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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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What's going on in the hive? World-renowned honey bee geneticist Robert Eugene “Rob” Page Jr., the 2018 recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will speak on "In Search of the Spirit of the Hive: a 30-Year Quest"--at 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 29 in the International House, 10 College Park, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rob Page: Searching for 'The Spirit of the Hive'

November 15, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
For the last three decades, he's been searching for the "The Spirit of the Hive." That would be world-renowned honey bee geneticist Robert Eugene (Rob) Page Jr., the 2018 recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
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Gamemaster Deane Jorgensen (far left), research scientist at Sygenta, and ESA president Michael Parrella (far right), dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, flank the national Linnaean Games Team champions. In the center (from left) are Emily Bick, Brendon Boudinot, captain Ralph Washington Jr., Zachary Griebenow and Jill Oberski. Parrella is a former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Joe Rominiecki Photo)

Congrats! UC Linnaean Games Team Wins the National Championship

November 14, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They did it! Again! The incredible University of California Linnaean Games Team, comprised of graduate students from UC Davis and UC Berkeley, won the national championship at the popular and highly competitive Linnaean Games hosted this week at the Entomological Society of America's meeting in Vanc...
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Entomologist Brennen Dyer, shown here at work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, lost it all in the Paradise inferno known as Camp Fire. His supervisor, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and UC Davis professor of entomology, encouraged him to set up a gofundme account.

They Lost It All in the Raging Inferno in Paradise

November 13, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Paradise isn't. It was, though. And it will be again when it's rebuilt. #ParadiseStrong. The raging inferno known as "Camp Fire" that started Nov. 8 on Camp Creek Road, near Pulga, Butte County, California, ranks as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history.
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A newly eclosed Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Autumn's Hues: The Gulf Fritillary and Mexican Sunflower

November 12, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."--Rabindranath Tagore When we think of orange and autumn, we think of the marriage of the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), and the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia).
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Booklice are nearly microscopic insects, Liposcelis bostrychophila, or "psocids" (pronounced "so kids"). They are common pests in stored grains. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Open House: Focusing on Urban Entomology

November 9, 2018
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mark your calendars! The next open house at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is set for 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18. It's free and family friendly.
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