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

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How magical is the dragonfly! This is a male flameskimmer, Libellula saturata, photographed in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How Magical Are the Dragonflies

August 7, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
How magical are the dragonflies. They zig-zag through the pollinator garden, a perfect portrait of a predator: multifaceted eyes, strong wings, and mouthparts that include a toothed jaw and flap like labrium.
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Visitors gather at the blacklighting display just outside the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, What a (Moth) Night!

August 6, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, what a (Moth) Night! It was a family night in more ways than one. Families who attended the Bohart Museum of Entomology's annual Moth Night last Saturday, Aug. 3, not only saw specimens from scores of insect families inside the UC Davis insect museum, but outside as well.
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A crab spider has just ambushed a honey bee on a bluebeard blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Crab Spider and the Bee

August 5, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was a good day for a crab spider. It was NOT a good day for a honey bee. It's early evening and here's this bee foraging on a bluebeard plant, Caryopteris x clandonensis, totally unaware of the ambush predator lying in wait. The predator and the prey: Misumena vatia and Apis mellifera.
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Bruce Hammock, UC Davis distinguished professor, has won a $6 million federal grant for his innovative and visionary health research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Our Story Begins with a Kid Bred and Born in Arkansas...

August 1, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Our story begins with a kid bred and born in Arkansas. You may have seen the news article about the distinguished professor at the University of California, Davis, who won a $6 million, eight-year "Outstanding Investigator" federal grant for his innovative and visionary health research.
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