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.

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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Master Beekeeper Mark Carlson of San Francisco will present an online course, hosted by the California Master Beekeeper Program, on "An Introduction to Mead 2021." (Photo courtesy of Mark Carlson)

Meet Mead Maker and Master Beekeeper Mark Carlson on May 1

April 28, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Enthusiasm is building and buzzing for the California Master Beekeeper Program's online course, "An Introduction to Mead 2021," set from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 1.

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A male monarch on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Look-at 'Cats

April 27, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They were the "Look-at-Cats." The feral cats on our farm (the progeny of strays dropped off by "imperfect" strangers) became known as "The Look-at-Cats." You couldn't touch, pet or hold them. You could feed them, though, and spay or neuter them--if you could catch them. And you could name them, too.

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A common crane fly, Tipula oleracea, on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

You Don't Have to Crane Your Neck to See Them

April 26, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They're out there, and you don't have to crane your neck to see them. Some folks mistakenly call them "mosquito hawks" or "mosquito eaters," but they are neither. They are crane flies, members of the family Tipulidae of the order Diptera (flies). They're everywhere.

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Participants in the California Master Beekeeper Program's online introduction to mead will learn about honey and mead. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Bee on Board' with Mead: California Master Beekeeper Program Hosting Course

April 22, 2021

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Want to celebrate May Day by learning about mead, the world's most ancient alcoholic beverage? Remember mead? It's also known as "honey wine," created by fermenting honey with water. Sometimes mead makers add fruits, spices, grains, and hops. There's a "me" in mead.

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