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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. 

An enthusiastic little girl (future entomologist?) buries her head in a beetle display at the Bohart Museum open house, much to the delight of UC Berkeley associate professor and carabid beetle specialist Kipling "Kip" Will. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Beetlemania at the Bohart: Something Clicked

January 23, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Something clicked at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on "Beetlemania" last Sunday afternoon at the University of California, Davis. But it was not the click beetles. That "click" was the love of science in general, and the love of beetles, in particular.
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Cal Fire senior environmental specialist Curtis Ewing shows a coast live oak with cankers and flatheaded borer damage.

Beetle Mania to Descend on the Bohart

January 20, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The beetles are coming! The beetles are coming! From boring beetles to burying beetles...and beetles from Belize and more... And you're invited. The Bohart Museum of Entomology is hosting an open house, themed "Beetles," from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan.
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A birds-eye-view of a wintering agave. Can you spot the lady beetles, aka ladybugs? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Up, Close and Personal with Beetles

January 18, 2023
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Seen any lady beetles, aka ladybugs, in your yard this year? Now that the sun's out and the worst California storms are over, check your yard for lady beetles. We saw several of them on our agave this morning.
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