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.

Find the praying mantis! It's on the showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Memo to a Mantis

August 13, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Dear Ms. Mantis, We see you. You're trying to camouflage yourself, but we see you. You're hanging out on a showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, trying to catch a butterfly or a bee.

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Hammock lab alumnus, Guodong Zhang, associate professor in the University of Massachusetts' Department of Food Science, is the recipient of the Foods 2021 Young Investigator Award. He is shown here in the Hammock lab. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Guodong Zhang, a Rising Star from the Bruce Hammock Lab, Wins Interntionial Award

August 12, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Congratulations are in order! Associate professor Guodong Zhang of the University of Massachusetts' Department of Food Science and a former UC Davis postdoctoral scholar advised by UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, has just been named the recipient of the Foods 2021 Young Investigator...

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Honey bees sharing an east-facing sunflower with a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UC Davis Professor Stacey Harmer: Why It's Better for Sunflowers to Face East

August 11, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Have you ever noticed that sunflowers facing east attract more bees? An 11-member team of researchers led by UC Davis scientists reveals insight on "how and why" in a newly published article in the journal New Phytologist.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal (far right) preparing for the chat session of the international symposium on olfaction and taste. Assisting him are students Efrain Vasquez (foreground) and Kelly Brandt.

All Systems 'Go' for the International Olfaction/Taste Symposium

August 10, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

All systems are "go" for a first-of-its-kind international olfaction/taste symposium co-hosted by a trio of scientists, including UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal. The Zoom symposium, Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe, begins at 9 a.m.

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An underwing moth, maybe a Catocala amatrix, with tattered wings. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

To Be an Underwing Underfoot

August 9, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You can be an understudy or you can be an underwing. Or underfoot. Have you ever seen an underwing, a moth in the family Erebidae? Today one dropped out of a tree, landing on my feet in a Vacaville park. It just missed being a part of our National Moth Week celebration.

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