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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. 

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.
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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.
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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.
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Agricultural entomologist Emily Bick doing field work in Denmark before the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic precautions.

Emily Bick's AAUW Grant: Targeting the Lygus Bug

April 23, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Watch out, lygus bugs! Agricultural entomologist Emily Bick is targeting you. Lygus hesperus, a serious pest of strawberries--as well as cotton, and seed crops such as alfalfa--causes an estimated $40 million in annual losses to California's strawberry industry.
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