Bug Squad

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.

This monarch caterpillar was reared from an egg collected on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Welcome to the World of Monarchs, Greta!

September 1, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Welcome to the world of monarchs, Greta! We don't normally name the monarch butterflies we rear, but we decided that the first one reared from an egg "The Greg Way" would be named for Greg--naturalist Greg Kareofelas, associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis.

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Caroline Yelle, owner of Pope Canyon Queens, lost some 500 hives during the Aug. 19 Vacaville fire. (Photo by Caroline Yelle)

What Do Honey Bee Colonies Do During a Raging Wildfire?

August 31, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

What do honey bee colonies do when a raging wildfire heads straight toward their hives (bee boxes)? No, the bees do not abscond with their queen and relocate, says Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.

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The sulphur or alfalfa butterfly, (Colias eurytheme) is widespread now in Solano, Yolo and Sacramento counties and is the biggest invasion in 20 or 30 years, says Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Butterfly Invasion in Yolo, Solano and Sacramento Counties

August 28, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you think there's a butterfly invasion in the three-county area of Yolo, Solano and Sacramento, wait until you hear what Art Shapiro, distinguished professor evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, says about that.

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A honey bee forages on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden on July 27. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bee-Line Toward the Tropical Milkweed

August 27, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Honey bees just can't get enough of our tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. We plant three species of milkweed (the host plant for the monarchs), but both the monarchs and the honey bees gravitate toward A. curassavica, a non-native.

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A wall of fire races toward Quail Canyon Road, home of Caroline Yelle's business, Pope Canyon Queens.

The Heartbreaking Story of a Bee Scientist Who Lost Everything

August 26, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's heartbreaking. Beyond heartbreaking. Caroline Yelle, 28, owner of Pope Canyon Queens (PCQ) at 8307 Quail Canyon Road, Vacaville, lost her business when the lightning-sparked Hennessey Fire, part of the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, swept through rural Vacaville on Aug. 19 from Napa County.

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