Bug Squad

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.

This praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, has just ambushed a honey bee and is grasping it in its spiked forelegs. There is no Harry Houdini-kind of escape. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Spiked Forelegs of a Praying Mantis: There Is No Escape

October 9, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A praying mantis, an incredible ambush predator, can lie in wait for hours for its prey. Often it's so camouflaged that it totally blends in with its habitat. It can rotate its head 180 degrees--and nothing, it seems, can escape its view.

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The adult Gulf Fritillary butterfly is a brilliant orange, with silver-spangled underwings. This one is nectaring on a Mexican petunia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Butterfly Egg: The Promise of a New Generation

October 6, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ever seen a Gulf Fritillary laying an egg? The Gulf Frit, or "passion butterfly" (Agraulis vanillae), lays her tiny, yellow eggs, singly, on her host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The egg? It's about the size of a pin head.

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A migrating monarch butterfly finds nectar in a zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monarch vs. Honey Bee: 'Nectar for Me, None for You'

October 5, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The monarch migration is well underway. The iconic butterflies fluttering into California from the Pacific Northwest engage in "nectar stops" to fuel their flight to their overwintering sites along coastal California. They are not the only ones seeking nectar.

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A praying mantis pretends to be a bodybuilder like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Praying Mantis: Hey, Take My Picture!

October 4, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The scenario: a male praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, is perched on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden filled with bees and butterflies. Praying Mantis: "Hey, photographer, take my picture! And, can you make me look like Arnold Schwarzenegger?" Photographer: "Sure, Mr. Mantis.

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A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, clings to a blanket flower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Blanket Flower: the Picture of Autumn

October 3, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you've been ignoring your calendar, you may have not realized that autumn began Sept. 23. We know it as the season between summer and winter, when days grow shorter, when liquidambar leaves turn red, and when the blanket flower lives up to its name.

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