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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

Welcome to the Bug Squad blog! The Bug Squad blog was launched Aug. 6, 2008 and is a daily blog (Monday through Friday). It showcases entomologists and the work they do.  The blog focuses on scientists in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the UC Davis Bee Haven, and assorted campuswide events, including UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Bohart Museum open houses. The blog spotlights insects, including bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and praying mantises, as well as arachnids such as jumping spiders and crab spiders. Author and photographer is Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a longtime journalist and community scientist with two degrees from Washington State University.  She is a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). Her blog posts and images have won international awards from ACE and ESA and appeared on journal and magazine covers. She shoots primarily with a Nikon Z-8 mirrorless camera, a Nikon D500 and Nikon 800, with assorted macro lenses. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

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Inaugural World Circadian Day is June 24

World Circadian Day on Wednesday, June 24

June 19, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Mark your calendars!The inaugural World Circadian Day, sponsored by the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR), is Wednesday, June 24.Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and president of SRBR, is helping to  organize the event. …
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The eyes of a native bee, Svastra obliqua expurgata, on a flowering artichoke.

A Slice of Biodiversity at the BOG

June 18, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Paying tribute to National Pollinator Month...When you visit the Joseph and Emma Lin Biological Orchard and Garden near the Louis K. Mann laboratory on the UC Davis campus, you'll see as the sign says "a slice of biodiversity."Moving closer, you'll read:  "This unique landscape showcases a slice…
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Ceanothus silk moth, Hyalophora euryalus, feeding on manzanita.

Rearing Ceanothus Silk Moths

June 17, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 What an intriguing project! Several of us, including Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, and researcher Brittany Kohler of the Phil Ward and Elizabeth Crone labs, are rearing caterpillars of the Ceanothus silk moth, Hyalophora euryalus…
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Metallic green sweat bee on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Native Bees on a Purple Coneflower

June 16, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 It's not yet National Pollinator Week (June 22-28) or the first day of summer (June 21), but it's a good time to visit the UC Davis Ecological Garden, part of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, to see the native bees and other pollinators.The purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is a magnet…
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A native bee, genus Halictus, rolling in a California golden poppy in the UC Davis Ecological Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Are You Celebrating National Pollinator Month?

June 15, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
How are you celebrating National Pollinator Month? Every June is National Pollinator Month, a time to raise awareness about bees, butterflies, birds and other species that sustain our ecosystems and agriculture. "National Pollinator Month originally started as National Pollinator WEEK, a grassroots…
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