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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

A female damselfly, identified as a familiar bluet, Enallagma civile, rests on a Tithonia leaf in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Damsel, But Not in Distress

June 17, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's a damsel, but not in distress. It's a Familiar Bluett, but it's not all that familiar--unless you study Odonata. Lately we've been seeing scores of damseflies zigzagging in our pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif.

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A honey bee dusted with pollen from the blanket flower, Gaillardia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Pollen Power Reigns Supreme

June 16, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

You may have lost track of the hours, days, weeks and months due to the coronavirus pandemic, but how can you forget National Pollinator Week? Especially if you've ventured out in your yard, garden or park and witnessed the pollinators doing what they do best.

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UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock "rests" in a hammock on the UC Davis campus. The occasion: the Hammock lab scientists were walking across campus (before the coronoavirus pandemic precautions). (Photo by Cindy McReynolds)

Bruce Hammock: UC Davis Distinguished Professor Extraordinaire

June 15, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Don't let that photo fool you. Yes, that's UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock "resting" in a hammock on the UC Davis campus.

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UC Davis fourth-year student Jessica Macaluso stands next to artist Robert Arneson's egghead sculpture in front of Mrak Hall. She will receive her bachelor's degree in psychology this fall.

How a Student's 'A' Term Paper Went on to Win a Campuswide Competition

June 12, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

This is a story about how a student's "A" term paper in an entomology professor's went on to win a campuswide competition. When UC Davis fourth-year student Jessica Macaluso enrolled in a longevity class taught by UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology James R.

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An Australian walking stick (stick insect) gets some attention at a SaveNature.Org program. (Photo by Norm Gershenz)

Coming June 12: A Virtual Insect Palooza with the Insect Discovery Lab

June 11, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The wonderful world of insects! And right in your living room! If you'd like to take a world tour and learn about such fascinating insects as darkling beetles, Australian walking sticks, giant African millipedes and others, be sure to sign up for the "Virtual Insect Palooza with the Insect Discovery...

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