Bug Squad

A daily (M-F) blog launched Aug. 6, 2008 and about the wonderful world of insects and those who study them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Are beekeepers immune from COVID infections? No, according to newly published research in the journal Toxicon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Beekeepers and the COVID-19 Virus

December 22, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Are beekeepers immune from COVID-19 infections? Newly published research in the journal Toxicon indicates "No, they're not.

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"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 5 golden bees." This is a cordovan bee; an image taken in a Vacaville, Calif., pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The 13 Bugs of Christmas, Revisited

December 20, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's time to revisit the "Thirteen Bugs of Christmas!" Back in 2010, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (now emeritus) and yours truly of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) decided that "The 12 Days of Christmas" ought to be replaced with insects.

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Giddy-up! Santa, being the jolly ol' gent he is, drives The Red-Nosed Mantis in front of the Davis home of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Photo by Lynn Kimsey)

Top Secret: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Is Really a Praying Mantis

December 18, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Sorry, contrary to popular opinion and Western lore, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is NOT a reindeer. He's a mantis. A masked mantis. And Santa Claus does not DRIVE a sleigh. The jolly ol' gent RIDES a mantis. A masked mantis.

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Museum scientist Fran Keller in the gift shop of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. A professor at Folsom Lake College, she is an alumnus of UC Davis, with a doctorate in entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lovin' the Insects and Spiders? Visit the Bohart's Online Gift Shop

December 17, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Spiders are everywhere," Professor Jason Bond told the crowd at his April 2019 town-hall presentation at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on arachnids.

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Noted Biodemography Book to Be Translated in Japanese Language

December 16, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

More than 120 million people who read the Japanese language will soon be able to read a newly published book on biodemography by James R. Carey of UC Davis and Deborah A. Roach of the University of Virginia.

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