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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. 

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Two Dermacentor occidentalis (Pacific Coast ticks) "collected" during a Sonoma outing: male on the left and female on right, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. They are about the size of a sesame seed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Those Amazing Ticks: And How Hungry Ticks Work Harder to Find You

November 29, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They ticked me off. Ticks can do that to you. I never think about ticks during the holiday season, but a news release from the University of Cincinnati about how Hungry Ticks Work Harder to Find You piqued my interest--and memories of the day our family inadvertently collected a total of 14 ticks.
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Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, walks along one of his study areas, Gates Canyon Road, Vacaville. This image was taken Jan. 25, 2014. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Insect Apocalypse: Where Have All the Insects Gone?

November 28, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago Where have all the flowers gone? Girls have picked them every one When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
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Karey Windbiel-Rojas' cockroach costume proved a crowd pleaser at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. Here entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterflies and moths at the Bohart, gives his approval. Windbiel-Rojas, with the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) is the associate director for Urban and Community IPM. (Photo by Tabatha Yang)

The Day That Cockroaches Stole the Show

November 27, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was the day that cockroaches stole the show. However, bed bugs, carpet beetles and pantry pests got into the act and competed mightily for the spotlight. The occasion: The UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, held Sunday afternoon, Nov. 18. The theme: "Urban Entomology.
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A tarantula and a Madagascar hissing cockroach are favorites at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's live "petting zoo." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Giving Tuesday': Giving Back to the Bohart Museum of Entomology

November 26, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Giving Tuesday," held the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a good day to give back, to say "Thank you for all you do!" The 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation launched "Giving Tuesday" in 2012 in response to the troubling commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving se...
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A bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a blackberry blossom in Berkeley. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Black Friday: Bumble Bees and Blackberries

November 23, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Black Friday" means different things to each of us, but when I think of "Black Friday," I think of black bumble bees nectaring on blackberry blossoms in Berkeley. Bumble bees on blackberry blossoms in Berkeley.
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