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.

Monarch laying an egg in Vacaville on Oct. 9. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Good News on the Monarch Butterfly Front

October 22, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

She came, she saw, she oviposited, she nectared and she left. That's the extent of our sole monarch sighting in our Vacaville pollinator garden this year. This occurred Oct. 9.

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Art work by Christine Melvin, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Can you identify the flora and fauna?

The Boh-Art Drawing Helps Mark an Important Anniversary

October 21, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Insect enthusiasts will love the Bohart Museum of Entomology's latest art piece, commissioned as part of the museum's 75th anniversary. A small graphic is posted on the Bohart Museum website with a link to a large PDF that you can download and color.

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As part of Aggie Pride Week or Spirit Week, the Bohart Museum displayed some of its insect specimens.

In Celebration of the Bohart Museum's 75th Year

October 20, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So much is happening at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis.

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Look closely and you'll see a jumping spider huddled in the petals of this yellow rose. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Portrait of a Jumping Spider

October 19, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Gotta love those spiders. We recently saw an adorable jumping spider (aren't all jumping spiders adorable?) huddled or cuddled (your preference) within a layer of yellow rose petals. It didn't look like a poster child for Halloween. It looked right at home. It's still there.

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A honey bee frantically struggles to escape from a reproductive chamber of a milkweed blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

Hey, Wait, Take Me With You!

October 18, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Hey, wait, take me with you! No, leave me alone! Let me go! Have you ever seen insects struggling to free themselves from the reproductive chamber of a milkweed blossom?

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