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.

Honey is the soul of a field of flowers. This image was taken at April 2017 in a field on Bee Biology Road, University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Show Me the Honey: Two UC Davis Events

August 25, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Honey is the soul of a field of flowers. It's also been called "the nectar of the gods." "The bee hive is the ultimate home sweet home," says Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute.

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Fire rages towards Clay's Bees during the Vacaville Fire. (Image courtesy of Paul Kuroda, used with permission)

Clay's Bees: The Bees, They're Gone

August 24, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The bees, they're gone. Beekeeper Clay Ford, who owns the Pleasants Valley Honey Company, also known as "Clay's Bees," is devastated. The fast-moving Vacaville Fire, part of the LNU Lightning Complex fires, claimed 73 of his 81 beehives. Gone, millions of bees.

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A monarch egg. Soon it will hatch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Magical, Miraculous Monarch Moments

August 21, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

When you observe a monarch butterfly laying eggs on your milkweed--and see the predators and parasitoids circling in anticipation--act fast if you want those eggs to develop into adults. Only about 10 percent of monarch eggs make it to adults, scientists estimate.

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A Gulf Fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae, nectaring on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary: Spreading a Little Joy

August 20, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's Thursday afternoon, Aug. 20, and it seems like a good time to run a photo of a Gulf Fritilliary. Because it just is. It is a joy to see, especially when joy seems elusive as out-of-control wildfires ravage California.

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A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilo rutulus, lands on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Eye on the Tiger

August 19, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So here, you are, a Western Tiger Swallowtail sipping nectar from a Mexican sunflower. You are a Papilo rutulus. And your menu choice? A delicate orange beauty from the sunflower family: a Tithonia rotundifolia. Ah, the sky is blue, the nectar is excellent, and all is RIGHT with the world.

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