Bug Blog
Signs of Life on a Passionflower Vine
If you have a passionflower vine (Passiflora), check to see what insects or stages of insects are making this plant their home. A frost-bitten passionflower vine on a front porch near downtown...
A Gulf Fritillary caterpillar crawling on a stem. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An empty chrysalis: a Gulf Fritillary butterfly had earlier emerged. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A leaffooted bug on the seed pod of a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'Quincing' Our Thirst
You can quench your thirst. And then you can "quince" your thirst. That would be a honey bee on a flowering quince. Yes, the flowering quince are flowering. And none too soon in our drab...
Honey bee keeps a close eye on the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey(
Honey bee foraging on flowering quince. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's for Lunch?
What's for lunch? If you're a lady beetle (aka ladybug), a good bet is you'll have one of those yummy, plant-sucking aphids. In fact, you'll eat your fill. Please do. Today we walked behind...
Lady beetle, aka ladybug, devouring an aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Predator and the prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saturated. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Mighty Mites
The creative folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, have done it again. Among the many activities at their recent "Snuggle Bugs" open house was a "mite/art station." Visitors were given...
Get parasitized! The sign at the Bohart Museum says it all. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Lovely Ladies at the Laidlaw
So far, so good. The three queen bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus) we found buzzing around our porch light the night of Jan. 9 are still very much alive. Who would have "thunk?" Native pollinator...
The three queen bumble bees (Bombus melanopygus). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble bee expert and UC Davis emeritus professor Robbin Thorp checks the trio. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)