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.

UC Davis graduate student Socrates Letana collecting flies in the Philippines. He studies botflies with major professor Lynn Kimsey.

Times Flies When You're Studying Flies! Bohart Museum Open House Jan. 12

January 9, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Time flies when you're having fun? No, time's fun when you're studying flies! Take it from the fly researchers at the University of California, Davis, who will present their work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan.

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Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page examines a swarm at Arizona State University, where he served as provost.

Congratulations, Honey Bee Geneticist Rob Page!

January 8, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

Internationally acclaimed honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr.

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UC Davis postdoctoral researcher Brian Gress will discuss "Host Selection and Resistance Evolution in Drosophila Suzukii" at a UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 9 in 122 Briggs Hall.

Zeroing in on the Spotted-Wing Drosophila

January 7, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It's an invader that has long attracted attention--and alarm--in California agriculture. "The spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, first invaded California in 2008," says UC Davis postdoctoral researcher Brian Gress, "and has since rapidly spread throughout North America and Europe.

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A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectars on rosemary on Jan. 1, 2018 at the Benicia marina. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bring on the Bumble Bees!

January 4, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

It was the morning of Jan. 1, 2018, a year and four days ago. While strolling the grounds of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park, we captured images of yellow-faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on jade, Crassula ovata. They were packing cream-colored pollen from the jade.

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If you collect the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, you could win the "Beer for a Butterfly" contest. Here a cabbage white heads for lantana.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Winner Yet in Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest!

January 3, 2019

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

If you've been looking for that elusive first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, you're in luck. Art Shapiro hasn't found it yet, and neither has anyone else. So you can keep looking.

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