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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. 

A honey bee comes faces to face with a Valley carpenter bee on a mustard blossom. The Valley carpenter bee is native to the United States, while the honey bee is native to Europe. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

David and Goliath? Underdog Vs. Bigger Opponent?

April 8, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Remember the biblical story about David and Goliath? How young David, the underdog, defeats a Philistine giant? Sometimes you think the same kind of battle will occur in nature when a honey bee, Apis mellifera, encounters a much larger carpenter bee, the Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta.
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A honey bee, her head and antenna covered with mustard pollen, heads for more pollen in a bed of mustard in Vacavilel, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

All Hail the Honey Bee

April 7, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
All hail the honey bee! It's an immigrant, like almost all of us, except for the Native Americans. European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in 1622. Specifically, they arrived at the Jamestown colony (Virginia).
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This is the coronavirus-equipped mantis that's drawing lots of smiles in the Davis front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of UC Davis. (Photo by Lynn Kimsey)

Ever Seen a Coronavirus-Equipped Mantis?

April 6, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sometimes you just have to display your sense of humor. Take the case of a huge praying mantis sculpture that anchors the Davis, Calif., front yard of entomologists Robert and Lynn Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
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A pterophorid plume moth (family Pterophoridae) in Vacaville, Calif. on April 2, 2020. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ever Seen a Plume Moth?

April 3, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Have you ever seen a plume moth? Or has a plume moth ever seen you? We spotted a pterophorid plume moth (family Pterophoridae) yesterday on our back door in Vacaville, Calif.
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