Bug Blog
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)
Trouble in the Almond Orchards
Beekeepers and almond growers are concerned--and rightfully so--about the some 80,000 bee colonies that died this year in the San Joaquin Valley almond orchards. In monetary terms, that's a loss of...
A honey bee packing pollen as it forages on almonds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Almond growers need bees. Without bees, there would be no almonds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bee That's a Delight to See
What's that on the Coreopsis? Could it be--a bee? Yes, that's the metallic green sweat bee, also called an ultra green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus. This one (below) is a female....
Female metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female metallic green sweat bee peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Rapini! Rapini! Rapini!
Honey bee population declining? You wouldn't know it if you were to visit the two rapini patches in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, University of...
A honey bee foraging on rapini at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee takes a liking to the rapini. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Multi-tasking honey bee cleaning its tongue and packing its pollen load. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A large pollen load. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)