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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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Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. poses with his wife Michelle (right) and Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at a 2022 ceremony honoring him as the recipient of the CA&ES Distinguished Emeritus Award. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Bee Geneticist Rob Page Knows How to Answer This Question

March 6, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you ask honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr. what his favorite honey is, he'll point to his wife, Michelle. She--and any others near them--will smile every time! Fact is, Rob Page is our favorite honey bee geneticist, and he was just named the recipient of the 2023 C. W.
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A sand field cricket (Gryllus firmus), and a horsehair worm (Paragordius varius). (Photos courtesy of Amy Worthington)

Host and a Parasite: Battle of Sand Field Crickets vs. Horsehair Worms

March 3, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you were a sand field cricket, you would not like horsehair worms. "The horsehair worm (Paragordius varius) is a long-lived parasite that infects arthropods, including the sand field cricket, Gryllus firmus," says biologist Amy Worthington, assistant professor, Creighton University, Omaha, Neb.
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A lady beetle nestled in an ice plant blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'A Lady in Red': Petal Pusher?

March 2, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It wouldn't make the news, even if it were a "Slow News Day." "Lady in Red Climbs Neon-Pink Petals in Search of Aphids." Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are coming out of their winter hibernation now and they're hungry. Aphid-hungry. We spotted this lady beetle Feb.
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Finn Jensen, 2 1/2, awaits the placement of a Madagascar hissing cockroach in his hand. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hissers: Big, Bold and Beautiful

February 28, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Madagascar hissing cockroaches, aka hissers, are big, bold and beautiful. Just ask the scientists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, who rear them in their petting zoo.
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