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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. 

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In this 2018 file photo, UC Davis arachnologist Jason Bond checks out the specimens at the Bohart Museum's blacklighting display while "Moth Man" John De Benedictis observes. Bond, the Schlinger Endowed Chair of Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, was recently named associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mark Your Calendar for 'Moth Night' at Bohart Museum: July 30

July 22, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mark your calendar! The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is celebrating National Moth Night on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.--both indoors in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 555 Crocker Lane, and outdoors, within a short walking distance.
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No 'Brotherly Love' for California Sister

July 21, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It definitely wasn't a case of "brotherly love" when a predator--maybe a bird or a praying mantis--grabbed the California Sister in our pollinator garden. The butterfly, Adelpha bredowii californica, didn't survive.
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A crab spider on a Mexican sunflower is ready to ambush prey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Crab Spider and a Bee

July 20, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, the patience of a crab spider. It lies in wait on the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in the hot sun. It scuttles back and forth, extending its legs. It's an ambush predator, ready to inject venom.
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A sky-high Gulf Fritillary caterpillar munches on a passionflower vine (Passiflora). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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A Sky-High Caterpillar

July 19, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you're in your garden, look up. Sometimes you'll see a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar outlined against the sky, munching away on its host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The bright orange caterpillars can be as striking as the adults (Agraulis vanillae).
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