Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A dorsal view of a female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina, asleep on a passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sleepy-Time for a Valley Carpenter Bee

June 10, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's always a good idea to carry your cell phone or shoulder a camera while you're taking a stroll through a garden. You never know what you will see.

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Brandon DeGroot,6, examines the bug he just collected outside McCormack Hall, Solano County Fairgrounds. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

An Interview with a Budding Scientist

June 9, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Teach 'em young, they say. Encourage them to learn about insects, spiders and other critters at a young age. When you first meet Brandon DeGroot, 6, of Vallejo, he'll tell you "I love spiders and snakes" and he'll flash a big smile.

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UC Davis doctoral candidate and arachnologist Lacie Newton delivering her exit seminar. She will be participating in the American Arachnological Society conference at UC Davis. An open house at the Bohart Museum on June 25 will kick off the conference.

From Students to University Professionals: A Gathering of Arachnologists at UC Davis

June 8, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

One of the scores of arachnologists you'll see at the "Eight-Legged Encounters" open house on Saturday, June 25 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology will be doctoral candidate Lacie Newton, an amazing young UC Davis scientist who just delivered her exit seminar on "Evolution and Speciation in the Trap...

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Professor Eileen Hebets of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, is the co-host of the Bohart Museum open house. (Photo by Craig Chandler, University Communication, University of Nebraska)

Arachnid Alert! 'Powerhouse' of Arachnologists to Greet Public at Bohart Museum Open House

June 7, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Arachnid alert! A free, public open house on Eight-Legged Encounters, featuring spiders and other arachnids, promises to be one of the biggest events--if not the leggiest!--of the year on the UC Davis campus and beyond. The event, set from 1 to 4 p.m.

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In this image, taken Aug. 1, 2008, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (left) talks to vanpool driver Keir Reavie, head of the Biological and Agriculture Sciences Department at Shields Library, about the bees that "hitched" a ride on a commuter van traveling from El Cerrito to the UC Davis campus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Honey of a Ride and a Whale of a Legacy

June 6, 2022

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was a honey of a ride. My inaugural Bug Squad blog on Aug. 6, 2008 dealt with a swarm of bees that "hitched" a ride on Aug. 1 from El Cerrito to UC Davis on a commuter van. "At 7 a.m., a group of UC Davis employees approached their commuter van in an El Cerrito parking lot.

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