Bug Blog
The Good Guys--and Girls!
Think of them as "the good guys" and "the good girls." Insects such as lacewings, lady beetles and flower flies. We're delighted to see that the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has...
A syrphid fly, aka flower fly or hover fly, nectaring on a tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A lacewing glows in the afternoon sun. Larvae eat such soft-bodied insects as mealybugs, psyllids, thrips, mites, whiteflies, aphids, small caterpillars, leafhoppers, and insect eggs, according to the UC IPM website. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The lady beetle, aka ladybug, is well known for its voracious appetite of aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Delightful Damselflies
When an egret swooped down and ate all the goldfish in our fish pond--quite a smorgasbord of goldies--we left the pond bare for a couple of months. The result was a good one: more...
Damselfly with water mites (see egglike mass). The insect next to it is probably thrips, according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Damselfly resting in the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A blue damsefly brightens the garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Assassins, Bugs and Beer
There I was, walking across the University of California, Davis, campus to the Environmental Sciences Building for an agricultural communicators' meeting: a notebook in my hand, cell phone in my...
A fast-moving assassin bug spears a male metallic sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Assassin bug paralyzes his prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Our Little Olympian: The Lean Green Machine
“You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get."--Michael Phelps. It's true. You can't put a limit on anything. The praying mantis, aka Lean Green Machine, dived...
A praying mantis eyes a Gulf Fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A praying mantis "wetting," er, "whetting" his appetite. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The praying mantis emerges from his morning swim. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close Shave on Jupiter's Beard
The Western tiger swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) is the kind of butterfly that combines steel with silk. It's a tough critter. Often you'll see it with its wings clipped by a predator--maybe a bird...
Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, glides on Jupiter's beard, Centranthus ruber. This one is missing part of its wing structure, no thanks to a predator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Western tiger swallowtail swoops down for a little nectar on Jupiter's beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Western tiger swallowtail sipping nectar from Jupiter's beard. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)