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.

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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This is the ceramic-mosaic sculpture, "Miss Bee Haven," which anchors the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. It is the work of Davis-based artist Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Tis the Season of Giving, and UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day Needs Donor Pledges by Jan. 6

December 30, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

'Tis the season of giving, and the ninth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, set for Saturday, Feb. 15, needs donors. Make that "urgently needs donor pledges." The pledge deadline of Jan. 6 looms. The free, science-based public event drew more than 4,000 visitors in 2019.

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Leslie Saul-Gershenz (left) and curator Emma Cluff stand by their display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Those Incredible Digger Bees and Their Nest Parasites

December 27, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you want to learn about digger bees and the exciting research that UC Davis evolutionary ecologist Leslie Saul-Gershenz is pursuing, check out the wall display at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

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A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, in a summer flight in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Suds for a Bug? Get Out Your Net!

December 26, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Suds for a bug? Get out your net! If you collect the first cabbage white butterfly of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Solano and Yolo, you'll win a pitcher of beer or its equivalent, compliments of Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology.

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