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 monarch nectaring on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in October, 2021 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

What's Happening with Our Western Monarchs?

November 5, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"A count of the Western monarch butterfly population last winter saw a staggering drop in numbers, but there are hopeful signs the beautiful pollinators are adapting to a changing climate and ecology.

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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a blanket flower, Gaillardia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'President's Prize' for UC Davis Graduate Student's Presentation on Bumble Bees

November 4, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Native bees, including bumble bees are important pollinators but face threats from multiple sources, including agrochemical application," writes UC Davis doctoral student Danielle Rutkowski.

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The newly constructed HIVE, owned by Z Specialty Food, Woodland. (Photo by Elizabeth Luu)

A Taste of Honey--and a Sip of Mead!

November 3, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You may associate tasting room with wine in the Napa Valley, or olive oil in Fairfield, but now there's a tasting room in Woodland to sample honey and mead (honey wine). That's Z Specialty Food's newly constructed The HIVE, located at 1221 Harter Ave. Woodland.

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A field trial at the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation Inc. Rice Experiment Station near Biggs, Calif. (Photo by Ian Grettenberger)

Begone Tadpole Shrimps! They're 'Time Travelers' in Rice Fields

November 2, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You may have never seen a tadpole shrimp, but you ought to be concerned about it, especially if you like rice. It's neither a tadpole nor a shrimp, but a crustacean pest that feasts on rice seedlings in flooded rice fields.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Frank Zalom will receive ESA's highest honor, Honorary Member, on Tuesday, Nov. 2. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Celebration of ESA Award Winners

November 1, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Tuesday, Nov. 2 will be a special day of celebration at the annual Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting, being held in the Colorado Convention Center, Denver. Tuesday is when ESA will honor scores of award winners at its Founders' Memorial Lecture breakfast meeting. The theme of the Oct.

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