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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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Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Bruce Dupree Hammock

Date Set for 'The Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock'

March 11, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Calendar this date, Oct. 10.The Celebration of the Life and Legacy of UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock, internationally renowned scientist and acclaimed member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will take place at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 in California Hall, UC…
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Charles Rice, Nobel laureate

A Golden Opportunity, Twice-Fold

March 10, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 It was, indeed, a golden opportunity, twice-fold, and what UC Davis undergraduate students in a biochemistry class taught by UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal will always remember.Five, 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now they'll be saying "Remember that biochemistry class in Kleiber Hall when Dr…
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Crab spider nailing a grasshopper. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Arachnids: Close Encounters of the Best Kind

March 9, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Close encounters of the third kind?"No, close encounters of the best kind!" say the scientists who study arachnids.That's what will happen when visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house see and learn about scorpions, tarantulas,  vinegaroon, whip spiders, trapdoor spiders, jumping…
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Bombus californicus on a Gallardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

California Has No State Bee--Yet!

March 6, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 California has a designated state insect--the California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice--but it has no designated state bee.Forty-eight of the 50 states in the nation have a designated state insect or a specific insect for a particular category, such as the state butterfly. Only Iowa and Michigan…
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Nazzy Pakpour at Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Nazzy Pakpour: 'Curiosity Made the Scientist'

March 5, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 There isn't much that she can't do or hasn't done!UC Davis alumna Nazzy Pakpour is a PhD, a biotech company founder, an entomologist, a children's book author, a mother of two children,  a former professor and a research scientist.Pakpour, co-founder and chief executive officer of Yeast Bay Bio, …
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