Bug Blog
Moths! Moths! Moths! Can You Identify Your Moths?
So you have this significant garden pest--a caterpillar eating your cabbage, lettuce, tomato, squash, geraniums and petunias--and more. And then one morning you see a moth on your blanket flower...
This moth is the Tobacco Budworm (as identified by Lepitopteran Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology) It's shown here on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's Bugged! And You Won't Want to Miss It!
It's bugged. Yes, bugged. And you won't want to miss it. If you head over to the 69th annual Solano County Fair, 900 Fairgrounds Drive, Vallejo, between now and Sunday, July 31, you'll see lots...
Gloria Gonzalez hangs a needlepoint fan, the work of Laura Ryan of Benicia. Note the blue butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Rebecca Banducci (left), part of the McCormack Hall crew, and superintendent Gloria Gonzalez of Vallejo, show a display board crafted by Ryan Anenson of the Tremont 4-H Club, Dixon. It won a best of show. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This "best of show" is the work of Laquita Cumings of Rodeo. Butterflies abound! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beverly O'Hara of Benicia appliqued this quilt, titling it "Ant-titude." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a close-up of a butterfly on a quilt made by Celia Weller of American Canyon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Have you ever seen a honey bee on a rock? You have now! This painting is the work of Andrew Donato of Vallejo, entered in the 9-10 age category. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Proof of Life
Sometimes caregivers, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors, take photos of babies to show "proof of life." They post them for the parents to see, admire and confirm. It's...
A monarch caterpillar summits a milkweed, Asciepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's dinner time! It's always dinner time for a monarch caterpillar. It later became dinner for a bird. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar surrounds its food. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bully in the Bee Garden
He's the bully in the bee garden. If you've ever watched the male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) patrolling "his" flower patch, you'll see him targeting insects several times larger...
Male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum)targets a female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) on a bluebeard (Caryopteris). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum) takes another swipe at the female Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) on a bluebeard (Caryopteris). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sleepytime! Male European wool carder bees sleeping inside a mason bee condo, bee housing meant for blue orchard bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The UC Davis Version of 'The Splash Brothers'
What do UC Davis entomologists and other scientists do for fun and camaraderie after working hard 52 weeks of the year? Well, if you're Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology with a...
It was “fun in the sun” at the 13th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle. From left are Todd Harris and Sing Lee, assistant project scientists; graduate student Alifia Merchant who just received her master's degree in agriculture and environmental chemistry, and research scientist Christophe Morisseau, who coordinated the event. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Alifia Merchant of the Hammock lab drenches Bruce Hammock. She just received her master's degree in agriculture and environmental chemistry. In the foreground is executive administrative assistant Louisa Lo. At right is Hammock lab researcher and balloon battle coordinator Christophe Morisseau. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ting Xu (far right), a visiting professor from China, gets splashed. At left is Hammock lab research scientist Christopher Morisseau. Associate professor Aldrin Gomes is in the background. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tom Joseph, a visiting student from France (Aldrin Gomes lab) targets Christophe Morisseau of the Hammock lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)