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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. 

Eric Mussen (far left) received the prestigious Founders' Award from the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees at the 75th annual American Beekeeping Federation conference in Reno in 2018. With him are his wife, Helen, and close friends Christine and Gene Brandi of Los Banos. Gene, the 2018 president of the American Beekeeping Federation, presented him with the award.

Celebration of Life for Eric Mussen: Sunday, Aug. 28

July 1, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A celebration of life for celebrated Cooperative Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen, an internationally known 38-year California Cooperative Extension apiculturist and an invaluable member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, will take place from 4 to 6 p.m.
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A female Checkered White butterfly, Pontia protodice (as identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro) nectars on lavender in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Checkered Past, a Checkered Future or Just Checkered?

June 30, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you seen any Checkered White butterflies lately? They're quite common in the southern United States and northern Mexico (they're known as the Southern cabbage butterfly), but one CW fluttered through our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Solano County, Calif., on June 23.
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Entomologist Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College, demonstrates sticky and non-sticky spider silk with participants at the June 25th open house in the UC Davis Academic Surge Building. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Learning How Efficiently Spiders Capture Their Prey

June 28, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A little yarn, a little glue and a little confetti--and attendees at the recent "Eight-Legged Encounters" open house, co-hosted by the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology and the American Arachnological Society (AAS), learned how spiders have evolved to capture their prey more efficiently.
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Shaked Hoffman, 5, of Davis, listens intently to an arachnologist talking about spiders. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Spiders Are Awesome!

June 27, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are a series of photos taken at an open house showcasing spiders and other arachnids worth? Photos, that is, of children's candid expressions? Priceless.
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