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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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UC Davis doctoral candidate Lexie Martin leading her game, "Bird Brain." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bird Brain Game: What It's All About

November 21, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 One of the innovative and riveting games at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house on "Bees and Their Mimics" was "Bird Brain," created by UC Davis doctoral candidate Alexia "Lexie" Martin, a member of the lab of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis…
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Brennen Dyer, collections manager, stafing the Bohart gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Who Needs a Bug Fix?

November 20, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Who needs a bug fix? Will some land in the stockings hung by the chimney with care?The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is gearing up for the holiday season with new items in its popular insect-themed gift shop."We just received a shipment of pins," announced Tabatha…
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Nematodes infecting bean roots. (Image by Pallavi Shakya)

Important Nemadode Research Published

November 19, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Plant-parasitic nematodes rarely draw national headlines, but this newly published research should.First, what's a plant-parasitic nematode?As UC Davis nematologist Shahid Siddique, an associate professor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology explains: "Plant-parasitic nematodes are…
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UC Davis entomologist student Jo Ridgeway, a Bohart Museum of Entomology intern, shows a stuffed toy animal, a tick, from the Bohart gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Fuzzy-Wuzzy Good Time with Holiday Gifts

November 18, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Bug enthusiasts will have a "jolly good time" or a "fuzzy-wuzzy good time" selecting holiday gifts that the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) are offering."Fuzzy-wuzzy" wasn't a bear. It was probably a wooly bear caterpillar …
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A male longhorned bee, Melissodes agilis, on a Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Those Pollinator-Plant Interactions

November 17, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Thinking about pollinator-plant interactions?This promises to be interesting...UC Merced assistant professor Marilia Palumbo Gaiarsa will present a seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on "From Foraging to Fiitness: How Individual Behavior Shapes Plant-Pollinator…
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