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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. 

The 2018 UC team, comprised of UC Davis and UC Berkeley graduate students, won the national Linnaean Games championship. From left are graduate students Zachary Griebenow and Brendon Boudinot of UC Davis, captain Ralph Washington Jr. of UC Berkeley (he received his bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis) and Emily Bick of UC Davis. (ESA Photo)

The Entomology Games: Righting a Wrong Name

July 8, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The governing board of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA) announced July 6 that it has changed the name of the student trivia contest from "Linnaean Games" to "Entomology Games." And rightfully so.
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A honey bee heads toward a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

So Bee It...

July 6, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The honey bees love it. So do the long-horned bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, European paper wasps, syrphid flies, butterflies, blister beetles, spotted cucumber beetles, crab spiders, praying mantids, and assorted other insects.
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A monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, eclosed today (July 3) and is drying its wings on Hot Lips salvia, Salvia microphylla. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Independence Day and a Monarch

July 3, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
We call it the Fourth of July or Independence Day. Our 13 American colonies rose up against the monarch of Great Britain, King George III, and declared themselves free and independent.
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A monarch caterpillar feasting on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Leave Me Alone, Please--I'm Eating!

July 2, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Leave me alone, please--I'm eating." The monarch caterpillar feasting on the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in Vacaville, Calif., kept doing what monarch 'cats do best--eat. She insisted on devouring the leaves as if there were no tomorrow--and today would end soon.
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