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

Research highlights in the impact statement include the work of UC Davis Entomology and Nematology faculty members Rick Karban and Rachel Vannette.

Great Recognition for Their Innovative Research

May 5, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's good to see the innovative research of two UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty members, community ecologists Richard Rick Karban and Rachel Vannette and their laboratories, recognized for their work in the USDA's Multistate Research Fund's impact statement on "Using Chemica...

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UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock in his Briggs Hall office. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

For the Record: Congress Honors Bruce Hammock

May 4, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You may have missed it during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the U.S.

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Cornell University Professor Anurag Agrawal collecting data in Ithaca. He is a newly elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. (Courtesy Photo)

High Honor for Cornell Professor Anurag Agrawal, UC Davis Alumnus

May 3, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Congratulations to UC Davis doctoral alumnus Anurag Agrawal of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., a newly elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). It's one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.

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UC Davis doctoral candidate Charlotte Herbert Alberts reads to her son, Griffin, born in April of 2020.

Happy 'World Robber Fly Day!'

April 30, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Do you know that today is "World Robber Fly Day?" "World Robber Day?" you ask. No, "World Robber Fly Day.

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A honey bee and a lygus bug sharing a batchelor button in the UC Davis Ecological Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bee and the Lygus Bug

April 29, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Ever seen a beneficial insect and a pest sharing the same blossom? At a recent visit to the UC Davis Ecological Garden at the Student Farm, we watched a honey bee, Apis mellifera, and a lygus bug nymph, Lygus hesperus, foraging on a batchelor button, Centaurea cyanus. The bee: the beneficial insect.

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