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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. 

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UC Davis doctoral candidate Brendon Boudinot walks on stage to receive the John Henry Comstock Award from ESA President Robert Peterson of Montana State University. (ESA Photo)

'Ant Man' Brendon Boudinot: John Henry Comstock Award

December 17, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
John Henry Comstock would be proud. At each annual meeting, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) presents the prestigious John Henry Comstock Graduate Student Award to six outstanding graduate students, one from each branch of the ESA.
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The Indian domino cockroach is part of the live "petting zoo" at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seeing Spots at the Bohart Museum of Entomology

December 13, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus, you're likely to see spots. That would be the Indian domino cockroach, Therea petiveriana, also variously called the desert cockroach or seven-spotted cockroach.
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Entomologist Eliza Litsey, who received her bachelor's degree in entomology this year from UC Davis, shows some of the water bears (tardigrades) available in the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum of Entomology Gift Shop: 'Tis the Season for Water Bears

December 12, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Move over, teddy bears. There's a new bear in town to covet, cuddle and cherish--a water bear or tardigrade. The plush stuffed animals are hot items in the gift shop of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
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The three-cornered alfalfa leaf hopper, Spissistilus festinus, transmits the grapevine red blotch virus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Bug That's Not Wanted in the Vineyards

December 11, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Back in July of 2016, a team of researchers affiliated with the University of California, Davis, wrote in the journal Phytopathology that the three-cornered alfalfa leaf hopper, Spissistilus festinus, transmits the virus that causes grapevine red blotch virus.
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