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. Feedspot lists it as one of the top entomology blogs on the Internet.

Photographer Allan Jones captured this image of a black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, on Jan. 6 in UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden to win the Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest.

We Have a Winner of the Yolo-Solano Bumble Bee Contest!

January 6, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

We have a winner of the Yolo-Solano Memorial Bumble Bee Contest! Macro insect photographer extraordinaire Allan Jones captured an image of a female black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus on Monday, Jan. 6 on the UC Davis campus. The time: 1:45 p.m.

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This is an image of a fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, an insect that researcher Karen Menuz, who will present a seminar Jan. 8 at UC Davis, studies. She and colleague Pratyajit Mohapatra recently published research on "Molecular Profiling of the Drosophila Antenna Reveals Conserved Genes Underlying Olfaction in Insects." (Photo by Sanjay Acharya, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Karen Menuz: 'The Molecular Basis of Insect Olfaction'

January 3, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

"Repellent odors are widely used to prevent insect-borne diseases, making it imperative to identify the conserved molecular underpinnings of their olfactory systems.

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The focus of this new USDA-ARS honey bee research program is to develop technology that improves colony survivorship through long-term studies of multiple stress factors. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Jan. 7: Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at USDA-ARS Bee Research Facility at UC Davis

January 2, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It promises to be a "bee-utiful event." And memorable. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) is gearing up for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and facility tour on Tuesday, Jan.

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The 2017 winner: Allan Jones photographed this Bombus melanopygus on manzanita on Jan. 27 in the UC Davis Arboretum.

The Robbin Thorp Bumble Bee Memorial Contest

January 1, 2020

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Where's the first bumble bee of the year in Solano and Yolo counties? It's not a $64,000 question, because there's no reward--just bragging rights.

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A honey bee heads for a winter flowering plant, Kniphofia, in Napa, on Saturday, Dec. 28. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Hear That Buzz on the Red Hot Poker?

December 31, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

On the last few days of Year 2019, where do you find a foraging honey bee? Well, if the temperature soars to 50 or 55, you might see honey bees slip out of their hives and head for a winter flowering plant commonly known as the "red hot poker" or "Christmas cheer" (genus Kniphofia).

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