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.

Urban garden management can play an important role in supporting species diversity and the provision of insect-mediated services, says ecologist Monika Egerer, an assistant professor at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany.

Monika Egerer: About Those Wild Bees and Natural Enemies in Urban Gardens

November 19, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Urban garden management can play an important role in supporting species diversity and the provision of insect-mediated services, says ecologist Monika Egerer, an assistant professor at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany.

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A cluster of monarchs overwintering in an 80-foot-high eucalyptus tree at the Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, on Nov. 14, 2016. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Monarch Population May Be 'Fluttering Back'

November 18, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Let the count begin! Researchers and volunteers in a three-week project headed by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation are now counting the Western monarch population at overwintering sites along the California coast. It all began Saturday.

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The Bohart Museum of Entomology surpassed its goal of $5000 and gratefully received $6000. (Screen shot)

Why Folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology Are Smiling--And So Very Grateful

November 17, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If the folks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis are smiling even more than usual, that's because their UC Davis CrowdFund project resulted in 120 percent funded! In a month-long campaign, they were seeking $5000 by Oct. 31 and donors generously provided them with a total of $6000.

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A flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perched in Vacaville, Calif. One of Professor Kimsey's students commented on their "superior haunting skills."(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Treasured Comments About Insects: Can We Hear a Collective 'Sigh?'

November 16, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a given: entomologists collect insects.

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UC Davis doctoral student Danielle Rutkowski--framed--as the winner of a President's Prize at the Entomological Society of America meeting. (Photo by Entomological Society of America/Photography G)

They Were Framed...Picture Perfect!

November 15, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When the Entomological Society of America honored its President's Prize winners at its recent meeting in Denver, it did so "picture perfect." At the awards podium, each winning graduate student held up an empty frame lettered with "Student Competition Winner." And filled the frame.

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