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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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These are the larvae that Myfany Turpin of the University of Sydney will discuss at a virtual seminar to the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Myfany Turpin: Virtual Seminar on 'Grub's Up

October 5, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Grub's up! Grub? Food? Yes, think specifically of insect larvae. Myfany Turpin of the University of Sydney will speak on "Grub's Up! The Category of Edible Insect Larvae in Central Australian Aboriginal Languages" at the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology's virtual seminar at 4:10 p.m.
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A gravid Stagmomantis limbata eyes a honey bee nectaring on African blue basil. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Not a Good Day for a Bee

October 2, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A gravid praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, crawls out of a patch of African blue basil, and begins checking out the honey bees. Decisions. Decisions. Dozens of them are buzzing around, gathering nectar for their colony. They are not aware she is there.
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An alfalfa butterfly, Colias eurytheme, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

October 1, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
For the first butterfly, it was the right place at the right time. An alfalfa or sulfur butterfly (Colias eurytheme) fluttered into our pollinator garden in Vacaville to sip some nectar from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). It lingered for several minutes.
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