Bug Blog
Hear the Buzz, Feel the Buzz, Capture the Buzz
Hear the buzz, feel the buzz, capture the buzz! With your camera! If you're into pollinators, plants and photography, and want to share your work nationally, here's a new project for you. To...
A black-tailed bumble bee (Bombus melanopygus) foraging on Spanish lavender, while a honey bee buzzes in to get her share. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees lovin' the Spanish lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hold That Tiger!
She's a butterfly magnet. When Oakland parks supervisor Tora Rocha, known as "The Monarch Queen" and "The Butterfly Whisperer," (she rears monarchs and encourages everyone to do so), visited the...
A Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) spreads its wings on a Verbena patch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western Tiger Swallowtail sipping nectar from Verbena. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Blue sky, the sweet taste of nectar, and all's right with the world for this Western Tiger Swallowtail. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fifty Shades of Gray (and Red)
Ah, soapberry bugs... They'll never get top billing in a racy novel, let alone star in an R-rated movie. The "R" word comes into play only when they're referred to as "the rapidly evolving...
A lone soapberry bug searching for a mate in the UC Davis Arboretum, off Garrod Drive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Love in the UC Davis Arboretum, the insect version of "Fifty Shades of Gray (and Red)." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two's company, but three's a crowd. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
It's time for the third one to wander off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Quick! Find the Damselfly!
Quick! Find the damselfly! This damselfly (below) is so camouflaged that it's difficult to see her. Her? She's a female Argia vivida, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart...
This female damselfly, Argia vivida, can barely be distinguished from the twig she's resting on. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fly Away Home
Who wouldn't like to have a lady beetle, aka ladybug? Although they're commonly called "ladybugs," entomologists call them "lady beetles." That's because they're beetles, not bugs. Nevertheless,...
A lady beetle crawls on an Iceland poppy stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Just as the grass looks greener on the other side, the aphids look fatter on the other side. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A sight not commonly seen: a lady beetle about to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A cluster of 24 eggs that a lady beetle deposited on a Passiflora leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)