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.

A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a spiked floral purple plant, Salvia indigo spires (Salvia farinacea x S. farinacea). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee My Valentine!

February 14, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Remember receiving valentine cards that read "Bee My Valentine?" Well, every day can be Valentine's Day when there are bees in your garden.

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A six-foot-long mosaic and ceramic sculpture, Miss Beehaven, anchors the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. It is the work of Donna Billick of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

See Bugs, Bees and Nematodes on UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

February 13, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's going to be a long weekend, but it's a short one when you consider all the things you can do and see at the eighth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 16. Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring your camera.

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Close-up of a gravid tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans morsitans). (Photo by Geoffrey Attardo)

Tsetse Flies: Who Knew?

February 12, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Did you read the article in today's New York Times about tsetse flies and the scientists who research them? Totally fascinating.

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Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, holds some of the Morpho specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Oh, the Butterflies You'll See at the Bohart During UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

February 11, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Oh, the butterflies you'll see at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the eighth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 16.

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Ernesto Sandoval, collections manager for the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, checks out the cacao tree, aka "chocolate tree." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

If You Like Chocolate, Thank the Midges!

February 8, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you like chocolate, thank the midges. These tiny flies (about 1 to 3mm) pollinate the intricate flowers of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. From those seed pods, known as cocoa beans, come the chocolate that we crave. In fact, we Americans consume 2.

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