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

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This monarch, tagged by one of David James' citizen scientists in Ashland, Ore., on Aug. 26, 2018, fluttered into a Vacaville pollinator garden on Sept. 5, 2016. "It flew 285 miles in 7 days or about 40.7 miles per day," James related. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Learn About Monarchs at Western Monarch Summit in San Luis Obispo

August 23, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're a monarch butterfly scientist, a researcher, a citizen scientist, a conservationist, or just an aficionado, mark your calendar. The 2023 International Western Monarch Summit will take place Friday through Sunday, Jan. 20-22 at Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and registration is now underway.
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A lady beetle prepares for take-off in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Flight of the Lady Beetle

August 22, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a lady beetle, aka ladybird beetle, aka ladybug, take flight? Have you ever photographed it? It's early morning, Aug. 20. A lady beetle is snacking on aphids on our native milkweed plant (where the monarchs are supposed to be, but aren't!).
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A robber fly peers at the camera. This is Mallophora sp., as identified by robber (assassin) fly expert Charlotte H. E. Alberts, a UC Davis doctoral candidate who studies these insects. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If It's Friday, It Must Be...

August 19, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If it's Friday, it must be Friday Fly Day. The calendar crawls slowly sometime, but its numbers do not lie. It's Friday Fly Day, all right, which means it's a good day to post an image of a fly, this time a robber fly.
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Green legs of this male praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, are camouflaged in this patch of African blue basil. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Green Legs and Bam!

August 17, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a green-legged praying mantis on a green leaf? Praying mantis expert Lohitashwa "Lohit" Garikipati, identified this species as a subadult male, Stagmomantis limbata, perched in a patch of African blue basil in our family's pollinator garden.
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