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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. 

A female blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, as identified by Greg Kareofelas of the Bohart Museum, warms itself on a window screen in the early morning. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Joy of Dragonflies

July 2, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
If a dragonfly lands on your window screen and rests there for several hours, is that good luck? A female red rock skimmer, Paltothemis lineatipes, did just that. She was several feet from our fish pond and several yards from our pollinator garden. And inches from where we stood.
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Entomologist Norm Smith (center) answers questions about moths at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Moth Night. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum of Entomology: One Busy Place!

July 1, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is one busy place--lots of activities planned this summer and there's a newly announced schedule of summer hours. Moth Night. The Bohart will celebrate National Moth Night: Exploring Night Time Nature on Saturday, Aug.
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A Gulf Fritillary shares a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) with a hover fly (Syrphid). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Where Are You, Gulf Fritillaries?

June 28, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Where are you, Gulf Fritillaries? The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) population seems to be diminishing this year around Solano and Yolo counties. A few here, a few there, but not in the large numbers of last year.
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