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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. 

The squash bee, Peponapis pruinosa, is a specialist that pollinates only the cucurbits or squash family, Cucurbitaceae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Thank the Squash Bee for That Pumpkin Pie

November 25, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Hey, there, pumpkin, how big of a piece of pumpkin pie do you want?" If you've ever been asked that, you may have responded--quite politely--"Small, thank you!" You probably didn't thank the squash bees.
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A lady beetle and her eggs in a Vacaville garden. Everything in nature is connected, says Frédérique Lavoipierre. If you have no aphids, no lady beetles or soldier beetles for you. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Garden Allies': Everything in Your Garden Has a Place

November 24, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Don't ask if the insects you find in your garden are "good bugs or bad bugs." Everything in your garden has a place, and your place should be a healthy, thriving garden--free of pesticides, says Frdrique Lavoipierre.
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Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, shows visitors some of the butterfly specimens. The worldwide Lepidoptera collection now totals more than 500,000. One of the most recent donors was the late Charles Hageman of Yuba City (1945-2021). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Butterfly Donor Chuck Hageman Leaves a Lasting Legacy

November 23, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When the Northern California Lepidopterists met in February of 2019 at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, the members and guests admired the Rod Davis fritillary specimens recently added to the Bohart collection, courtesy of Charles "Chuck" Hageman of Yuba City.
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