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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. 

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Monarch in a Vacaville garden on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Monarch That Visited Vacaville on Election Day

November 4, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 A monarch visited Vacaville, Calif. on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2025.No, it wasn't King Charles or any of the 42 other monarchs in sovereign states. Did you know that these monarchies are spread across Asia (13), Europe (12), the Americas (9), Oceania (6), and Africa (3)? And yes, the monarch's role can…
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Overwintering monarchs at Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Majestic Monarchs Make Their Grand Entrance

November 3, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 It's happening."Monarch butterflies are fluttering back to California’s coast, and volunteers across the West have been busy surveying overwintering sites for the 2025 Western Monarch Count (WMC)."That's what conservation biologist Isis Howard of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation…
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A witch at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Halloween party.

Bohart Museum: Big on 'The Boo' and 'The Hiss'

October 31, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 Boo! Hiss! Boo! A melodrama? No! A pre-Halloween party at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of Caliornia, Davis. Witches boo, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches (from the Bohart Museum's petting zoo) hiss. If you're a member of the Bohart Museum Society, arm of the…
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A new trapdoor species, Aptostichus ramirezae. (Photo by Emma Jochim)

For the Love of Spiders and Research

October 30, 2025
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
 For the love of spiders...and research!It's that time of year to dangle fake spiders from fake webs, but scientists in the Jason Bond lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, take their work seriously.And this week they're busy fielding questions after the journal, Ecology and…
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