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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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Kira Olmos, 5, of Winters isn't sure she wants meet an Australian stick insect at the Bohart Museum. She is holding mom's hand. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Kira Meets a Stick Insect

January 15, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you're five years old and just learning about the world around you and its inhabitants, it's okay to be a little apprehensive when you encounter a giant prickly stick insect with thornlike spikes. Even if your mother is holding it.
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This maggot art is the work of entomologist-artist Diane Ullman, professor of entomology at UC Davis and former chair of the department. She served as the co-founding director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Don't Miss This: Maggot Art at the Bohart

January 11, 2019
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Maggot art at the Bohart! That rhymes. And that's what's planned as the family craft activity when the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on fly research from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 12 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, located on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
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