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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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Honey bee packing blue pollen on Tower of Jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tower of Red, Pollen of Blue

May 29, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Honey bees can't get enough of the Tower of Jewels, Echium wildpretii.Wildpretii?  Sometimes you feel like addingan extra "t" and remove an "i." It's pronounced "wild-PRET-ee-eye."A towering, flowering biennnial plant in the family Boraginaceaes, it's named for the 19th century Swiss botanist…
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Crab spider eating a native bee

Spiders Know Where the Bees Are

May 28, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Spiders know where the bees are.Crab spiders hide in the petals and ambush foraging bees.  Orbweavers build sticky, silken webs. Jumping spiders actively stalk or pounce on bees. The predators and the prey...I spotted a bold jumping spider in our lavender patch this week and watched it nail a…
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Leafcutter bee heading home to her nest.

'Beds for Bees' in the UC Davis Bee Haven

May 27, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Ever seen a leafcutter bee or carpenter bee heading toward their human-crafted nests, also called bee condos, bee hotels, bee beds, bee houses or bee abodes?When you visit the UC Davis Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, you may see them.The Haven, a half-acre pollinator garden installed by the UC…
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Tatiana Peshevska of Davis is nature-journaling in the UC Davis Bee Haven.

Nature-Journaling at the UC Davis Bee Haven

May 26, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Picture this...You're journaling as a participant in a class at the UC Davis Bee Haven. The garden is not only tranquil but therapeutic. You're writing and sketching about the bees buzzing, the butterflies fluttering, the flowers blooming, and the birds chirping. That's what took place when…
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Civil War scene, colorbearer shot. This work, "The Siege of Vicksburg--Assault on Fort Hill," is by Swedish-born American illustrator Thure de Thulstrup (1848-1930), whom his contemporary critics considered "the foremost military artist in America." (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Memorial Day and Memories

May 25, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Today, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, we pay tribute to America's fallen soldiers, and those who served in the military."The Civil War was America's bloodiest conflict.  The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international…
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