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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. 

A jumping spider, member of the Salticidae family, perches on a tropical milkweed plant and eyes the photographer. Friend or foe? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hi, I'm a Jumping Spider

October 29, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Hi, I'm a jumping spider. I see that you found me on the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. I'm just here for the prey, and you are definitely not prey, so not to worry.
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A honey bee foraging on ice plant along Doran Beach, Bodega Bay. Both the bee and the plant are non-native. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Wanted and Unwanted

October 28, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you vacationed at Doran Regional Beach, Bodega Bay, on a Wednesday last year (pre-COVID-19 pandemic), chances are you saw scores of dedicated volunteers pulling out the invasive ice plant, Carpobrotus edulis, along 201 Doran Beach Road. It's hard work but it's rewarding.
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The Asian giant hornet measures a little less than two inches long. A nest was recently discovered and destroyed near Blaine, Wash. (Photo courtesy of the Washington Department of Agriculture)
Bug Squad: Article

Good News on the Asian-Giant-Hornet News Front

October 27, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
California this year has faced the COVID-19 pandemic, disastrous wildfires, racial unrest, and political strife--a combination resulting in undue stress and overall fatigue.
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Professor Diane Ullman of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is a co-author of the publication on the Western flower thrips. This image was taken when she was doing research in France.

Congrats to the Thrips Team!

October 23, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Congratulations to the international team of scientists, including UC Davis entomologist and co-author Diane Ullman, on their publication involving the genome analysis of the western flower thrips, an invasive global agricultural pest that feeds on plants and is considered a supervector, spreading p...
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