Bug Blog
Bumble Bee Mellowing Out on the Mallow
Nice to see you! That's how we greeted our very last bumble bee of 2016. The yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, apparently came out of hibernation and started nectaring on mallow Nov. 14...
It looks like...it is! A yellow-faced bumble bee,Bombus vosnesenski, seeking nectar from a mallow blossom at the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, sipping nectar on mallow on Nov. 14 in Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of yellow-faced bumble bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Carpenter Bee: Beneficial Insect or Pest?
Let's face it--some folks are not fond of carpenter bees. Honey bees, yes! Bumble bees, yes! Carpenter bees, uhh, not so much. Ever seen carpenter bees drilling holes in dead limbs or untreated...
A female mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, pierces the corolla of salvia to rob the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, heads for bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A familiar sight: a female Valley carpenter bee, covered with pollen and nectaring on a passion flower. The female is solid black, while the male of this species is a green-eyed blond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xyclopa varipuncta, pierces the corolla of a foothill Penstemon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female carpenter bees, Xyclopa variuncta, often drill holes in limbs of dead trees to build their nests. This find, from Davis naturalist/photographer Allan Jones, shows a male wintering inside one of the holes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Look Back at 2016: Monarch Butterflies Reigned
What a marvelous year! Looking back at 2016, monarch butterflies reigned supreme--or at least they did in this Bug Squad blog! Finding--and photographing--a tagged monarch butterfly...
This tagged butterfly, part of WSU entomologist David James' migratory research project, flew from Ashland, Ore. on Aug. 28 to Vacaville, Calif. on Sept. 5, or a distance of 285 miles in seven days, or about 40.7 miles a day. It was reared and tagged by Steve Johnson of Ashland and was on its way to an overwintering site along coastal California. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch butterfly laying an egg. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, their host plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A tiny monarch egg. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch caterpillar munching away on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green chrysalids, rimmed in gold, look like precious jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A newly eclosed monarch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Its wings dried, a newly eclosed monarch is ready for release. This one decided to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch nectaring on milkweed blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male monarch spreads its wings on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Our Story Begins with Eight Monarch Caterpillars in the Dead of Winter
This is a story about how eight monarch butterflies escaped the freezing temperatures of Vacaville, Calif., and hitchhiked to sunny Santa Cruz, thanks to Good Samaritans (Good Monarcharians?) Rita...
Rita LeRoy of Vallejo holds a Vacaville monarch before releasing it at Lighthouse Field State Park. (Photo by Walter Rockholt)
Monarchs overwintering in the Lighthouse Field State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
Monarchs fluttering in the warm breeze at Lighthouse Field State Park, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
Multiple monarchs nectaring on Eucalyptus blossoms at the overwintering site in Santa Cruz. (Photo by Rita LeRoy)
A Beer for a Butterfly or 'Suds for a Bug'
It's almost that time again—time for the annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest or “Suds for a Bug.” If you're out and about on Jan. 1, start looking for that cabbage...
This is a cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)