Bug Squad Logo

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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet. 

Primary Image
Doctoral candidate Mia Lippey will deliver her exit seminar on Wednesday, Jan. 7

Mia Lippey's Exit Seminar

January 2, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Doctoral candidate Mia Lippey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, an outstanding scholar and self-described "life-long lover of all things insect-related," is looking forward to delivering her exit seminar.An entomologist and ecologist active in both the Entomological Society…
View Article
Primary Image
Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Net a Butterfly, Photograph a Bee

January 1, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 New Year's Day is not only the beginning of a year, but it's also the beginning of two UC Davis insect contests: one involving a cabbage white butterfly, and the other, a bumble bee.Chances are no one won either one today, as it's been raining almost non-stop, and the 10-day forecast predicts an 80…
View Article
Primary Image
Exotic cockroaches, from Bohart Museum of Entomology

A New Cockroach in Town?

December 30, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 A new cockroach in town?That's what a UC Davis retired professor thought on Tuesday, Dec. 23 when he spotted an unusual cockroach emerging from his shower drain at his Davis home.He said he "recognized  it as unusual and caught it. It was a male Turkestan cockroach, Blatta lateralis, a species…
View Article
Primary Image
Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On the Hunt for the First Cabbage White Butterfly...Suds for a Bug!

December 29, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Suds for a bug. A butterfly for a beer...If you find and collect the first cabbage white butterfly in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, and you are judged the winner of the annual "Beer for a Butterfly" Contest, you will receive a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.And bragging…
View Article