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

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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, heads for oxalis blossoms in Benicia on Jan. 13, 2021. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Delight to See in January: A Bombus in Benicia

January 13, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're out there! Yes, after a l-o-n-g, cold, hard winter, bumble bees are emerging. At least in Solano County. At 11:20 a.m. today (Wednesday, Jan. 13), we spotted a yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, foraging on oxalis near downtown Benicia.
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Piper, a West Highland white terrier, aka Westie, "polices" two carpenter ant mounds in a Vacaville park. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

On Making a Mountain Out of an Ant Hill

January 12, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you "make a mountain out of a molehill," you're exaggerating the severity of the situation. But if you're an ant, you can make little mounds that might appear--at least to other ants--like mountains.
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A black widow spider juggles two egg sacs that she deposited on the lip of a swimming pool in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

About Those Black Widow Spiders...

January 7, 2021
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A reader asks: Does the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology have a fact sheet on black widow spiders? Yes! It's among dozens of fact sheets (mostly insects but some arachnids and other non-insects) posted on the Bohart Museum website. All can be accessed and downloaded at no charge.
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