Bug Blog
James R. Carey: Highest Honor for Teaching
The University of California, Davis, prides itself on teaching, research and public service. A few faculty members excel at all three (they're called triple threats) and distinguished professor...
James R. Carey, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980, is the recipient of the Entomological Society of America's 2015 Distinguished Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
From an Egg to a Caterpillar to a Chrysalis to a Monarch
Have you ever seen a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) lay an egg on her host plant, the milkweed? Have you ever seen a close-up of the egg? The larva or caterpillar? The chrysalis? The...
A monarch laying an egg on her host plant, milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of a cream-colored monarch egg. Note the oleander or milkweed aphid next to it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A very tiny caterpillar but it's big enough to start eating holes in the leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A fifth-instar monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade green chrysalid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Voila! A monarch butterfly has just eclosed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A monarch sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Saga of a Spider's Kill
For more than two weeks now, we've been watching a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) trap and wrap its unfortunate prey (fortunate if you're a spider, unfortunate if you're the prey)...
A banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) straddling lavender stems. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What prey is this? It appears to be a huge black bee, a female Valley carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the prey, which turned out to be a female Valley carpenter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Never Say 'Pipe Down' to a Pipevine Swallowtail
Never say "pipe down" to a pipevine swallowtail. It's a butterfly we treasure. You may have seen it nectaring on your butterfly bush. It's black with blue iridescent upper wings and orange...
A pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor, flashes its colors. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Side view of a pipevine swallowtail nectaring on a butterfly bush. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pipevine swallowtail in a familiar pose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Black and blue on blue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pipevine swallowtail in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Greed or Need?
Talk about greed. Talk about gluttony. How much food does a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) need? For 30 minutes, we watched a well-fed banded garden spider catch bee after bee in its...
Fish-eye view of a banded garden spider (Argiope trifasciata) with prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An intruder, a smaller spider (top), heads toward the resident spider. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The intruder is toast--or a wrap. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)