Bug Squad Logo

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. 

Primary Image
Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor, has been selected to deliver the ESA Founders' Memorial Award Lecture on Nov. 19 in St. Louis, Mo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Walter Leal Selected to Give ESA Founders' Memorial Award Lecture

April 24, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Breaking news and a well-deserved honor: Insect chemical ecologist Walter Leal, a distinguished professor at the University of California Davis, has just been selected to deliver the Founders' Memorial Award Lecture at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting, to be held Nov. 17-20 in St.
View Article
Primary Image
Logan Loss, 6, of Rocklin talks about scorpions to Bohart associate and scorpion scientist Wade Spencer. The kindergarten student is an avid scorpion enthusiast. Also pictured are members of the Vacaville Brownie Girl Scout Troop (from left) Jayda Navarette, Keira Yu and Kendl Macklin, front. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It Was a Scorpion Kind of Day at the Bohart Museum of Entomology

April 23, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Little Logan Loss of Rocklin is only 6 but already he knows more about scorpions than many, if not most, adults do. Logan, a visitor at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house on spiders and other arachnids, wowed the crowd with his knowledge of scorpions.
View Article
Primary Image
A male monarch seeking nectar in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Butterfly Summit: Are Butterflies Heralds of Apocalypse?

April 19, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough," wrote the late poet Rabindranath Targoe (1861-1941) of Bengali, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. There may not be "time enough" for some species that are rapidly declining.
View Article