Bug Blog
Prayers Answered
Praying mantids are, oh, so patient. They perch on a flower, their spiked forelegs seemingly locked in a praying position, and wait to ambush unsuspecting prey. A green praying mantis recently did...
A praying mantis perches on a cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A strike! First prey is a honey bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Second strike! A fiery skipper butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Helping to Meet Global Challenges Through Evolutionary Biology
Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens and pests that evolve too quickly, and the second from...
The pink bollworm, a global pest of cotton, has evolved resistance to genetically modified cotton in India, but not in Arizona where farmers have planted refuges of conventional cotton to reduce selection for resistance. (Photo by Alex Yelich, University of Arizona)
Something Was Wrong
Something was wrong. The Anise Swallowtail (Papillo zelicaon) that fluttered into our bee garden last weekend and began nectaring on zinnia wasn't quite herself. Her yellow and black coloring and...
This Anise Swallowtail is missing part of its wing. A predator missed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Anise Swallowtail nectaring on zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Anise Swallowtail about to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Brother, Can You Spare a Meal?
A freeloader. A moocher. A sponger. That's the freeloader fly. A praying mantis is polishing off the remains of a honey bee. Suddenly a black dot with wings edges closer and closer and grabs a bit...
Praying mantis eats a honey bee while a freeloader fly, family Milichilidae, does, too. Another freeloader edges closer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The freeloader fly is quite persistent. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Quit Mimicking Me!
Last weekend a little critter made its first-ever appearance in our family bee garden. It was neither a grand entrance nor a grand insect. "A fly!" I thought, as I looked at its...
This wasp mimic is actually a fly, genus Ceriana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Davis photographer Allan Jones captured this fantastic image of the wasp mimic, Ceriana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanic, which looks a lot like the wasp mimic, genus Ceriana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a European paper wasp, Polistes dominula. A syrphid fly mimics this. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)