Bug Squad Logo

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. 

Primary Image
A trapdoor spider, Aptostichus sp., one of the species that Jason Bond studies. (Photo by Jason Bond)

Searching the California Floristic Province for Trapdoor Spiders

January 28, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
A UC Davis scientist has just received a federal grant to study trapdoor spiders in California, with opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in the research. Citizen scientists also can be involved through public sightings and suggestions for naming a newly discovered species.
View Article
Primary Image
A male monarch nectaring on Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Troubling Question: Why Are the Monarchs Declining in the West?

January 23, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The question is troubling: What's going on with the monarch butterfly population in the West? The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reported this week that its Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count shows a decline for the second consecutive year.
View Article
Primary Image
These rocks at the Bohart Museum of Entomology depict favorite insects: honey bees and ladybugs (lady beetles.) The larger rock, inspired by Valentine's Day, is titled "Love Bugs." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Why These Rock Artists Are Rock Stars

January 22, 2020
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Rock artists, all. Those who painted rocks at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Jan. 18 were not just rock artists. They were rock stars, painting creative, inspirational and seasonal illustrations.
View Article