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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. 

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A tiny monarch egg, about the size of a pin head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Food for Thought and Food for the Monarchs

November 3, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Is tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, a "bad" plant? Should Californians pull it from their gardens? No, say many scientists, including Hugh Dingle, professor emeritus of entomology, behavior and evolution at UC Davis. Professor Dingle is an internationally known expert on animal migration.
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A monarch caterpillar chomping on showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, in a Vacavile garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gotta Love Those Monarch 'Cats

November 2, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Did you celebrate National Cat Day on Oct. 29? We haven't had a cat since our 16-year-old tuxedo, Xena the Warrior Princess crossed the Rainbow Bridge in March of 2016. She sported a butterflylike marking on her left leg. Monarch butterflies fascinated her.
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UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey (center), director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, thanks UC Davis biology lab manager and UC Davis alumna Ivana Li (far left), who catered the party. Also pictured (from left) Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, postdoctoral researcher Severyn Korneyev and his wife, artist Kristina Kernytska, UC Davis alumna Brittany Kohler and Tabatha Yang, Bohart education and outreach coordinator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Predation at Bohart Museum of Entomology's Pre-Halloween Party

October 31, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you attended the Bohart Museum of Entomology's private party, hosted by the Bohart Museum Society for its members and friends, you witnessed a praying mantis, a dragonfly, a honeybee, a monarch butterfly and a horse fly all getting along fabulously.
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