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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. 

An eggcase or ootheca warming on a clothespin in Vacaville, Calif. This is from a Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ooh, an Ooth! And on a Clothespin, at That!

March 25, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
No doubt you've seen a praying mantis egg case, or ootheca, on a tree, shrub, fence or post. But have you ever seen one attached to a clothespin on an outdoor clothes line? So here we were Thursday afternoon, hanging freshly laundered dog blankets on the clothes line.
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This specimen from the Bohart Museum of Entomology is a mammoth wasp, Trisciloa saussurei, a native of New Guinea. (Photo by Ziad Khouri)

Ziad Khouri: Zeroing in on Mammoth Wasps, the Scoliid Wasps

March 24, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
International doctoral student Ziad Khouri, who studies with major professor, UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, will share his research on mammoth wasps, the scoliid wasps, at a seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on Wednesday, March 30.
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A multicolored Asian lady beetle looking for love--or prey--on a mallow on the first day of spring. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Spring Is Bustin' Out All Over

March 22, 2022
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
June is bustin' out all over All over the meadow and the hill Buds 're bustin' outa bushes And the rompin' river pushes Ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill --Rodgers and Hammerstein Just remove "June" and replace it with "Spring.
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