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.

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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