Bug Blog
Hide the Cactus!
Hide the cactus! There's a Mexican cactus fly in our midst. A large black fly hovers over a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in our bee garden and then drops down to sip some nectar. At first glance it...
Black hover fly, aka Mexican cactus fly, sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of the black syrphid fly, a Mexican cactus flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mexican cactus fly ready to take off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Enlightenment 'After Dark'
"After Dark: When Tricks Are Treats." That's the theme of San Francisco's Exploratorium Pier 15 event on Thursday night, Oct. 2. Graduate student Ralph Washington of the UC Davis Department of...
A walking stick is expected to be one of the Bohart Museum of Entomology attractions at Exploratorium Pier 15 on Oct. 2. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis entomology graduate student Ralph Washington (right) chats with UC Davis assistant professor/bee biologist Brian Johnson at the Bohart Museum open house on Sept. 27. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Good Life
Okra. You either love it or hate. If you hate it, it's probably because of its characteristic "slime" that it produces. It's a mucilaginous plant. If you love it-- absolutely love it--you may be...
A garden spider wraps its prey, a honey bee, in The Good Life Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Garden spider struggles with its prey, a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A True Success Story
Meet Cindy Preto. The new UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's graduate student is an incredible success story who hurdled the obstacles heaved in her path and lets...
UC Davis graduate student Cindy Preto is studying vineyard leafhoppers. (Photo by Liam Swords)
Cindy Preto, shown here in a UC Davis vineyard, is the first in her family to graduate from college. She's now a master's student, studying with Frank Zalom. (Photo by Liam Swords)
Sticky traps in the vineyard. (Photo by Cindy Preto)
Stop and Smell the Roses! (And Watch for Jumping Spiders!)
"Stop and smell the roses!" It's a good way to savor the moment, of living in the present instead of the past or future. We delight in the aroma of the "Sparkle and Shine" yellow rose that we...
A jumping spider, nestled in the petals of a yellow rose, "Sparkle and Shine," looks at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)