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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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The Shahid Siddique lab swept the spotlight at the Society of Nematologists' meeting in Baltimore. From left are graduate student Alison Snyder; doctoral student Ching-Jung Li; Pallavi Shakya, who just received her doctorate; UC Davis Professor Emerita Valerie Williamson, recipient of the Honorary Member award; Professor Shahid Siddique, Excellence in Teaching Award; doctoral candidate Alison Blundell, and postdoctoral researcher Dadong Dai.

Explaining Root-Knot Nematode Research

July 31, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 When Pallavi Shakya of the nematology lab of UC Davis Professor Shahid Siddique, Department of Entomology and Nematology,  presented an invited lecture at the recent meeting of the Society of Nematologists (SON) in Baltimore, she discussed her highly acclaimed research paper on root-knot nematodes…
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Monarch butterfly in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Conversation with a Monarch

July 30, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Me: "Well, hello, there, Ms. Monarch. Did you arrive to lay some eggs on our milkweed?"Ms. Monarch: "Yes. I'm looking for young milkweed. Very young milkweed."Me: "Shall I usher you over to it?"Ms. Monarch: "No, no, I can find it myself. Thanks for planting it."Me: "You're welcome. Don't mind the…
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UC Davis nematology professor Shahid Siddique receives the Excellence in Teaching Award, Society of Nematologists, from the Dorota Porazinska, associate professor at the University of Florida and chair of the SON Awards Committee.

Shahid Siddique: Nematology Professor Extraordinaire

July 29, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 What an honor, and well deserved!UC Davis Professor Shahid Siddique of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, received the 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award at the annual meeting of the international Society of Nematologists (SON) held in Baltimore."He fosters a learning environment of…
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UC Davis Professor Emerita Valerie Williamson (left) receives the Society of Nematologists' Honorary Member award from Dorota Porazinska, associate professor at the University of Florida and chair of the SON Awards Committee.

Honor This Honorary Member

July 28, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Nematologists aren't in the news much, but they should be!Take UC Davis Professor Emerita Valerie Moroz Williamson, a UC Davis alumna and 26-year UC Davis faculty member who just received the international Society of Nematologists' highest hor: Honorary Member.She received the award at the society's…
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Monarch butterfly gliding over Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Endangered Monarch Butterfly

July 27, 2026
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 We've all been on the lookout for the endangered monarch butterfly.The Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, which leads the nnnual Western Monarch Count in coastal California where butterflies overwinter, recorded only 12,260 monarchs "across 249 sites during the typical peak overwintering…
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