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.

Sampling a chocolate-covered cicada snack are (from left) Maxwell Arnold, Brennen Dyer, Iris Bright, Amberly Hackmann, and Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Would You Eat a Chocolate-Covered Cicada?

September 10, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Would you eat a chocolate-covered cicada? Yes? No? Maybe? Entomophagy is no problem for scientists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis. They know where the office snacks are kept. The items includedrum rollchocolate-covered cicadas.

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"Walda" snares a bee, probably a leafcutter bee, in a patch of milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where's Walda?

September 9, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You've probably read the children's book, "Where's Waldo?" Waldo wanders around the world, gets lost in the crowd or scenery, and it's your job to find him. Where'd he go? If you have a praying mantis in your yard, you probably play "Where's Waldo?" a lot. In our yard, it's "Walda.

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A male long-horned bee, Melissodes agilis, targets a honey bee nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. This was shot with a shutter speed set at 1/5000 of a second. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close Encounter of a Long-Horned Bee and a Honey Bee

September 8, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So, here you are, a honey bee nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. All's right with the world, at least in your world. You're sipping nectar to take home to your colony and suddenly...a buzz.

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A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, manages to fly despite a huge chunk missing from her wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Who Dunnit?

September 7, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Interviewer: "Hey, Gulf Fritillary! What happened to you? Something take a chunk out of your wings?" Miss Gulf Frit: "I dunno. I was just fluttering around the passionflower vine and something grabbed me." Interviewer: "Do you have any idea what happened?" Miss Gulf Frit: "Sorry, no.

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Welcome to the world! A lady beetle, aka ladybug, emerges from its pupal case. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Becoming a Lady Beetle, aka Ladybug, on Labor Day

September 6, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're an entomologist, an agriculturist, a gardener or an insect enthusiast, you've probably seen the life cycle of a lady beetle, aka ladybug: from the egg to the larva to the pupa to the adult.

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