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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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The American dog tick, Dermacentor occidentalis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ticks Can Do More Than 'Tick You Off'

March 23, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Ever found a tick on yourself, a friend or Fido?Yes? As the weather warms up, ticks are becoming more and more active. Ticks can do more than just "tick you off."Kim Douglass, a public health biologist with the Vector-Borne Disease Section, California Department of Public Health (CDPH),…
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Lady beetle eating aphid. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Aphid Eaters

March 20, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 All hail the aphid eaters!Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, emerge in spring from winter hibernation, and do so with voracious appetites. Is your rose bush drawing aphids? Bring on the beetles.  The lady beetle eats some 50 aphids a day--what some may call "a 50-course meal." In it lifetime, it can…
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Creating a new species of spider with modeling clay.

They Created 'New Species' of Spiders

March 19, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Future arachnologists? Maybe! Artists? Definitely!Children and adults alike created "new species" of spiders when they worked with modeling clay at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house, themed "Eight-Leg Encounters." All arachnids, including scorpions,  spiders, and ticks, have…
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A Mastigoproctus tohono, also known as the Tohono whipscorpion or Tohono vinegaroon, eating a cricket.

An Arachnid Kind of Day

March 18, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 It was definitely an "Arachnid Kind of Day" when the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, hosted an open house themed "Eight-Legged Encounters."The event, free and family friendly, drew some 300 visitors during the three-hour time frame.Doctoral candidate Emma "Em" Jochim…
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A female green sweat bee on a coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Wearing of the Green

March 17, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 St. Patrick's Day is a good time to celebrate the Wearing of the Green in the insect world.The metallic green sweat bee,  Agapostemon texanus, also known as "the ultra green sweat bee," fits the bill. The green bill.The female is metallic green from head to thorax to abdomen. The male, however, is…
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