Bug Blog
The Wonderful World of Bugs
Forget about “fun and games.” Think “fun and names.” The open house at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, last Sunday...
UC Davis entomology graduate student Jéssica Gillung engages Griffin Shepherd, 7, of Winters, as she talks about a rose-haired tarantula. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Martin Hauser, senior insect biosystematist, California Department of Food and Agriculture, introduces Lucy Anderson, 9 of Davis to a walking stick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Natasha Pineiro and Lucy and Liam Anderson, all of Davis, check out a display. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Griffin Shepherd, 7, and his sister, Savannah, 10, of Winters examine some of the specimen drawers. In the background is entomologist and Bohart Museum associate Jeff Smith talking to Alanna Vorous of Sacramento. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Boy Wonder!
I've been waiting for a decade to see a male Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta) foraging in our family bee garden. The girls? Oh, yes. We see them every day. Sometimes half a dozen at a...
A male Valley carpenter bee engaging in nectar robber; he's drilling a hole in a foxglove to get the nectar, avoiding the pollination process. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male valley carpenter bee foraging on dwarf bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Male Valley carpenter bee "cuddling" a blanket flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eyeing the photographer, a male Valley carpenter bee gets ready to leave a blanket flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee lifts off a foxglove. He was early chased by a territorial male European wool carder bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee-hold, the Bumble Bee Nest!
You've seen bumble bees in flight. You've seen the heavy pollen loads. But have you ever seen the ground nest of a bumble bee? You will if you attend the Spring Festival hosted at the Loma Vista...
Bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii,are nesting in a ground cavity at the Loma Vista Farm, Vallejo. (Photo by Rita LeRoy, Loma Vista Farm)
Going in! Coming out! There's lots of activity at the bumble bee nest at the Loma Vista Farm, Vallejo. Farm keeper Rita LeRoy discovered the nest of Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Rita LeRoy, Loma Vista Farm)
Our Girls Made the News!
Did you see that amazing time-lapse video of honey bee development by Anand Varma on the National Geographic website? Varma's time-lapse video of 2500 images vividly shows the development of...
Staff research associate/beekeeper Billy Synk tending the hives at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees keeping bee-sy. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The sign that fronts the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility is the mosaic-ceramic work of Davis artist Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Name That Bug! What About Bob?
Naming a child or a pet takes some major thought and requires some major decisions. Naming our son was easy. We opted for family names handed down 200 years ago. A puppy? When we acquired a...
Theme of the Bohart Museum open house on May 17 is "Name that Bug! How about Bob?" This is UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey doing research on Alcatraz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)