Bug Blog
The Predator
I know. Jumping spiders have to eat, but do they have to snag the bees? Last weekend as we were checking the lavender patch in our yard, we noticed something partially hidden--and moving--on a...
Jumping spider eating a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Jumping spider eating a sweat bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Moving fast, a spider heads for prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This Bug Is Not Welcome
It boasts striking colors, but you don't want this bug anywhere near your garden. It sucks. Literally. This is a harlequin bug, Murgantia histronica, as identified by Lynn Kimsey,...
Harlequin bug, Murgantia histronica, on weeds at the Benicia Marina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Looking down on a harlequin bug. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Harlequin bugs suck juices out of plants. They prefer the cabbage family but also go for garden vegetables, weeds, field crops and fruit trees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Summertime...and the Livin' Is Easy
Today's the Fourth of July and folks are splashing in their pools. So, what happens when a bee falls in? Sometimes they get lucky--if there's a human around to rescue them. And sometimes...
Summertime...and the living is easy...A female sweat bee, genus Halictus, floats on a leaf in a swimming pool. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Caution: Toxic!
It was a reddish-orange beetle, moving a little but not a lot. We spotted it on a sunflower bordering the Avant Garden in Benicia. The garden, located at the corner of First and East D streets,...
Meloid blister beetle, which produces a toxin known as cantharidin, peers at the camera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Meloid blister beetle foraging on a sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Green-Eyed Gal
We saw her touch down in our nectarine tree last weekend. Big green compound eyes glowed at us. She moved up and down a branch, foraging for food, and then took off. A wasp. The carnivore...
Green-eyed wasp, genus Tachytes, in a nectarine tree. This one is a female, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Green-eyed wasp, Tachytes sp., foraging on a nectarine tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A little somersault by a green-eyed wasp, genus Tachytes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)