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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. 

It's spring! A honey bee heads toward a Virginia stock blossom, Malcolmia maritima. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Take Stock: It's the First Day of Spring

March 19, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring. If Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima, is blooming in your garden now, you'll likely be seeing honey bees, syrphid flies and other pollinators. M.
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A Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, spreads its wings on a Roldana aschenborniana (Golden Light Senecio) on March 9 in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Admiring the Red Admiral

March 18, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
One of the first butterflies we see in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden in midwinter is the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. Yes, this butterfly overwinters as an adult. It's picture-perfect with black wings, red bands and white spots. And on a picture-perfect day in midwinter, you may see it.
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A redfemured spotted orbweaver, Neoscona domiciliorum, visiting a pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Many Spiders Have You Saved Today?

March 14, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's National Save-a-Spider Day. I did not save a spider today. I did not save one yesterday, either. Or the day before. That's because I did not see any that needed saving. I frequently see them in our pollinator garden, however, and I always stop to take their image. Nationaltoday.
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UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Students Video Their Impressions of Emeriti Presentations

March 13, 2024
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
What a great idea! When UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology organized and hosted an emeriti celebration honoring professors who recently transitioned to emeriti, he didn't stop when the presentations ended.
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