Bug Blog
The Lurking Place of the Fairies
Foxgloves are called "the lurking place of the fairies." That could be. Foxgloves are also known by their genus name, Digitalis--meaning fingerlike. The genus is native to western and southwestern...
A Valley carpenter bee appears to be "nectar-robbing," drilling a hole through the flower instead of going into the entrance. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee seeks an entrance into the foxglove. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Look here! An earwig has found a "hidey hole." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How Tall Is It?
We have this tall plant in our back yard. How tall is it? Tall enough to give weather forecasts. (It's never caught “short” by a sudden storm.) Tall enough to see over the neighbor's...
Honey bee packing a load of blue pollen heading for the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Young honey bee seeking another blossom on the tower of jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee-ing There and Bee-Lieving in the Bees
Just call it a "practice run." Or a "buzz run." Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) vowed last year to wear bees if she received at least $2500 in...
Honey bees in the hands of Pam Kan-Rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Making a beeline for her watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bees are drawn to the special artificial nectar placed on a plastic plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bad Hair Day
"It was a bad hair day," quipped native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis. Yes, it was. A very bad hair day. Thorp was...
Yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on rock rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gust of wind blows the bumble bee to the next blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Distinguishing characteristic of the yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Everything's Coming Up Roses
UC Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) staff distributed ladybugs (actually lady beetles, but when you say "lady beetles," someone is sure to ask "Aren't those LADYBUGS?") at Briggs Hall...
A ladybug foraging on a yellow rose, Sparkle and Shine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)