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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

A gloved hand holds a male monarch found cold and still in the middle of a residential street in west Vacaville on Jan. 3, 2022. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

First Monarch of the Year and First Summit of the Year

January 3, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So there it was...a monarch lying on its side, one wing down and one wing up, in the middle of a residential neighborhood in west Vacaville, California, on a 42-degree morning on Tuesday, Jan. 3. It looked newly emerged but it wasn't moving. In fact, it looked quite dead.

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This is the tick buried in the skin of Winters' resident Joe Nazarius. It's black-legged nymph tick, Ixodes pacificus, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. (Photo by Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo)

It Started Out as a Quiet, End-of-the-Year Hike Near Lake Berryessa...

January 2, 2023

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was a good day for a hike. So Joe Nazarius of Winters embarked on a Dec. 30th hike in the Knoxville Road area, west of Lake Berryessa, when the unexpected happened. "What is this bug buried in Joe's skin?" That's what his wife, Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo, messaged me. She attached a photo.

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A honey bee "in the pink" is foraging on a begonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Tis the Season to Be 'In the Pink'

December 30, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

As the predominantly red-and-green holiday season draws to a close, and the year crawls to an end, it's time to "bee in the pink." Pink? Yes, "in the pink." Skip the red. Ignore the green. Think "in the pink.

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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosenenskii, foraging on oxalis near the Benicia State Capitol grounds on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In Search of the First Bumble Bee of the Year

December 29, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What are you doing on New Year's Day? Well, weather permitting, you can begin searching for the first bumble bee of the year in the two-county area of Yolo and Solano. If you photograph it and you are judged the winner, a prize awaits you--in addition to bragging rights.

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Praying mantis: "I'm hungry! What's to eat?" (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

To Catch a Cabbage White...On a Wing and a Prayer

December 28, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost ready to deposit her ootheca, was hungry. She crawled behind a cactus in our yard, waiting for prey. It did not take long.

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