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Bug Squad

Bug Squad blog image depicts a honey bee sting in action.

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. 

It's an urban myth that "Female mantids always eat males they mate with." Lynn Kimsey's response: "Only if the male isn't fast enough." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

About Those Urban Myths in Entomology

March 23, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Professor Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, knows her insects and she knows the urban myths associated with them.
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A honey bee heads for fava bean blossoms. Note the silver-gray pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lovin' the Fava Beans

March 22, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Every time we see honey bees pollinating fava bean blossoms, we think of actor Anthony Hopkins. Remember that malevolent scene in the "Silence of the Lambs" film (1991) when serial killer Hannibal Lecter (portrayed magnificently by Hopkins (says: "A census taker once tried to test me.
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Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Happy Taxonomists' Appreciation Day!

March 19, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you hugged your taxonomist yet today? No? Probably can't due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but at least we can honor them every March 19 on Taxonomists' Appreciation Day. Basically, taxonomy is the science of describing, naming, defining and classifying organisms, both alive and extinct.
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A black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, heading for the Garvey nectarine tree on March 18, 2018 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where Are All the Bumble Bees?

March 18, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Seen any bumble bees lately? No? Me, neither. It's almost the first day of spring, and bumble bees are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. (Hens have no teeth, y'know.) We've been watching our nectarine tree bloom. It's drawing honey bees, but no bumble bees.
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