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.

Martin Hauser, senior insect biosystematist with the Plant Pest Daignostics Branch, California Department of Food and Agriculture, shows Madagascar hissing cockroaches to visitors. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Good Day to Learn About Science

February 25, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

They came, they saw, they learned. And in some cases, they conquered--they conquered their fear or avoidance of insects.

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The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is one of the flies that Joanna Chiu, vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, studies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Learn About These Scientists' Research at UC Davis Seminar

February 24, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 26 will feature six Faculty Flash Talks on topics ranging from honey bees to tsetse flies to digger bees to trapdoor spiders to fruit flies. The seminar, set from 4:10 to 5 p.m.

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Leslie Saul-Gershenz of UC Davis will speak on "Is Insect Biodiversity, Biomass and Abundance Declining?” at the Hillside Club's Fireside Lecture Series, Berkeley, on March 2.

Scientists Focusing on Insect Biodiversity and Insect Decline

February 21, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you're looking for a thought-provoking discussion on insect biodiversity and decline, mark your calendars. Chemical ecologist and conservation biologist Leslie Saul-Gershenz of UC Davis and Norman Gershenz, conservation biologist and CEO of SaveNature.

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Martin Hauser of the California Department of Food and Agriculture will speak on stingless bees of Palo Alto at the Pacific Coast Entomological Society meeting on Feb. 27. Here he introduces Madagascar hissing cockroaches to Bohart Museum of Entomology guests on Feb. 15 during the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Martin Hauser: 'The Curious Case of the Stingless Bees of Palo Alto'

February 20, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The title is intriguing: "The Curious Case of the Stingless Bees of Palo Alto." Isn't it illegal to import stingless bees in the United States? It is.

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UC Davis chemical ecologist Walter Leal, distinguished professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has just been named recipient of the UC Davis Academic Senate's Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Students. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Walter Leal: Lighting the Way and Sparking the Fire of Knowledge

February 19, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"I don't teach because I have to; I teach because it is a joy to light the way and to spark the fire of knowledge." So says noted chemical ecologist Walter Leal, newly selected recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching from the UC Davis Academic Senate.

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