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 green lynx spider settles on a pink rockrose. (Cell phone photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gotta Love That Spider!

April 30, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Gotta love that spider! If you don't like spiders, you should like this one: the green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans. It's bright green, the kind that makes you think of shamrocks and leprechauns and Ireland.

View Article

A soldier beetle on a yellow rose. (Cell phone photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Soldier Beetle Foraging on Aphids

April 29, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Lady beetles, aka ladybugs, are not the only insects that feed on aphids. So do the soldier beetles, family Cantharidae. They are sometimes known as leatherwings. Got roses? Got aphids? You may also have a good friend, the soldier beetle.

View Article

A honey bee, Apis mellifera, buzzes over the head of a male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, on a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two Bees: A Close Encounter with a Cousin

April 28, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

So here I am, a male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, just enjoying the nectar on this tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in Vacaville, Calif. Some folks call me "The teddy bear bee." Yes, I like that nickname.

View Article

A praying mantis egg case, ootheca, on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Little Brown, Carefully Wrapped Package in the Garden

April 27, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The predator and the prey... Or the predator-to-bee. Currently, honey bees are foraging on our tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in our family's pollinator garden in Vacaville, Calif. It's a veritable tower of bees.

View Article

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May delivered the COVID-19 seminar introduction. In the right corner is organizer-moderator Walter Leal.

COVID-19 Virtual Symposium: 'You Are My Heroes'

April 24, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

I just wanted to thank you! You are my heroes. So began an unsolicited email to UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal, who organized and moderated a UC Davis-based COVID-19 virtual symposium spotlighting the expertise of physicians, scientists and a COVID-19 survivor.

View Article