Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Primary Image
Pollination ecologist and professor Neal Williams, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will speak on "Native Bees and their Conservation"at 10:30 a.m., May 6 on the UC Davis Speakers' Stage at the California Honey Festival. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Check Out the UC Davis Speakers' Stage at the California Honey Festival

May 3, 2023
What a line-up! Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, has organized a fantastic group of speakers for the UC Davis Speakers' Stage at the California Honey Festival, set Saturday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Woodland. The event is free and family friendly.
View Article
Primary Image
Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, and co-founder of the California Honey Festival, talks about honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

California Honey Festival: The Place to 'Bee' on May 6

May 2, 2023
The California Honey Festival is the place to "bee" on Saturday, May 6 in downtown Woodland. The festival, free and family friendly, takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event celebrates the importance of bees, and promotes honey and honey bees and their products.
View Article
Primary Image
John Hargrove in South Africa providing expertise on the tsetse fly. (Photo by Pietro Ceccato of the SERVIR Applied Sciences Team)
Bug Squad: Article

John Hargrove: Targeting Tsetse, Trypanosomiasis and Climate Change

May 1, 2023
African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness, is a disease caused by a parasite. People can get this parasite when an infected Tsetse fly bites them. Symptoms include fatigue, high fever, headaches, and muscle aches. If the disease is not treated, it can cause death.
View Article
Primary Image
Look closely and you can see a squirrel occupying a small hollow or cavity in a sycamore tree. The cavity has been home to feral bees for at least two decades. (Image taken in Vacaville by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Squirrel Vs. Bees: Sorry, No Vacancy!

April 28, 2023
Call it The Battle Over a Tree Hollow." Feral bees have occupiedand abandoneda sycamore tree cavity in a Vacaville neighborhood for at least two decades. They occupy it in the spring, summer and fall, and then the colony either absconds or dies back in the winter.
View Article
Primary Image
Ready to field questions are these representatives of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Karey Windbiel-Rojas (left), associate director for Urban and Community IPM/Area IPM Advisor, and IPM educator Lauren Fordyce. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Of Lady Beetles and Green Fruit Beetle Larvae

April 27, 2023
Make way for the beetles! Lady beetles, green fruit beetle larvae, and stick-on bug tattoos drew inquisitive and appreciative crowds when the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) staffed an informational booth at Briggs Hall during the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.
View Article