davis, won a coveted President's Prize for his presentation on ants at the Entomological Society of America's 56th annual meeting, held Nov. 16-19 in Reno. His major professor is Phil Ward. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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President's Prize

November 20, 2008
He knows his ants. Michael Branstetter, a doctoral candidate in entomology at the University of California, Davis, won a coveted Presidents Prize for his oral presentation on ants at the 56th annual Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting in Reno.
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SPOTTED CUCUMBER BEETLE--A spotted cucumber beetle on a rock purslane. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Sideways

November 19, 2008
The movie, "Sideways," has nothing on a spotted cucumber beetle climbing up, down and sideways on a rock purslane. The spotted cucumber beetle is a pest, while the rock purslane has to be among the world's most beautiful flowers. (And also very attractive to insects.
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