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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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Briggs Hall, UC Davis, during Picnic Day.

What's a Picnic Without Bugs?

April 10, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Go, bugs!Are you ready for the bugs?The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) is ready to participate in the 112th annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, set Saturday, April 18. At UC Davis Picnic Days, bugs are not only invited--they're escorted!The ENT "stars of the show" will …
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A patch of wildflowers

Complexities Behind Ecosystem Services

April 9, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Don't miss this UC Davis seminar on the complexities behind ecosystem services. It will be a two-pronged approach: (1) The biological control of a coffee pest in Puerto Rico, and (2) a look at the parasites and viruses in bees in urban gardens along the California coast.Iris Rivera-Salinas, a…
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Potato capsid on a Coreopsis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

One Potato...Two Potato...

April 8, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Ever seen the potato capsid, Closterotomus norvegicus, feeding on the flowers or buds of such plants as potato, carrot, clover, nettles and cannabis? Or, on the buds and flower of fruit?It's a tiny bug, 6–8 mm long, belonging to the order Hemiptera (true bugs), and family Miridae. Native to Europe…
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UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock, 1947-2026, in his office.

EicOsis: 'We Lost Bruce Hammock'

April 7, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 The tributes and remembrances keep flowing--and rightfully so--for internationally celebrated scientist  Bruce Hammock (1947-2026), a UC Davis Distinguished Professor who held a joint appointment with the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. He died…
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Shahid Siddique, nematologist, smiles at the camera.

Congrats, UC Davis Professor Shahid Siddique, Teacher Extraordinaire

April 6, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Congrats to UC Davis nematologist Shahid Siddique, an exemplary teacher committed to helping his students learn and succeed!Siddique, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the newly announced recipient of the 2026 Excellence-in-Teaching Award from the…
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