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 cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, nectaring on catmint (Nepeta) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Beer-for-Butterfly Contest Set; Why It's of Special Interest This Year

December 27, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro's annual Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, in which he trades a pitcher of beer (or its equivalent) for the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly collected in a three-county area, is of special interest this year.

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A female metallic green sweat bee, Agapostemon texanus, on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Am I Even a Bee?' Identity Crisis Unfolds in This Charming Book

December 26, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Your mama tells you that you're a bee, but when you look around you, you don't look like any of the bees you encounter in the meadow. Not the honey bee, not the carpenter bee, not the bumble bee, not the cuckoo bee and not any of the other assorted bees minding their own bees-ness in the meadow.

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The five gold rings became five golden bees. Here's one of the golden bees, a Cordovan, a subspecies of the Italian. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'

December 23, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This Christmas season isn't the same without University of California Cooperative Extension apiculturist emeritis Eric Mussen, who died June 3 of liver cancer at his home in Davis. Mussen (1944-2022) was an institution. He was a global authority of honey bees. He was family to everyone.

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A honey bee foraging on a California golden poppy, the state flower. The Seed Pile Project includes golden poppy seeds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seed Pile Project: It's Not Too Late to Register

December 22, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you haven't signed up for the Seed Pile Project, it's not too late.

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A Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, and a honey bee, Apis mellifera) sharing a rose in Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Wonderful World of Wasps

December 21, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Wasps are terrible. They come jam-packed full of pain and anger, and they love to sting us out of the blue while we're minding our own business. They eat our food at picnics and frighten our children. They even build nests in our gardens and homes, just to complicate our already-stressful lives.

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